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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A relatively small number of RIA firms have grown faster and more profitably than their peers in recent years, according to research from InvestmentNews and BlackRock.

Dubbed "Elite RIAs," these firms have cracked the code and implemented strategies, tactics, and "ways of doing business" that propelled them to the top.

On average, these Elite RIAs have > $500 million in AUM, $5.8 million in revenue, 13 full-time employees, 365 active households, and revenue per client of $14,327.

In today’s episode, Hollie Fagan, head of BlackRock's RIA business, and I discuss the specifics of what these leading RIAs are doing to scoop up the lion's share of industry assets.

You could be a highly competent financial advisor but if few people know about you, you’ll starve for new business.
 
There are two main ways to become known to your ideal audience.

1. Develop the audience yourself through marketing.
2. Show up in the middle of somebody else’s audience and display your value.

I can assure you, the second option is by far the most effective both in terms of time and money if done correctly.
 
In today’s episode, we discuss the mechanics of how to show up in the middle of a media outlet’s audience and share your voice, your opinion, and your insights to a large group of ideal prospects who are hungry for your wisdom.
 
My special guests are Jim Pavia, senior editor-at-large at CNBC Digital and Fred Gabriel, editor at InvestmentNews.
 
Jim and Fred are two of the financial industry’s top journalists and they share an incredible number of tips and insights on how to work with the media to get your message out. 

Visit www.belayadvisor.com/media-marketing to read 9 tips from today's episode.

Today’s podcast with Steve Sanduski is all about understanding the concept of exponential technology and how you can incorporate it in your business to accelerate your growth, your profitability, and keep you relevant for years to come.
 
In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why your mindset is a more important asset than time.
• How a deep understanding of the "6 D’s of Exponentials" will prepare you for explosive business success.
• Why the marginal cost of sales and marketing is heading toward zero and what that means to you.
• How a simple exercise called “Add a Zero” can completely change your thinking.
• Why you can’t just redesign your process, you have to reimagine the entire client experience.
• Why radical pricing transparency is critical to your future success.

Get ready for a wild ride as Steve takes you on a tour of the future of financial planning. It's very bright for those who are ready to embrace exponential technology and Steve lays out a roadmap on how to do it. 

Consumers are getting spoiled with services like Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, and the iPhone and they expect the same level of ease and access when working with an advisor. If you don’t deliver it, you’ll lose clients to advisors who will.
 
In today’s podcast, I discuss the conversations I had in New York last week with Betterment founder and CEO Jon Stein, Personal Capital co-founder and CEO Bill Harris, and the on-stage duo of Ric Edelman, chairman and CEO of Edelman Financial Services and Bill Bachrach, founder and CEO of Bachrach & Associates.
 
You’ll learn…

• How Betterment’s RetireGuide is the latest example of a Robo firm quickly moving up the complexity scale and digitizing what used to be solely done by financial advisors.
• The one thing both Jon Stein of Betterment and Bill Harris of Personal Capital told me financial advisors should be scared of.
• What Jon Stein thinks of the traditional 1% AUM fee and his take on Vanguard’s new hybrid advice offering.
• The metrics behind Personal Capital’s conversion of clients from account aggregation to directly managed assets.
• Why Ric Edelman firmly believes half of all financial advisors will be gone within the next 10 years and what you can do to NOT be one of them.
• What Ric Edelman believes the advisor/client relationship will look and feel like in the future.

My main reason for visiting New York last week was to attend Singularity University’s Exponential Finance Conference. Today’s podcast is the first of two podcasts that will address some of the things I heard at this event.
 
While some of the things discussed at the event were “way out there,” my role is to connect the dots and translate what I’m hearing and seeing into practical ways for you to grow your business and make it more profitable.

If you want to accelerate your growth rate and create a consistent stream of new clients, you have to move beyond referral marketing and become a marketing machine. David Canter, EVP, Practice Management and Consulting at Fidelity leads an ace team that has been consulting with RIAs and researching how they can elevate their performance for years. 

In today's podcast, David and I discuss what the RIA Marketing Leaders are doing to grow their business 40% faster than non-marketing leaders. You'll learn...

• The percentage of revenue the Marketing Leaders invest in marketing and business development.
• The 6 key disciplines Marketing Leaders devote the most resources to.
• How to leverage the "Rule of 15" to double your business.
• Why your "About Us" page should be more like an "About You" page.
• How to generate more referrals by being a "giver," not just a "taker."
• The importance of using events to get your message out.

Elliot Weissbluth started $30 Billion RIA firm HighTower by asking, "If we had a blank piece of paper and a blank slate and I started with my mom as the client, what would she expect from a thoughtful financial advisor?" Working backward from that premise, he built the firm into a powerhouse. In this episode, we discuss: How he raised $65 million in institutional money before even having his first client. Why he fires himself each year. The one metric all RIAs should track. The two things their advisor do (and don't do) to grow organically at double the industry rate. The three keys to building a thriving RIA in the years ahead. Who will be disrupted by robo technology. As a founder and excellent business leader, Elliot is well worth listening to. 

Faced with the task of upgrading the portfolio accounting system at CLS Investment, his family's growing investment advisory firm, Eric Clarke couldn't find a suitable off-the-shelf product. So, like every great entrepreneur, he decided to build it himself. That was 1999. Today, Orion Advisor Services is a fast-growing $25 million technology company that serves as the operational hub for many of the country's leading Registered Investment Advisory firms. Eric shares how he built the firm, how they keep innovating, and the big mistake he made that kept the company mired in slow growth for its first 5 years. 

Carl Richards is best known as the Behavior Gap guy and for his weekly Sketch Guy column in the New York Times. He’s now out with a new book, The One-Page Financial Plan. We had a lively conversation about the book, his writing process, financial planning conversations, and how financial advisors can use books in general to build their business.