Between Now and Success

Curiosity. The best advisors have it. Hannah Moore's curiosity has led her down many roads and in today's podcast, she shares what she's learned about structuring the client meeting process, creating client personas, blogging to "just one person," using three words to define your business, succession planning, and much more. My guest today, Investment News "40 under 40" honoree Hannah Moore, is an expert on charting a course from young advisor to successful RIA. Hannah is a CFP® and owner of Guiding Wealth Management. She also hosts the podcast, "You're a Financial Planner, Now What?" where she tries to help young advisors with guidance on career paths, tips on research and client service, and explorations of the history of financial planning.

How do you go from a struggling, cash-strapped RIA to running a fast-growing, profitable top firm? Adopt Sten Morgan's 7 Mindsets and you'll be on your way. As the founder of Legacy Investment Planning, Sten Morgan has lived that dream, and overcome the obstacles that go with it. Sten was recently named one of the “40 Under 40” by Investment News, and his new book, “7 Mindsets of Success,” challenges entrepreneurs to change their mindsets, and see their businesses, and the world, differently. On today’s show, Sten explains how the mindsets that he had been developing from a young age allowed him to go from making nothing, to running a successful RIA firm in three short years.

By rethinking every aspect of how to price and deliver wealth management, AdvicePeriod has gone from a startup just a few years ago, to more than $6 billion in assets under advisement. We go under the hood to learn exactly how they did it. They're not shy about stating their take on the financial advisory business. "We're reinventing wealth management. The old model is totally outdated," says the bold headline at the top of their website. My guest today, Larry Miles, is a Principal and shareholder at AdvicePeriod, and as the company's proclamation about reinventing wealth management suggests, he isn't one to set the bar low.  Larry's primary focus at AdvicePeriod is to provide strategic leadership for growth and profitability while maintaining a high standard of excellence, something all financial advisors should be thinking about as our industry evolves into Life-Centered PlanningTM.

The latest RIA Benchmarking Study from Charles Schwab contains surprising insights and contradicts some common industry beliefs. I always look forward to Schwab's annual Benchmarking Study because it's full of data that I enjoy digging into to uncover the health of our industry. This year's report is no exception as it contains some nuggets that may surprise you. On today's show, Jon Betty, Charles Schwab's Senior Vice President of Advisory Services, joins me to sort through the results of the latest Benchmarking Study. Jon brings 18 years of experience working with fee-based advisors to this discussion on "what success looks like across firm size as well as different life stages of an advisory firm."

Gail Graham is one of those rare people who have worked in the top echelon of two major companies--Fidelity Investments and United Capital--and helped shaped their strategies that led to massive growth and industry accolades. Today, Gail is the founder of Graham Strategy, and works with companies to figure out where the gaps are between their strategy and how they're running their company. On today’s show, Gail and I discuss the evolution of advisor marketing and offer some advice on how to fill the gaps in your marketing, content, and advisory strategies to grow your business. It’s going to be more and more important that advisors build not just a practice, but a distinct brand that communicates who they are and what kind of services they offer (i.e., messaging). Gail’s tips will help you stand out in the crowd, generate more leads, and endear clients to your firm.

The science of wealth is in Sarah Fallaw’s DNA. Her father, the late Dr. Thomas Stanley, literally wrote THE book on how and why affluent people accumulate wealth, "The Millionaire Next Door" (1996). Today, Sarah is using her doctorate in applied psychology to create analytics and metrics that carry on Dr. Stanley’s study of wealth-building habits at the company she founded, DataPoints. The proprietary assessment technology Sarah has developed can analyze individual wealth behaviors and reveal the activities that are scientifically proven to impact people's ability to generate wealth over time. On today’s show, Sarah discusses the psychology behind wealth, and how her assessment technology can help financial advisors identify and work well with prospective clients who have strong wealth-building habits.

The resurgence of analog products in our digital advisor world has profound implications for both consumers and businesses, which author David Sax details in his new book, “The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter.” As financial advisors get caught up in trying to “digital advisor everything,” it’s important to remember that there are many times when human to human contact is the best strategy to please the client and deliver the best client experience. On today’s podcast, David and I discuss how digital advisor and analog technologies can both complement and disrupt one another, and how striking the right balance between digital and analog experiences is key to your future success as a financial advisor.

If you're still stuffing mailers, making cold calls, and tweeting the occasional Warren Buffet interview to a handful of followers, it's time to upgrade your marketing strategy and let data driven content drive some foot traffic through your front door. On today's show, Justin Wisz, the co-founder and CEO of Vestorly, talks about how automated content and advanced AI can provide "delightful digital experiences" that will engage your client base beyond their balance sheets and, potentially, streamline your entire practice.

What if you had more than 20 years of financial services experience, then decided to start over and build a new RIA from scratch? Do you think you could take those decades of experience and build a new RIA in tune with the times? That's exactly what Stephanie Sammons is doing with her new RIA, SammonsWealth. Talk about a multi-hyphenate: Stephanie Sammons is the Founder and CEO of SammonsWealth, a best-selling author, a Certified Financial Planner, a speaker, a business coach ... and a singer-songwriter who just released a new EP in April! And for good measure, her 20+ years of financial advisory experience also includes successful runs at Merrill Lynch and UBS. On today's show, Stephanie explains how she drew on her wide variety of experience to go independent, and create a new RIA with a personalized approach.

Michael Nathanson is the chairman, CEO, and president of the Colony Group, a multi-billion dollar wealth management company with offices across the United States. But Michael thinks his most important title is one that isn't listed on his business card: CIO. "I sometimes joke that I'm CIO of this organization -- the Chief Inspiration Officer," says Michael. "I consider that to be one of my top functions. What's the key to our success? It's to attract, develop, engage and retain the best people in the business. That only comes with inspiration." On today's show, Michael offers some tips on creating inspiration, innovation, and growth in your business, and also shares memories of a couple of his Harvard Law School classmates whose names you'll definitely recognize (hint: think President and Supreme Court Justice).