Michael Bradley founded Bradley Wealth in 2002. Today the firm offers high-touch financial planning and alternative investments to high-net-worth clientele.

Michael and I have known each other since my days at Peak Advisor Alliance, and I was excited to catch up with him at the 2022 CAIS Alternative Investment Summit in Beverly Hills. We talked about his evolution from being a corporate executive for 15 years to starting his planning firm from scratch at the bottom of the Dotcom bubble. We also discussed why and how Michael made alternative investments a core part of his investment strategy.

There's no one predefined path that will lead us through the challenges and heartbreaks that we all face in life. Often times the best that we can do is learn to accept and explore our emotions while remaining open to the opportunities in front of us. That willingness to explore and grow can help us heal, and help us redefine who we are going forward.

In today's adventure episode, I talk to Jess Bost, VP – Brand Partnerships at Alpha Architect, a research-intensive asset management firm. Jess is also the host of The Breakthrough Factor podcast, a CrossFit coach, and an Olympic weightlifter.

Jess was in a "dark night of the soul" place due to personal trauma and she shares with me, in raw, real terms, her journey of personal and professional self-discovery that brought her to a place of strength where she now coaches others who want to make major life changes and plan for a successful future.

As I said to her during the show, what she shares is "a gift" to those who listen. Don't miss it.

Shannon Larson is the Senior Vice President, Platform Management and Product Development at Advisor Group, the nation's largest network of independent financial advisors. 

I spoke with Shannon at the 2022 CAIS Alternative Investment Summit in Beverly Hills about how she and her team manage a shared service model, as well as how alternative investment products are helping their advisors offer more value to a wider variety of clients.

David Copeland is a principal and co-founder of Strategic Wealth Partners, an RIA firm with approximately $3.7 billion in assets under advisement as of December 31, 2021.

He founded Strategic Wealth Partners in 2008 after serving as Senior Managing Director with Mesirow Financial for 21 years. He has also held investment positions with Merrill Lynch and commercial banking positions with Harris Bank.

I sat down with David at the 2022 CAIS Alternative Investment Summit in Beverly Hills, CA and we discussed his approach to investing and how alternatives play an important role in his clients’ portfolios.

You don’t reach the summit of 14,000 foot mountains more than 150 times without learning a few things along the way about life, health, and adventure.

In today’s adventure episode, I talk to financial pros Skip Schweiss and Scott MacKillop. Between them, they’ve climbed mountains all over the world and lived a life of adventure while building thriving careers as executives in financial services.

I’ve had the pleasure of joining them on several trips and can attest to their skill and wisdom, but more importantly, to their sense of team and community. They’ll be the first people on the mountain to help someone in distress and they pack “extras” just in case someone besides themselves needs help (and I know because I was on the receiving end of their help!).

Ben Harrison is the Co-Head, Wealth Solutions at BNY Mellon | Pershing, one of the industry’s largest custodians.

I sat down with Ben at the CAIS Alternative Investment Summit in Beverly Hills, CA and we discussed the biggest challenges and opportunities facing financial advisors as well as his thoughts on what’s happening in the alternative investment space.

In this series of podcasts, I'm going to talk to financial professionals about their lives outside of the office: the passions, hobbies, experiences, challenges, and accomplishments that have influenced who they are and how they think about success and fulfillment.

The first episode with Ben Jones explores his trip down The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 2,808 mile adventure from Banff in Alberta, Canada all the way to Antelope Wells, NM at the Mexican border. It's a grueling trip that required thorough planning, perseverance, and a belief that dreams are worth pursuing.

Should you allocate to alternative investments?

For decades, advisors to the wealthiest strata of investors offered offered access to investments beyond the traditional stocks, bonds, and real estate. And for decades, there were significant barriers to entry in the alternative space that made it difficult for independent advisors to access the best money managers in the alt space. That’s now changed.

Firms like CAIS have democratized access to some of the best money managers available and streamlined what has historically been a time-consuming process to “complete the paperwork” when using alternative managers.

In today’s episode, we explore the alt space and how independent financial advisors can access an asset class that was previously reserved for the big banks and wirehouses and their well-heeled clients.

Guest: Matt Brown, Founder of CAIS, the leading alternative investment platform for financial advisors who seek improved access to and education about alternative investment funds and products.

Matt and I discuss:

• Why should advisors consider adding alternative investments to their allocations.
• The biggest reasons why advisors have been reluctant to allocate to alternatives.
• What are the most popular alternative investment asset classes.
• What’s the profile of a typical client who is going to be receptive to an allocation to alternative investments.
• Whether advisors use a buy and hold strategy with their alternative assets or do they actively switch managers over time.
• What role CAIS plays in facilitating advisors making an allocation to alternative investments.
• What role education plays in expanding access to alternative investments.
• The best investment Matt ever made.

Resources:

Attend the CAIS Alternative Investment Summit on Oct 17 – 19, 2022 in Beverly Hills, CA. Learn more here.

Matt Brown on LinkedIn

Podcasting is a wonderful way to showcase the talents, insights, and creativity of the amazing people that populate our world. In that spirit, I'm thrilled to announce two special series of episodes that I'm launching this fall.

The first series of episodes is in partnership with CAIS, the leading alternative investment platform for financial advisors. To explain what we're doing, I asked industry star and CAIS CMO Abby Salameh to join me today to discuss this special series of 10 podcast episodes and how they can help you enhance the investment side of your practice. (Teaser: you can register for the Summit Abby mentions by clicking here: https://caismarketing.com/summit2022) 

The second series is something that I don't think has ever been done before in the financial advisory profession. So please listen to today's episode as I explain what these "adventurous" shows are about and how you might be able to be a guest on one of them.

I hope you enjoy these upcoming shows as much as I love doing them. Please spread the word about the podcast and rate it and write a review on your favorite social platform. Thank you!   

Today's guest is Brent Kessel. Brent is co-founder of Abacus Wealth Partners, which has more than 50 employees and more than $2 billion in assets under management. (Editor's note: as of the date of this repost, September 2022, Abacus has about $3.5 billion in assets under management.)

About ten years ago I was reading a Buddhist magazine and did a double-take when I saw an ad for a financial advisory firm on its back cover. Abacus Wealth has been on my radar ever since.

"I have been a student of different kinds of Eastern traditions, mostly yoga and mindfulness meditation, for over 25 years," Brent says. "As your listeners probably know, the abacus is a Chinese mathematical computational instrument. What I liked about that name is that it felt like it brought in Eastern tradition and history along with computational dexterity, just the ability to really think, figure things out precisely."

Brent's unique path through life and personal passions have had a big influence on how he runs his firm. We discussed how that confluence has helped to make Abacus stand out from the crowd while also offering its clients a mind-opening perspective on what the wealth they're building is really for.

For a detailed write up of his episode, visit: https://stevesanduski.com/brent-kessel/ 

My guest today, Dr. Eliott Berkman, is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Social and Effective Neuroscience Laboratory and conducts field-leading, federally-funded research on goals, motivation, and behavior change. He's also the Associate Director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, and an author who writes about psychology and neuroscience for lay audiences, including in Psychology Today. We talk about the concept of the will and the way of goal pursuing, where the way is the set of cognitive skills, capacities, and ability that we collectively call the executive function, and the will is the motivational factors that propel the behavior. We also talk about how to increase our motivation and influence other people's behavior, the idea of flow states, and how that applies to achieving goals.

What is the cornerstone of your financial planning process?

Solid money management is table stakes, not a differentiator. What really stands out is when you help clients be thoughtful about "what's the money for" and then align their money to support the life they want to live and be in harmony with their values. Advisors who learn how to help clients make those connections will be providing a valuable service that creates clients for life.

Note: This episode is an excerpt from one of the monthly members-only Learning Hours at ROL Advisor. If you'd like to learn more about the Return on Life philosophy and explore becoming a Life-Centered Financial Planner, go to https://www.roladvisor.com.

Guest: Natalie Taylor, a Certified Financial Planner™ and Behavioral Financial Advisor™.

Your business may not be for sale, but it should always be salable.

According to a 2019 study by J.D. Power, the average age of a financial advisor is 55; approximately one-fifth of advisors are 65 and older. If you're within 5 - 7 years of exiting the business, succession planning should be one of your key strategic initiatives. Paul Blease advises that preparing to sell your practice is a process of analysis and optimization that requires a multi-year runway. Without proper planning, you risk undervaluing your life's work and damaging the key client relationships you'll need to sustain the business when the time comes to retire.

Guest: Paul Blease, Strategic Consultant, Invesco Global Consulting at Invesco Global Consulting.

In a Nutshell: Paul Blease's 40 years of experience in financial services covers everything from the big wirehouses to the largest independent RIAs. In the first of two conversations, Paul and I focus on the synergistic team model, which he believes is the best way for advisor CEOs to attract, retain, and maximize top talent, while also providing "white glove" service to all clients.

Guest: Paul Blease, Co-Head of Invesco Global Consulting at Invesco U.S.

Rapid advances in technology, generational change, Covid, financial upheaval, and distrust in institutions are upending the course of life…and financial planning. In light of all that is changing, how do you future proof your business?

In this special live webinar recorded on February 1, 2022, Ric Edelman, the #1 financial advisor of the past 30 years, joins me to discuss the impact of five critical areas on personal finance and how that affects your client work as a financial advisor.

1. Exponential technologies
2. Bitcoin, blockchain, and digital assets
3. Longevity
4. Retirement security
5. Health and wellness

Ric Edelman and I discuss:

In a Nutshell: Webinar marketing and digital communication is here to stay. In today's show, I talk to Eight Digit Media founder Chris Ross and we discuss a detailed, step-by-step strategy for generating tens of millions of new AUM each year from webinar marketing. And I'm not talking marketing fluff here. I have coaching clients who work with Chris and I've seen firsthand the results his team helps my clients deliver.

Let's be honest, most advisors are not natural marketers. We'd rather spend our time helping people navigate life transitions than battling with Wordpress plugins and managing Facebook ads. That's where firms like Chris Ross' "done for you" Eight Digit Media come in. Chris and I went down the rabbit hole of webinar marketing and you'll learn the details of how to benefit from this powerful marketing strategy.

Guest: Chris Ross, CEO of Eight Digit Media.

For seven years, I’ve started each year with 3 words that I’ve carefully chosen to motivate me, remind me, and guide me on my road to making the New Year my best year ever.

My 3 words are printed at the top of my Daily Outcomes sheet (my prioritized to-do list) so I see them multiple times a day.

By being thoughtful when I identify my 3 words and then reviewing them on a daily basis, I have a daily reminder of my key focus for the year and this will (ideally) help me stay on track and on plan.

In today’s show, I review my 3 words for 2021 and discuss how well I executed on them.

I’ll also share why I am NOT doing this exercise in 2022 and what I’m doing in its place.