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Between Now and Success

We interview top financial advisors and visionary voices to bring you the strategies, tips, and tools you need to make a difference in people's lives. So rope up and get "On Belay" as we climb the summit to success with your host and Chief Belayer, Steve Sanduski.
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Now displaying: Page 10
Feb 7, 2016

I just got back from the TD Ameritrade National Conference and in today's show, I'll share a few quick comments from the event.

Yes, the conference covered the usual slew of technology sessions dedicated to robo advisors and scaling your business. But what I found most interesting was the theme of putting the "human" into finance.

TD Ameritrade clearly understands the importance of the "human" in the financial planning process and the importance of using story to connect with others.

I start the podcast by discussing an important insight from keynote speaker Sally Hogshead and then wrap up with on-site conversations I had with Matt Brinker of United Capital, Spencer Segal of ActifFi, and Matt Ackermann of Investment News.

Jan 29, 2016

Podcasting is a great way for financial advisors to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace.

My good friend, Bill Keen of Keen Wealth Advisors, joins me in the studio for today's podcast and we discuss how he got into podcasting and how it's working for him. Bill is one of a small number of financial advisors who are pioneering the use of podcasting as a way to educate investors and expand the reach of their business.

If you are interested in learning more about podcasting and whether it might make sense for you to start your own podcast, then I suggest you do two things.

  1. Listen to today's show.
  2. Complete the podcast interest survey.

As you can tell, I love podcasting and think it's a great way to get your message out and complement your other marketing/outreach activities. 

Jan 25, 2016

“All the world’s a stage” said William Shakespeare. Turns out we’re all actors playing multiple roles in our business and the better job we do “acting” in each of these roles, the more deeply we’ll connect with other people, says Steal the Show author Michael Port.

On the surface, thinking of yourself as an actor playing a role sounds like I’m asking you to fake it, to be someone you’re not. Actually, it’s just the opposite.

Today's guest, Michael Port, is a New York Times best-selling author, professional speaker, and former TV and movie actor. Michael wrote a book titled, Steal the Show, where he talks about how to apply the methods of top actors to, “connect with, inspire, and persuade any audience.”

In today's show, you'll learn how to use actors' tools such as honesty, rehearsal, blocking, and silence to own the stage and deeply connect with your audience.

Jan 22, 2016

Optimism is only half of the equation to overcoming a tough situation.

Regarding the current volatile financial markets, I hear many advisors talking right now about staying the course, we're in it for the long-term, "this too shall pass," and other similar comments. Intellectually, that makes sense as over the long-term, the odds are high we'll hit new all-time highs in the market again. But if this optimism prevents you from taking action because it will all work out in the end anyway, well, I think that's a mistake.

"Action" does not mean you start timing the market and make bold portfolio moves. Rather, I'm talking about proactive client communication and other things you can do to deepen your client relationships and show your value in times like this. I'm talking about having a contingency plan in place that you can spring into action on short notice should this current turbulence turn into a major tailspin.

In today's show, I discuss the "Stockdale Paradox" from Jim Collins and how it is timely and relevant for what advisors are facing right now. When you couple it with last week's Friday Podcast on confidence, you have two excellent tools to make sure your mindset is in "great shape" to not only weather this storm but come out stronger from it.

I also share about a dozen comments from other financial advisors who explain what they are doing right now to deal with the market turbulence. I end the show with a quote from Maria Robinson about the power of making a new decision today.

Jan 16, 2016

With the turbulence in the financial markets and client accounts running near the flatline over the past couple years, it’s easy to get discouraged. Yet now more than ever it’s critical that you maintain one key characteristic.

The importance of this characteristic was driven home to me during an interview I did last week with Sheldon Wolitski. Sheldon is a hugely successful entrepreneur (Inc. 500/5000 winner for 9 consecutive years) who learned a business-saving lesson during the depths of the tech recession in 2001.

In today’s show, I tell Sheldon’s story and the lesson he learned that is directly applicable to each of you. If you maintain this “one key characteristic” that Sheldon discovered, you’re not only going to survive these rough times, you’re going to absolutely crush it and come out much stronger.

I also share many of the “My 3 Words” that listeners posted on my blog, on Linkedin and emailed to me. I also reference a panel I was on last week at Mariner Wealth Advisors National Advisor Meeting and end with a stirring quote from Nelson Mandela.

Jan 13, 2016

Can you organically grow a multi-billion dollar RIA?

Many of the large RIAs you read about got there because they acquired firms or they were part of a banking, accounting, or law firm that fed them a large number of clients.

Today's guest, Scott Hanson of Hanson McClain, built the firm with his partner Pat McClain the old-fashioned way--one client at a time.

Using gorilla-marketing tactics, a radio show, and smart marketing, these guys built a $2 billion RIA with about 4,000 clients and an average account size of $500,000. Similar to Edelman Financial Services, Scott and Pat built a hugely successful RIA with relatively modest size clients.

I've known Scott for more than 20 years and in today's show, we take a chronological look at what he systematically did to build a top RIA from scratch and the strategies he's now using to keep the machine humming.

Jan 8, 2016

Well, it's been an ugly start to the New Year in the stock market. And in today's episode, I share three things financial advisors can do right now to prepare for the next bear market. Whether what's happening now is the start of one, nobody knows, but the top advisors are doing a "bear market drill."

I also share an idea on how to move beyond the "overwhelming tasks" that probably are lining your "to do" list this time of year. You'll also learn what golfers Phil Mickelson and Roger Sloan can teach us about the big difference small incremental improvements can make in your business.

I end the show with a quote from Ralph Waldon Emerson.

Jan 1, 2016

Welcome to 2016! This is the perfect time to look back on the past year and forward to the New Year.

In today’s show, I cover three topics related to looking back and forward.

  1. Three key questions to ask yourself as you reflect on 2015. Yes, it’s important to look back so you can use the year’s experience to propel you in the New Year.
  2. Use the year ahead to “risk walking new ground.”
  3. Three important steps to take that will make 2016 your best year yet.

I end the show with a quote from a daily email I receive called “Our Daily Bread.”

Dec 28, 2015

How will you succeed in the years ahead?

Multiple trends are shaping the industry and how advisors respond to those changes today will determine whether they thrive or just barely survive over the next few years.

Will Robos drive down pricing and push mainstream advisors out of business? Will Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade grab the lion’s share of the mass affluent market with their hybrid robo offerings? Can lifestyle practices survive?

Those are just a few of the questions I discuss with today’s guest, Chip Roame. Chip is the Managing Partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors and a leading strategic consultant to CEOs, other senior executives, & boards of directors in the banking, insurance brokerage, & investments markets.

While it’s easy to dismiss “the future” as something you don’t have to worry about today, the reality is, change is happening faster and with more ferocity than most people think. Listen to today’s show to catch up on some of the big trends and learn how to make your business “built to last.”

Dec 25, 2015

What is the most important part of a happy retirement? Here's a hint--it's not financial security.

A recent study from Age Wave said 81% of retirees felt health is the most important part of a happy retirement. That was followed by financial security at 58%, family and friends at 36%, and having a purpose in life at 20%.

In today's show, I discuss the idea of helping your clients take more control over their health situation--not from a diet and exercise standpoint--but by helping them become better consumers of healthcare services. See below for a link to a resource that will help you do that. Given how important health is to a happy retirement, you may want to add this as an agenda item to your next review meeting. 

In addition, I talk about making a shift from focusing on the "destination" in what you do to focusing on the experience for your clients. I also make an offer to review the completed business plan of three advisors who completed the business plan template I discussed last week.

I end the show with a story about a monk meditating by a lake and how that applies to the "basics" of building a business.

Dec 18, 2015

Are you feeling too busy? Not enough hours in the day? The problem may not be your level of productivity. The problem may be you’re doing way too many activities that bear little fruit.

Instead, in today’s show I share one question you can ask yourself that will force you to zero in on the leading activities you need to do to get the results you want.

In addition, I discuss a simple three-step framework you can use to bring about behavior change in you–and in your clients–and I share a key insight from an earlier podcast with Hollie Fagan of Blackrock.

I end the show with a quote from Aristotle and challenge you to put your “real” self out there even if some people disagree with you.

Dec 14, 2015

The unstoppable pace of technology innovation and market competition could put you out of business unless you take steps today to add value far above and beyond traditional investment management.
Robo advisors, Vanguard’s Personal Advisor Services, and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios are just a few of the firms who are transforming the delivery of financial advice. And these firms have bigger brands, huge resources, and offer their services at a fraction of the cost when compared to traditional financial advisors.
So here’s the deal–financial advisors who want to remain relevant for years to come, who want to maintain their profit margins, and who want to offer services that clients are willing to pay dearly for, will need to completely rethink the services and type of advice they offer.
Today’s show with guests Alan Spector and Keith Lawrence discusses retirement coaching as one possible advice area where advisors can add value to fend off competitive attacks.

Dec 10, 2015

Is it a good idea to set stretch goals? Yes. Stretch goals, set and managed properly, could catapult your business 10X.

Stretch goals make you realize you have to change your level of thinking. With stretch goal thinking, you have to ask yourself, “What new strategy or business model could enable me to grow 10 times bigger than I am today?”

Clearly, the answer involves leverage—not financial leverage—but people and technology leverage. This is how the largest RIAs grew to billions in assets under management.

In this episode, I discuss three things: 1) how to set stretch goals, 2) the need to make the shift from just managing money to managing lives, and 3) I share insights from two of my 10 most popular podcasts in 2015.

I end the show with a tribute to adventurist, entrepreneur and deep ecologist Doug Tompkins who passed away this week.

 

Dec 3, 2015

Here’s a short but very powerful exercise. What three words could you come up with that would set the course, give you direction, and totally excite you as you move through 2016? In my financial advisor coaching, we dig deep to get focused on the key things that will make the desired outcomes happen. This three-word exercise is one simple way to help the focusing process.

In this episode, I discuss how to come up with your own three words for 2016 as well as review my three words for 2015 and my assessment of how well (or not so well) I executed on them. Plus, I share one other idea on a one-sentence strategic plan and leave you with a meaningful insight from Roy Disney.

Nov 27, 2015

Do you know where your new revenue will come from in 2016? When I coach financial advisors, I often find they have a goal to generate a certain amount of new assets under management. What's frequently missing, though, is a detailed breakdown of where those new assets will come from and a specific plan on how they will be generated.

In this episode, I discuss how to specifically identify where your new revenue will come from and how to ensure you achieve your new AUM goal. Plus, I share two other ideas and leave you with a key insight from Jim Rohn.

Nov 23, 2015

In addition to volatility in the financial markets, financial advisors have to worry about other threats to their business including regulations coming out of Washington and cyber attacks. Today’s guest, Skip Schweiss, keeps a close eye on all these non-market related issues and we go through the list and discuss simple steps you can take to mitigate the risks.

Skip is responsible for TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Retirement Plan Services platform. He is also the Managing Director of Advisor Advocacy & Industry Affairs.

And as I’ve witnessed firsthand (more in the podcast), Skip is a skilled and avid outdoorsman. In his spare time, he climbed all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains.

 

Nov 20, 2015

Four tips today about a bucket list, not settling for average, starting anew, and thinking much bigger about the impact you can make. I close with an inspirational quote that has been very meaningful to me.

Nov 13, 2015

Hey, welcome to my first Friday Podcast. Today, I share five ideas and tools that will help you plan better, market better, and get more profitable results from your seminars and events. 

For free access to the tools and links I mention in today's show, visit www.belayadvisor.com/fridaypodcast 

 

Nov 8, 2015

Have you planned as effectively for the transfer of your business as you have for the financial lives of your clients? In part II in our series on succession planning, (see part I here with Tim Kochis), my guest Jay Hummel continues the conversation and we discuss the operational and financial details of making a smooth transition.

Jay, along with Tim Kochis and Eric Hehman, is the co-author of a new book on succession planning titled, Success and Succession: Unlocking Value, Power, and Potential in the Professional Services and Advisory Space.

As a senior VP in the corporate strategy group at Envestnet, (see podcast with Envestnet founder Jud Bergman), Jay works closely with the firms largest RIA's. Prior to Envestnet, he was president of a large RIA.

Oct 29, 2015

Succession planning is a critical yet woefully neglected business necessity that could cost advisors millions of dollars if not properly handled. Today’s guest, Tim Kochis, is the co-author of a new book on succession planning titled, Success and Succession, and we dive into the details of how to effectively do it.

Tim is a legendary wealth advisor who co-founded Kochis Fitz, a multi-billion dollar RIA firm, and guided it through a merger to create Aspiriant, one of the country’s leading wealth managers. Along the way, he held numerous leadership positions within the industry and has been recognized with several prestigious awards including the inaugural Schwab Impact Award and FPA’s P. Kemp Fain Award.

Oct 11, 2015

Jud Bergman, the founder of Envestnet, has been at the nexus of every major trend happening in the financial services industry for the past 15 years. As a serial acquirer, Jud and his team have built an industry behemoth.

With recent acquisitions including Yodlee for big data and analytics (pending), FinanceLogix for financial planning, and Upside for robo advisor–coupled with its many existing businesses–Envestnet has a window into almost every corner of what’s happening in the advisor space. And in today’s show, Jud and I talk about all of it and what the future holds for financial advisors.

Seven Things You’ll Discover in This Episode

  1. How the value proposition of financial advisors is changing and what the successful advisor of the future looks like.
  2. The main way the advisor of the future can improve their productivity and grow their fee-based practice at 2.2 times the rate of the average advisor.
  3. The three things we can thank robo advisors for. One is they’ve set a market rate for commoditized investment advice. The second is they’ve demonstrated the value of aggregated data as a backbone to a financial plan. And the third is they’ve proved the value some investors place on 24/7 access to their account data.
  4. Specific ways the promise of “big data” and account aggregation will help advisors and clients make more money and reach better outcomes.
  5. What the implications for advisors are when Jud says, “We’re seeing lots of evolution, lots of transformation, lots of evolving towards different pricing arrangements for the advisor.”
  6. How to conquer the digital divide that separates advisors stuck in an old business model from advisors who are well-equipped to work with the digitally savvy clients of the present and future.
  7. Why having an offering for millennials that may not fit your normal account minimum is an essential ingredient for the successful advisor of the future.

 

Sep 27, 2015

In this fourth and final episode in the millennial advisor series, we discuss an area that was not addressed with our previous guests.

The other guests were all running their own independent RIAs and generally targeting other young professionals with non-traditional business and pricing models.

But what about millennial advisors who are pursuing a traditional career within a well-established RIA? What’s their story? How are the established RIAs finding, managing, and retaining talented young advisors in their business?

To find out, I dialed up my friends at United Capital, one of the country’s largest RIAs, and had a great conversation with Jarrod Upton and Brandon Moss. Jarrod and Brandon are two of the firm’s leaders and they work with their young, up and coming advisors.

Sep 19, 2015

Today’s guest, millennial Alan Moore, started out working for a traditional RIA firm, then started his own “location independent” RIA while concurrently developing other entrepreneurial sources of income. Alan and I discuss how millennial advisors think, act and make money differently than traditional financial advisors and what that means for the future of the financial advisory profession. Traditional RIAs can benefit from hiring a millennial advisor and injecting some “millennial thinking” in their business.

Aug 24, 2015

MILLENNIAL FINANCIAL ADVISOR JAMES OSBORNE STARTED OUT ON A TRADITIONAL FINANCIAL ADVISOR TRACK then he became disillusioned.

He noticed there wasn't much difference in the services he provided to a client with a 3 or 4 million dollar portfolio versus a client with a half million dollar portfolio. As he told me, "It started to feel that the fee structure was not based on what we did for people or the value proposition, but was really based on ability to pay."

So what did he do?

He left the traditional RIA, started his own firm, and began charging a flat fee of $4,500 per year, which includes financial planning and investment management services.

Today, after just three years, James has about $100 million in AUM, roughly 50 clients, and is earning a nice living running a lifestyle practice in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.

If you do the math, you'll notice his fee comes out to about 25 basis points on $100 million in assets. That's equal to what the average robo advisor charges but in James' case--it also includes personal financial planning directly with him. 

He's beating the robo advisors at their own game!

His pricing structure is just one of the many ways he's reimagining the financial services industry. We discuss them all in the podcast.

This is the second in my series on how millennial financial advisors are shaking up the industry. Be sure to checkout the first one with Brittney Castro--including her finance rap video.

 

Aug 10, 2015

MILLENNIALS GET A LOT OF PRESS AND THERE'S GOOD REASON FOR THAT. They’re over 80 million strong, they’re digitally savvy, and they tend to think and act much differently than earlier generations.

In this new series of podcasts, I interview several leading millennial advisors and explore their business models, their thinking, and how their cohort may reshape the financial industry over the next 15 years.

Although there’s no definitive start and end date for this generation, it’s fair to say they range in age from about 35 to as young as 15. You may think they’re too young and too few in the business to have an impact on our industry. In the short-term, that’s true. But long-term, they’ll cause a titanic shift in how financial advice is conducted.

As I spoke to these millennials, it’s clear—they’re smart, articulate, and definitely not your “traditional” RIA.

They have different business models. They price their services differently. They market differently. And they’re not afraid to call out what they see as “problems” with the way financial services is structured today.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to these advisors and I know you’ll enjoy listening to their stories. Keep an open mind because they are the future of our business.

First up is Brittney Castro, a talented and innovative RIA from Los Angeles.

Brittney is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, entrepreneur, personal finance expert for women and Founder & CEO of Financially Wise Women. She specializes in working with busy, established professional and entrepreneurial women who are passionate about life and want to finally understand money—how to manage it, save it, invest it, and protect it—in a fun and simple way.

 

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