Financial Advisor Success

Today’s guest is the CEO of Graham Strategy, a marketing consulting firm that helps financial advisors craft relevant marketing messages to reach their target clientele. Gail Graham has had a fascinating career spanning a wide range of advisory businesses, and she has held a similar marketing role as she moved from the private wealth division of PNC Bank to Fidelity’s Private Client Group, and later to her position as Chief Marketing Officer for United Capital. The experience she has gained over the years means she truly understands what it takes to successfully market an intangible like financial planning services. In this episode, we talk in depth about how to more effectively communicate financial planning and its value, as well as why financial advisors need to get clear about who their ideal client is. We also discuss why it’s absolutely essential to focus in order to find the right marketing messages that really resonate and Gail’s process for finding and refining your own value proposition. For show no

Today’s guest is the Director of Operations for Sequoia Financial Group, a hybrid RIA that manages more than $3.7 billion and spans four office locations. Shaun Kapusinski started out in the industry over fifteen years ago as a financial advisor selling life insurance, but made a shift early in his career to the operations side of the business. Since then, he has been able to grow his career by following an operations career track instead of the more traditional paths. In this episode, we talk about the organizational structure of his mega advisory firm, how they split apart a division of shared services, and why the firm is looking to make a shift to Salesforce Financial Services Cloud for their next stage of growth. We also talk about Shaun’s own unique career path, as well as why he believes that getting an MBA may be more valuable for those in the operations side. Tune in to hear Shaun’s valuable insight as he shares what he has learned throughout his impressive career. For show notes and more visit: http

Today’s guest, Susan Bradley, is the founder of Sudden Money Institute, which trains financial advisors to work with clients who experience an abrupt increase in their finances. These so-called “sudden money transitions” can come from a personal injury settlement, an inheritance, a divorce settlement, or any other swift influx of money, and they require a unique skill set from advisors. That’s why Sudden Money Institute trains advisors through a designation program called The CeFT (Certified Financial Transitionist). In this episode, we talk in depth about why advisors need to understand how to help clients through sudden money transitions, the requirements and benefits of earning a CeFT, how Sudden Money Institute facilitates productive conversations with clients, and more. For show notes and more visit https://www.kitces.com/46

Today’s guest is Rebecca Pomering, the Chief Practice Officer of Moss Adams, a mega accounting firm with more than $600 million in revenue and 2,800 employees, as well as a wealth management division with more than $2.1 billion in assets under management. After starting in the financial advisor consulting division at the age of 23, Rebecca took over the firm’s wealth advisors by the time she turned 30—right before the 2008 financial crisis—and has since nearly tripled the size of the firm. Rebecca’s fascinating personal career spans consulting, leadership, and executive roles, and today you’ll hear the lessons she learned along the way. Listen in to hear how she managed to grow a wealth management firm within an established accounting firm, changes she had to make to keep Moss Adams on track during the market crash, her advice for young advisors, and so much more. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/45 

At the age of 30 he has already executed a successful succession plan and more than doubled the size of the practice. He explains the unique structure of the company and goes into detail about the succession plan he was a part of. Jake talks about the up-front payment system they have and how it works for the variety of clients they serve. services they provide and how they help both the client and them as a business. He also talks about how important tracking, systematizing and creating processes is crucial to the success of the practice. For show notes and more visit https://www.kitces.com/44

Selling your business is like handing off your child in a way and it is well known that succession plans can often be messy, confusing and hard to navigate. Marty Kurtz is on the show today to share his impressive journey. We get to hear the details from the beginning stages of building a successful company with strong partnerships, to handing off the baton and creating a succession plan that is best for everyone involved. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/43

Carol Craigie is to co-founder of the Fiscal Fitness Clubs of America, a financial wellness company that aims to expand the reach of financial advice using a combination of online education and group classes.

Elaine shares how her advisory firm fee structure evolved, from initially doing standalone financial planning project fees to her current blended AUM plus upfront planning fee model, the unique engagement process that she uses, and the way that she breaks up her upfront planning fee into an initial series of ongoing payments in the first three months, to helping clients get into completing the process. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/41  

Phillip is the founder and CEO of Ensemble Practice, talks about different ways that advisors can share equity in becoming the multi-professional advisory firm and what it takes to actually introduce a new second generation to the firm. For show notes and more visit https://www.kitces.com/40

Learn how behavioral assessment tools could eventually become a way that we show our value as financial advisors where we provide the assessment and show them how we’re helping them change their financial attitudes and behaviors for the better. Access full episode show notes at kitces.com/39.

How you can use social media as a successful path to marketing and specifically to facilitate work life balance. In this episode, the chat with Winnie Sun, co-founder of Sun Financial Group. Winnie explores what’s functioning when it comes to online social media marketing and why she still balances spending two thirds of her time in wealth management and business. She also talks about how she structured her team with her partner to support her practice. Get full episode show notes at kitces.com/38

Today’s guest has seen her company go from gaining nearly 150 clients over a decade to yielding four prospect inquiries per week. How did they do it? Let’s just say Johanna Fox Turner has discovered the power of finding a niche. Her fee-only financial advisory firm, Fox & Company, recently switched to focusing on physicians as its specialty. It has since seen such rapid growth – there is now a six to eight week waiting list for new clients.  On this episode, Johanna shares with us how she managed her company’s change in focus – restructuring their advisory fees from an AUM model to a three-tiered retainer structure. We also learn how she has been able to generate a high volume of referrals through unique centers of influence.  Johanna explains how she broke the news of shifting into a niche to her existing clients, and why her existing non-doctor clients have stayed with her as she focuses into her new doctor niche. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/37  

We routinely bang the drum for choosing a niche and throwing all your effort at it - and Scott Hanson’s firm, Hanson McClain, is proof that this technique works.  The combination of dedicated, long-term marketing strategies and a niche of retiring utility workers has helped Scott and his partner Pat turn their business into a national advisory firm that serves about 4500 clients. And his firm handles all marketing for advisors, so advisors can focus on providing financial planning services rather than worrying about business development. In this interview, Scott talks about the major investment his $2.5 billion AUM firm has made in marketing, including hiring ten-plus marketing staff. And be sure to listen to the end, where Scott talks about the decision to sell 70% stake in his business in order to help the business keep growing strong well into the future. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/36

Cheryl Holland's firm, Abacus Planning Group, is based in Columbia, South Carolina. Working in a mid-sized city such as Columbia might prove tricky for other advisors, but her niche working with families who hold business and other close assets has set her apart. Coupled with her natural drive and a willingness to keep learning, Cheryl has build a firm that rests on the core tenets of learning, growth, empathy, and challenging work. In this interview, Cheryl talks about how she built Abacus, why she invests so heavily in every one of her employees, and what she’s done to systematize just about every process in the office. She shares how technology has helped drive the growth of her firm, and why she’s put such a strong emphasis on teaching her team (and herself!) how to be keen listeners as well as talented financial advisors. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/35

Sheryl’s firm Rowling & Associates was already a robust planning practice before she decided to design and launch a rebalancing software that would be affordable and simple to use. In this interview, she shares the challenges of running concurrent businesses, what she wished she knew before diving into the software world, and what she learned about life and work while managing two related but demanding ventures. She’s also a fierce advocate for work-life balance and has built a practice that allows employees to serve clients to a high standard while also carving out time for the rest of their lives. Sheryl shares the structure of her firm today, along with her hiring philosophy and how she manages such great, holistic relationships with clients. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/34

Building a business is already hard. Building a successful wealth management business in a rural area, where there aren’t as many potential clients, is even harder. Meet Jeff Rose, the founder of Alliance Wealth Management, who will be sharing how his business is now managing over $40 million while making over $100k on the side from referrals and partnerships. Digital marketing is the main key to Jeff’s success. Ever since he got his first online client thanks to his blogging and online presence, his focus has shifted to taking advantage of the internet’s potential for connection. Jeff shares how he’s built up his online presence to make his business known locally and to a wider audience. He also gives us details on how he forged partnerships with insurance agencies and other services to provide more value to his customers while making money on the side. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/33

In this episode, Brittney Castro shares why and how she’s diversified her business and how she’s found great success in all three pillars. Brittney radiates passion for finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship as she talks about her business and the strategies she used to get where she is today. Her financial planning practice, Financially Wise Women, has successfully resonated with her niche due to her attention to what really matters. Brittney keeps things simple, from the fees she charges to the processes she uses to plan. By being in tune with her customers’ needs and maintaining personal limits on time and focus, Brittney has been able to build a reputable and successful brand. She shares the numbers with us and gives a closer look at what she has paid for projects and employees and how she has set up her massively successful marketing outreach. She also digs into the details of how she gets paid to represent brands and the process she went through, and is currently going through, to develop her own onli

When it’s time to hire a new financial planner to help grow the business and build your team, the task can seem overwhelming. Trusting your clients with just anyone isn’t an option, so how do you go about finding and recruiting the best of the best of today’s talented financial planners? Today we have Caleb Brown joining us on the show and sharing his tips for finding the top candidates to join your firm. Caleb is the co-founder of New Planner Recruiting Firm and has many years of both financial planning and strategic recruiting under his belt. He emphasizes the importance of looking beyond skill and diving into the deeper corners of applicants’ resumes and personalities to find any unteachable traits. From different testing methods to case studies and various interview techniques, Caleb teaches managers different tactics for finding trustworthy go-getters who can get clients to take action. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/31

Josh Itzoe is a CFP, AIF, and Partner at Greenspring Wealth, where he consults with corporate clients about how they can improve their 401(k) offerings. Josh is also a self-published author and believes that publishing a book about his industry was the best business decision he’s ever made.  In this episode, Josh shares how he initially got into the institutional side of financial planning and what fascinates him about helping companies hash out their 401(k) programs.  Josh also walks through the process of writing and publishing his book, and the results he saw afterward. He shares some of the best resources for those interested in the 401(k) planning space and talks about why he decided to read the entire ERISA law - which is no small feat - to gain an edge over other advisors. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/30

Dana Anspach and her firm Sensible Money have 110 full-service baby-boomer clients, $130 million AUM, and $1.3 million in annual revenue. And they do it all virtually. In this episode, Dana talks about the structure of her firm and how she’s built it into a brand that she hopes will continue long after she’s gone. She also shares how many of her clients were formerly her readers, and talks about how her foundational client questionnaire, followed by a 3-meeting strategy and comprehensive financial plan, leads about 70% of prospects wanting to become full-on clients. Be sure to listen to the end, where Dana discusses how her writing has formed the backbone of her brand and business, and the schedule she maintains to make sure it all gets done. Dana also shares many of the technological tools that allow Sensible Money to educate, service, and build trust with clients from around the globe. Get the full show notes and transcript for this episode at: www.kitces.com/29