201: Peter Mallouk - #1 Financial Advisor In America: Tony Robbins Business Partner

Apr 23, 2017

Peter Mallouk, President of Creative Planning and co-author with Tony Robbins, shares his journey from a conflicted financial advisor to a trusted independent fiduciary. He emphasizes the importance of incremental improvements and spending time with clients over meetings. Mallouk highlights how his diverse educational background, including psychology, enhances client relationships. He discusses the rigorous hiring process that upholds high standards and explains how the 2008 financial crisis drove a demand for value-driven independent advisors.

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INSIGHT

Small Improvements Add Up

Sustained excellence comes from treating success like a recipe and optimizing incremental details.
Energy, discipline, and belief in your work let you repeat small advantages into disproportionate outcomes.

ANECDOTE

Why He Left Estate Planning

Peter started Creative Planning because he felt conflicted working with advisors selling inappropriate products.
He deliberately built an independent, fiduciary firm that tailors portfolios and avoids selling proprietary products.

ADVICE

Be A Player-Coach

Spend most of your time where you add the most value: with clients and employees.
Use direct client contact to learn what to change, coach better, and avoid pointless conferences and meetings.

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Episode 201: Peter Mallouk - #1 Financial Advisor In America: Tony Robbins Business Partner

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The Learning Leader Show

"I was not the greatest student, but I loved learning." - Peter Mallouk on why he earned 4 undergrad degrees, an MBA, a JD, and a CFP

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:
- Realize there is a recipe: Like baking a cake
- Bring incremental value
- Energy
- Discipline to do it over and over and over
Why start his business? Was uncomfortable just doing Estate planning and working with unethical people
Key to success
- Great early hires helped propel Creative Planning
Time management tips
- Focuses on doing what he enjoys most - Spending time with clients and employees, not pointless meetings
"My #1 job is to be the best option for our clients as an advisor. I spend 99% of my time with clients and employees."
"I loathe meetings and seminars"
Key to all of the awards?
- "Money follows value" -- In 2008/2009, people started looking for another financial advisor
"We are very good at taking someone good and help make them great"
Interview process:
- They receive over 100 job applications per week
- Resume screen all
- Pick the 5 best and do a phone screen
- Bring the best of those 100 (1 person typically) for an in person interview
- Meet with 6 different people
- Within the first 30 days, it still feels like an interview "We throw the ball and they better catch it, it's hard."
- Qualities needed:
  - Education
  - Ability to be detail oriented
  - Great communicator
  - Must be task oriented ("We can't make them be this, they need to have it")
  - Make sure they can meet the clients needs
How the Tony Robbins relationship started -- Peter informed Tony that he didn't fully understand what he was talking about (in regards to money)
"Tony got pissed off and wrote Money: Master The Game..."
What to look for in a business?
- "Find something that is idiot proof because at some point an idiot will be running the company"
The keys to look for in a financial advisor
- Independent - Gets paid the same on every investment no matter what
What response has Peter received from other financial advisors?
- "It has been negative. I'm okay if they don't like me. I'm competing against them, I don't expect us to all get along."

Continue Learning:

Follow Peter on Twitter: @PeterMallouk
Read: Unshakeable - Your Financial Freedom Playbook
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12