Managing Your Practice
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Managing Your Practice is dedicated to providing financial professionals with best practices in key areas such as driving growth, business efficiency, and the client experience. Dimensional Fund Advisors delivers insights based on our history of industry-leading financial advisor benchmark studies and client surveys. We help advisors leverage those insights when making the critical business decisions successful firms face every day.
The information is provided in good faith without any warranty and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products for sale and is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change.
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The information is provided in good faith without any warranty and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products for sale and is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision.
All expressions of opinion are subject to change.
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 22, 2022 • 51min
Building a Better Advisory Practice Through Diversity and Inclusion
Kamila Elliott, board chair of the CFP board and CEO and founder of Collective Wealth Partners, and Kara Duckworth, managing director of client experience at Mercer Advisors, join Dimensional's Catherine Williams to discuss how their firms are approaching diversity and what it means to not only serve women and other underrepresented investor clients, but also the importance of building a more diverse pool of candidates for financial services professions.
May 18, 2022 • 48min
The Five-Step Framework for Growing Your Business Through Deliberate Practice
Craig Wortmann, CEO of Sales Engine and a clinical professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, discusses how top-performing firms may emulate the way elite athletes or musicians enhance performance through deliberate practice. He shares a five-step framework built on purposeful action that may help you become more effective in your role as a financial advisor and business leader.
Apr 20, 2022 • 40min
Connecting the Dots: How to Drive Growth Through Your Culture, People, and Client Experience
Investing early in the next generation of leaders may be the key to your firm's longevity, but it can be difficult to balance short-term revenue and profit objectives with long-term business goals. Cameron Passmore, portfolio manager and executive chairman of PWL Capital in Canada, shares from more than 20 years of experience in creating a culture that focuses on both ambition and humility, and emphasizes investing in and developing employees as an integral part of the long-term business plan.
Mar 22, 2022 • 42min
System & Soul: Why Your Practice Needs Both to Thrive
As a business leader are you focused on the systems or the soul side of your practice? Are you building a team that focuses on both? Benj Miller, co-founder of the business operating framework System & Soul, joins Dimensional's Catherine Williams to share the six key elements leaders can focus on to support client satisfaction, employee development, and growth in their business. Learn more in Miller's book The Clarity Field Guide, available at www.clarityfieldguide.com.
Feb 15, 2022 • 44min
Why Leveraging Technology in Your Advisory Firm Has Never Been More Important
As the world becomes more comfortable with rapid technology advancements, has your firm considered how the client experience is changing as a result? With seemingly endless options, how do you know where to make investments that have a lasting impact? Doug Fritz, CEO of F2 Strategy, joins Catherine Williams, Dimensional's Head of Practice Management, to discuss areas of technology advisors should consider to support firm growth, and how to determine which ones best fit your unique business needs.
Jan 19, 2022 • 46min
Tips for Navigating the Compliance and Regulatory Landscape in 2022
Compliance plays a critical role in financial services, but keeping up with regulations from the SEC, FINRA, and individual states can be overwhelming. How do you ensure that you're interpreting them correctly? Do you have processes in place to protect your clients and team? Are you prepared if you get audited? Leila Shaver, founder of My RIA Lawyer, joins Catherine Williams, Dimensional's Head of Practice Management, to discuss compliance concerns and regulatory changes you can prepare for now.
Dec 8, 2021 • 47min
From Intern to CEO: The Roadmap for a Successful Internal Succession Plan
Every founder of a financial advisory firm will at some point face the question of succession. If looking internally, who is the heir apparent and when should they begin handing over the reins? The process can take years and may be difficult to navigate for the founder and successor. Catherine Williams, Dimensional's Head of Practice Management, is joined by Eric Hehman, CEO of Austin Asset, to talk about his journey from intern to CEO and the successful succession plan he helped develop along the way.
Nov 9, 2021 • 1h 2min
When Less Is More: Getting Clear on Your Strategic Vision and Target Market
Michael Kitces, Head of Planning Strategy for Buckingham Wealth Partners and co-founder of the XY Planning Network, shares his insights on steering a successful advisory firm. He discusses the importance of having a clear vision and how focusing on a specific niche can help advisors stand out in a competitive landscape. Kitces emphasizes building meaningful client relationships and overcoming hesitations to engage for better feedback. He also explores the journey of transitioning leadership effectively and how resilience shapes a firm’s growth.
Oct 12, 2021 • 52min
What Three Personality Types Does Your Firm Need to Grow?
It can take a range of skill sets to start and build a successful financial advisory firm. But whether that firm remains a smaller, lifestyle practice or grows into a larger self-sustaining enterprise can depend on the culture and the right mix of personality types. Catherine Williams, Dimensional's Head of Practice Management, is joined by Jon Jones, co-founder and CEO of the wealth management firm Brighton Jones, to explore how you can identify, hire, and align the right personalities with the goals of your firm.
Sep 15, 2021 • 41min
Keeping an Eye on the Bottom Line: How Your P&L Statement Can Help Guide Your Business Decisions
Most advisors are excellent at evaluating investment options for clients but can fall short in assessing their own financial statements and what they are saying about the health of their businesses. Catherine Williams, Dimensional's Head of Practice Management, is joined by Philip Palaveev, founder and CEO of The Ensemble Practice, to explore how assessing a firm's profit and loss (P&L) statement and other financials could possibly be the key to growing faster, achieving greater profitability, and creating more opportunities for advisors and their teams.
