Jason Chura, head of global consulting at Voya Investment Management, is urging financial advisors to rethink a foundational assumption: that expertise alone drives client outcomes. In today’s environment, he argues, technical proficiency is table stakes. Differentiation now hinges on what he calls “performance psychology” — the ability to consistently project confidence and credibility in high-stakes, deeply personal interactions.

Speaking during a recent webcast, Your Hidden Superpowers of Confidence & Credibility, hosted with Cinthia Murphy, director of research at TMX VettaFi, Chura laid out a behavioral framework rooted in human psychology. As the industry shifts from a product-centric model to what he describes as the “person business”, the variables that matter the most are often the least discussed: body language, emotional control, and mental preparation. They’re no longer peripheral. They’re how clients decide whether to trust you. 

The Pre-Meeting Reset

For Chura, influence begins before the meeting starts. The few minutes beforehand — in the car, the elevator, or outside the conference room — set the tone, whether advisors realize it or not.

At the center is a simple constraint: the brain cannot process fear and gratitude simultaneously. Advisors who enter a meeting anxious, risk projecting what Chura describes as “fear pheromones.” Shift to gratitude, and that signal changes. 

He also points out the role of physiology. Small physical triggers — spreading the toes or applying pressure to the palm — can help interrupt the stress response and move the body out of flight-or-fight mode, governed by amygdala, and back toward clearer thinking. 

Breathing patterns are another tell. Shallow, chest-level breathing elevates the shoulders and signals tension, activating mirror neurons in clients. Deeper, diaphragmatic breathing lowers the shoulders and communicates calm authority — a state clients are inclined to mirror.

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Winning the Subconscious Opening

First impressions are formed almost instantly. The brain, wired for survival, rapidly sorts new encounters into a “friend or foe” framework.

One technique Chura highlights is the flash of your palm — a brief, near-imperceptible display of open palms upon greeting. This non-verbal cue signals safety at a subconscious level, allowing the client to move beyond threat assessment and toward forming positive associations.

Authenticity, however, carries more weight than technique. Rather than attempting to mirror a client’s personality — a strategy that often appears contrived — Chura advocates for a simpler approach: genuinely liking the client. Demonstrating authentic curiosity about their interests increases the likelihood of reciprocal liking, often by a significant margin.

Communicating Authority

Behavioral signals may open the door, but they don’t keep clients from leaving. Chura cited internal data showing that 75% of clients who left or considered leaving their advisor did so because of communication breakdowns, not investment performance.

To address this, he proposes an F-F-E audit built around three core expectations:

• Frequency: At least four meaningful touchpoints per year, centered on the individual — not just the portfolio.
• Feeling: Communication should not be concentrated in periods of market stress, which conditions clients to associate the advisor with negative emotions.
• Education: Clients increasingly expect guidance on complex topics, from private markets to structured solutions.

He also outlined a simple structure for introductions: the “CAT” model. Establish credibility (your title), authority (what you actually specialize in), and tribalism — using “you” to bring the client into the conversation and lower the sense of judgment that often surrounds money.

The Alter Ego Pivot

Even well-prepared advisors encounter moments where confidence wavers. In those situations, Chura points to the Alter Ego Effect as a practical reset.

The goal is not to manufacture confidence, but to access capabilities already present. By consciously adopting the posture and presence of a chosen persona — whether a fictional archetype like James Bond or a Kobe Bryant’s Black Mamba — advisors can interrupt defensive body language and reassert control of the interaction.

A simple postural adjustment (shoulders back, chin level) often serves as the physical trigger for that shift.

The Closing Strategy

If the opening is about trust, the close is about fear. Clients are wired to focus on risk, especially in uncertain environments. Ignoring that doesn’t build confidence — it erodes it.

Chura’s approach, “scare to save,” starts by meeting clients where they are. Acknowledge the risks: geopolitical tension, recession, public health crises. That’s what builds credibility.

Then widen the lens. The 1950s — one of the strongest decades for market performance — unfolded against a backdrop of global uncertainty. The point isn’t to dismiss today’s risks, but to put them in context.

He also points to structural forces, including demographic trends and what he calls “predictable forced consumption.” Millions of millennials are entering peak family-formation years, driving sustained spending that supports long-term growth.

The goal isn’t blind optimism. It’s perspective. Give clients enough context, and you give them something more valuable: permission to stay invested.

In Chura’s framework, the modern advisor operates as much in psychology as in finance. Market knowledge still matters. It’s just no longer the edge.

The edge is how well you manage what clients feel — and what you project back.

Originally published on Advisor Perspectives.

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