For financial health, this planner is in

Take care of your financial health, says David McKechnie, of Beauport Financial Services. (Beauport Financial Services/Tsar Fedorsky)

GLOUCESTER - With the stock market in flux, gas nearly $4 at the pump, and a grim real estate market, there may be no better time to compare meeting with a financial adviser to going to the dentist.

"When I leave my dentist's office, I get my appointment card for when I'm coming back six months later," said David McKechnie, 47, a partner at Gloucester-based Beauport Financial Services LLC, noting that most investors meet with their financial advisers every three or four years. "My clients get their appointment card [too] and they come back six months later. We're trying to do what the dentist and doctors' offices do to take care of their financial health, just like we take care of our regular health."

The Gloucester resident, well known on Cape Ann for his ties to community organizations such as the Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston and the North Shore YMCA, received the ValMark Securities Inc. Investment Professional of the Year Award for the third straight year.

The national award is based on several criteria, according to Larry Rybka, president and CEO of ValMark Securities, including professionalism, a strong record with clients, and contributions to both the company and community.

"He really has demonstrated a commitment to the profession," Rybka said, noting that it takes longer and more practice to get a license to cut hair than it does to become a financial professional.

"A bad haircut will grow back in a few weeks," he noted. "Bad financial advice can affect you for a lot longer."

If ever there has been a time in recent memory for investors to be nervous, this is it.

"Obviously, people are more concerned about where the overall economy is going, and we try to deliver a measure of confidence for people," said McKechnie.

"Nobody knows when a bad economic time, or a boom time, will happen," he added. "I'd love to be able to tell you exactly when [the turnaround] is going to happen; nobody knows."

What he can do, however, is shape a client's portfolio in a way that will protect that individual based on goals and tolerance for risk, and take a long-term approach to ensure the client's future security.

McKechnie is not a stock picker.

"My expertise is in looking at low-cost, highly tax-efficient investment portfolios and finding the best managers I can to complement that," he said. "My ego is out of the way enough that my clients' returns have been terrific the past three to five years."

One part of expertise is following those investments closely, including the semiannual meetings with clients. "Look at what's happened in the last six, seven, eight months," McKechnie said. "You're going to be worried, so once a year's not enough contact to give the client the confidence they need."

Investing is a long-term proposition, he said, tied to both economic times and to milestones in a person's life.

"What's most important is the attention to detail he provides in his service for us," said Michele Holovak Harrison, a Gloucester lawyer and (with her husband, retired Judge David Harrison) a McKechnie client. "I have neither the time nor the inclination to closely follow our investments, but feel confident in having David to do that. As my husband has already retired and I'm close to retirement, this is very important."

So what advice does McKechnie give to investors?

First, he said, he counsels clients to get their own personal investment policy statement done.

"It doesn't matter if you have $100,000 or $10 million," he said. "It really hits the core values of what your risk tolerance is, how old you are, what your need for income is and when . . . It's not an end-all, but it certainly is a start."

Next, he has the investor take inventory to determine his or her asset allocation, and matches it up against the investment policy statement.

"The asset allocations I see from new clients are never reflective of what their true risk tolerance is," he said. "I have very, very savvy clients that know a lot about the investment business, but there hasn't been one new client in 15 years that had an asset allocation that dovetailed with their risk tolerance."

With those completed, the next task is to balance asset allocations against the investment policy statement. In shaky financial times, it's important to maintain composure.

"Everybody says that when they inherit a lot of money, 'You're very emotional. Don't make any decisions until time passes.' You can almost say the same thing when you're going through this recessionary time or a difficult bump in the market," he said. "Your emotions are your biggest enemy in investing properly for the long term."

McKechnie said it might be an excellent time to move to undervalued stocks or other assets. The adage might be to buy low and sell high, but it can be emotionally difficult.

"This is how we react to [news about] finances," he said. "But if we saw high-end tuna fish at Star Market and it was three for a buck, instead of one for three dollars, we'd stockpile tuna fish for the next three months."