Financial Advisor Success

My guest today has found an impressive balance between creating a successful advisory firm and giving back to his community. Louis Barajas is the founder of Wealth Management LAB, a multi-family, office-style advisory firm that specializes in providing financial advice and business manager services to entertainers and other celebrities in the Latino community. The first Latino minority to join the National Board of the Financial Planning Association over a decade ago, Louis built his advisory firm over time, from trying to serve Latino small business owners in the barrio where he grew up to writing books and teaching financial literacy to the Latino and broader communities. In this episode, Louis shares the stages of his unique path into financial planning that culminated in him starting his own solo practice, as well as how he stayed positive and overcame the setbacks he faced along the way. Listen in to learn how Louis built his success by focusing not on financial planning but on what he calls financial doing, the immutable laws that everyone in his firm follows, and what he says is the key to expanding financial advice to a broader range of underserved consumers. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/81 

My guest on today’s podcast has grown his niche practice of serving physicians and retirees to nearly $70 million in assets under management and $800,000 of revenue in just eight years. Matthew Blocki is a 30-year-old financial advisor who built his financial-planning-centric business by starting out at Northwestern Mutual and quickly evolving from nearly 100 transactional insurance clients per year to a hyper-focused practice that’s aiming to grow with just 15 affluent clients per year instead. In this episode, Matthew shares how he got started and survived in the early years of building his practice from scratch, as well as how he differentiated himself as a 20-something advisor working with retirees. Listen in to hear what helped shape his career in the beginning, how his practice and focus have changed over the years, and what it takes to come out exponentially ahead in your business. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/80

My guest today has built her practice to more than $250,000/year of recurring financial planning fees in just her first three years—and she did it while also starting a family. The founder of FIT Advisors, Anjali Jariwala provides financial investment and tax planning advice for young physicians and small business owners in their thirties for an annual retainer fee that starts at $10,000/year. Working entirely virtually with clients, her firm has achieved impressive growth, due in major part to focusing in on a niche from the start, which allowed the firm to pursue unique marketing channels that most other financial advisors don’t use. In this episode, Anjali shares how she positioned her advisory firm squarely in the niche of serving independent physicians and similar small business owners by leveraging her background as a CPA and a CFP certificate, as well as how she iterated her business model very rapidly in the first few years until she eventually eliminated all the upfront fees and just raised her ongoing retainer instead. Listen in to learn how she structures her upfront and ongoing planning meetings with clients, how she balanced her work life with her home life after having her first baby barely a year after the launch of the firm, and how she reinvested into and restructured her staff support to be able to continue serving her clients during her time off. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/79

My guest today brings a unique discussion to the podcast, as well as a fascinating history with an organization that a lot of advisors aren’t necessarily familiar with, but can surely learn from when it comes to really listening to the clients you’re serving. Charlotte Beyer is the founder and former CEO of the Institute for Private Investors, a private networking organization for ultra-high-net-worth investors and advisors who serve them. After building a new category of community group twenty-five years ago—in a space where people said it couldn’t be done—Charlotte now has a highly successful business and an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges and concerns of her particular client base. In this episode, she shares her impressive professional journey as she built a series of conferences and networking events in an online community for ultra-high-net-worth individuals before the world of social media and online communities, as well as insights from her recently updated book, Wealth Management Unwrapped. Listen in to learn how the needs and concerns for people of high net worth differ from those of other clients advisors serve, what Charlotte sees as the future of working with ultra-high-net-worth investors, and lessons any advisor can draw from regarding the importance of adapting what you offer to fit what your specific clients really want and need. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/78

Tanya Rapacz is the co-founder of The Partnership Resource, a unique business in the industry that does facilitation and mediation for advisory firm partners. Given her own experience working as a financial advisor—as well as her experience with a partnership merger that didn’t work out—Tanya understood the challenges that can arise from partnerships even before she was trained in dispute resolution mediation. In this episode, she talks in depth about what it takes for a partnership to work. Listen in to hear details about Tanya’s process for working with financial advisor partners to facilitate healthy communication and conflict resolution, the surprising truth about what kinds of people make the best business partners, and key areas that should be worked out early on for a partnership to be successful. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/77

My guest today brings a truly unique perspective to the financial planning world. In addition to being an associate professor in the financial planning program at Kansas State University, Kristy Archuleta is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Her background as a trained psychologist means she understands how to help clients improve their financial behaviors in a way that isn’t typically seen with advisors. In this episode, Kristy shares the details of the work she does at the intersection of financial planning and financial therapy, as well as why—according to the best practices research of therapists themselves—the typical advisor approach is actually not a good way to get people to change their financial behaviors for the better. Listen in to hear what she says makes clients more likely to implement financial planning advice, why she anticipates that financial therapy will eventually become a specialization path for financial planners, and more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/76

Kathy Longo is the president and founder of Flourish Wealth Management, an advisory firm in the Minneapolis area that oversees nearly $130 million of AUM for 61 affluent clients. Surprisingly, Kathy chose to start this firm after successfully climbing the partnership track ladder to become one of the next generation successor owners of an independent RIA worth over $1 billion. In this episode, Kathy shares what led to her choosing to leave a successful firm to pursue her own entrepreneurial goals, as well as the challenges she faced in doing so. Listen in to hear how she has grown her business, why it’s so important to find study groups of peers and colleagues, and the crucial philosophy she says all small business owners should embrace. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/75 

Diane MacPhee, founder of DMAC Consulting Services and a seasoned fee-only financial advisor, shares her insights on overcoming self-limiting beliefs and the challenges solo financial advisors face. She emphasizes the significance of self-confidence in professional growth and offers strategies to manage feelings of overwhelm. Diane also discusses the transition from solo practices to team collaborations, effective client fee management, and the importance of communication in navigating client relationships. Her personal anecdotes provide a relatable touch to the journey within financial advisory.

My guest today is well known in the financial services industry as a true creative force. Sheri Fitts is the founder of ShoeFitts Marketing—a marketing consulting firm for financial advisors—and the Chief Marketing Officer for Sheridan Road Advisors—a Chicago-area advisory firm with nearly $13 billion in AUM. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Sheri specializes in crafting unforgettable marketing strategies that really stand out. In this episode, she shares her journey from working a traditional corporate job to going out on her own as an independent consultant, as well as the key marketing concepts that have helped her get to where she is today. Listen in to hear Sheri’s take on how to leverage and maximize marketing ideas, the fundamental difference between sales and marketing, and what advisory firms need to cultivate in order to succeed. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/73 

Dave DeVoe, founder of DeVoe & Co., brings his expertise in advisory firm valuations and M&A to the discussion. He highlights the flaws in traditional revenue-based valuation methods, advocating for a more nuanced, cash flow-focused approach. The conversation explores the emotional complexities advisors face in partnership decisions and the importance of governance and succession planning. DeVoe also delves into the current duality of the market, revealing unique insights into financing strategies and the nuanced dynamics of mergers in the advisory space.