Financial Advisor Success

Luna Jaffe is the founder of Lunaria Financial, an advisory firm that oversees nearly $55 million in assets under management for 100 client households. In an effort to make financial knowledge affordable, Luna launched the Sacred Money Studios and Prosperity Pie Shoppe, a literal pie shop across the street from her advisory firm office that offers low-cost financial education programs on budgeting.  In this episode, we discuss the budgeting philosophy her business teaches, as well as the real-world challenges that come with opening up a retail store with employees. Listen in to hear what Luna has learned while trying to expand the reach of financial education through a retail store, how she helps clients implement necessary changes, and more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/151  

Tanya Nichols is the founder of Align Financial, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees nearly $50 million of assets for 80 client households. After nearly 20 years of working in a larger firm environment, Tanya finally found the courage to start her own advisory firm and took the leap to create the business she wanted. In this episode, she shares her journey through the advisor industry, focusing on the moment of realization that led her to not only leave her firm, but leave her husband as well. Listen in as she explains how a sense of community has helped her along the way, how she plans to double her revenue, and what she says was the biggest surprise of her advisory career. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/150 

Susan John is the managing director and financial advisor for F.L. Putnam, an independent RIA that manages nearly $2 billion of assets under management. After 25 years of building her own independent financial planning firm from scratch, Susan decided to join F.L. Putnam for part of her succession—but not her retirement. Today she joins the show to discuss why she made that transition and how she has developed her financial planning process over the past three decades. Listen in as Susan explains her process and why she charges a full upfront fee to do financial planning “snapshots” for every client before even taking them on as an ongoing client. You’ll learn what she does for retired clients, how she expanded ownership of her firm, and how she grew her financial advisory firm to $350 million. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/149

Laura LaTourette is the founder of Family Wealth Management Group, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees $45 million of assets under management for 86 client households. Today Laura joins the show to share how she has built her firm to work primarily with the LGBTQ community and how she found the right time to come out to her broker-dealer. Listen in as we discuss her financial planning process, which includes four planning meetings with every new client. You’ll learn how she refined her website and her data gathering form to speak to her niche, why she recently hired a CEO for her firm, and more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/148 

Jeff Dobyns is the founder of Southwestern Investment Group, a hybrid advisory firm that oversees nearly $3.5 billion of assets under management. Today Jeff joins the show to discuss how he has developed next generation talent in his firm by only hiring new advisors in their 20s and giving them the opportunity to learn alongside experienced advisors. In this episode, you’ll hear about the mentoring program Jeff’s firm has built, as well as how the firm compensates these new advisors as they are learning. Listen in to discover why Jeff prefers not to hire experienced advisors, what tasks his firm ends up giving to the new advisors, and the marketing technique his team uses to grow their business. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/147 

Ross Levin is the co-founder and CEO of Accredited Investors Wealth Management, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $2 billion of assets under management for 475 affluent clients. Today Ross joins the show to discuss the way he systematized the financial planning process across his firm and developed a wealth management index system that tracks clients' progress. Listen in as he shares how he balances delving into the technical topics of financial planning versus trying to ask clients the right questions to explore the client's side of those issues. You’ll learn why it’s so important to have a systematized process, what Ross says is the most important thing when building a firm, and more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/146

Roger Pine is the co-founder of Holistiplan, a tax planning software built to systematize and automate the process of reviewing a client's tax return to find potential planning opportunities. Today he joins the show to discuss how he transitioned from working as a financial advisor to becoming a financial tech entrepreneur. Listen in as we talk about Roger’s software and the ever blurring lines between where a CPA’s tax services end and an advisor’s begin. You'll hear what it is like to be a financial tech entrepreneur, as well as advice for financial advisors who see an opportunity to develop a tech solution. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/145 

Tom Bradley is the former president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, one of the leading RIA custodial platforms serving nearly 7,000 independent RIAs with almost $600 billion of assets held in custody. For over 25 years, Tom was a part of the growth of financial advisors operating as independent RIAs on a custodial platform. Today he joins the show to discuss the evolution of the RIA custody model and how technology has affected the business. Listen in as we talk in depth about how TD Ameritrade uses the Veo open-access platform, as well as the surprising ways that RIA custodians generate their revenue from advisors and their clients. You’ll hear Tom’s views on why the RIA custodial options for how cash is invested has become such a hot topic and his predictions for the future of the RIA custodial business. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/144 

Cathy Curtis is the founder of Curtis Financial Planning, a solo independent RIA that oversees nearly $60 million in assets under management for 52 client households. By positioning her business into a niche of serving women—in particular, single, independent-minded women who want to work with a female advisor—Cathy has managed to stand out in an over-crowded marketplace to build her firm. Listen in as we discuss why Cathy chose her particular niche, as well as how she has been able to target her marketing so effectively that most of her new clients find her through a simple Google search. You’ll learn all about her financial planning process, why she has had to implement a minimum requirement fee, and how she managed to overcome impostor syndrome on her road to success. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/143 

Matt Oechsli, Founder and CEO of Oechsli Institute, delves into the art of building trust with affluent clients. He emphasizes the importance of personal details, like knowing clients' children's names, to strengthen relationships. Matt discusses the significance of structured relationship-building calendars over traditional client events, advocating for intimacy and personalization. He also shares strategies for new advisors, highlighting the need for genuine connections that enhance trust and drive referrals, transforming transactional interactions into lasting partnerships.