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#FA Success Ep 371: Pairing Equity Appreciation Rights With Partnership Equity To Retain Long-Term Advisor Talent, With David Savir

February 6, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 371st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is David Savir. David is the Co-Founder and CEO of Element Pointe Family Office, a Fee-Only RIA based in Miami, Florida that oversees almost $1.6 billion in assets under advisement for 50 client households.

What's unique about David, though, is that through his 8 years building Element Pointe and focusing exclusively on high and ultra-high-net-worth clients, he and his partner Carlos Dominguez have created an Equity Appreciation Rights plan to enable the members of their team to participate in the growth of the firm, and key team members can then use the cash they earn (after a 3-4 year vesting period) to help fund the buy-in to become future partners, where they get outright equity, voting rights, and a seat at the proverbial (or actual) management team table.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how David not only works with ultra-high-net-worth clients with 10s of millions of dollars but has found such success with that core clientele that they've dialed back on working with more "emerging wealth" clients to just focus on the type of clientele to whom they deliver the most value, how David and his partner Carlos have increasingly adopted an investment approach utilizing both public and private market investments but have found it more beneficial to develop relationships with private equity and private credit firms directly on behalf of their clients and minimize their use of popular alternative investments platforms, and how Element Pointe has increasingly expanded its services beyond its original investment management capabilities to provide more financial planning and family office services… to the point that now in 2024, despite all the industry buzz about fee compression, they're actually raising their advisory fees to better reflect the real value they're providing .

We also talk about David's journey from an MBA and law background to joining Goldman Sachs, and later JPMorgan, where he initially built with ultra-high net worth clients used his firms' premium brands, until he was ready to break out on his own as an independent, the way David built a team around him to support the hyper-customized portfolio needs of his complex clientele who have to align investment decisions with navigating the timing of cash flows out of GRATs and note payments on IDGTs, and how the growth of what's become an 11-person team at his independent firm made David and his co-founder Carlos realize that they needed both a path to partnership for their next generation advisors and a way to make that path affordable, which led them to an equity appreciation rights plan to allow key team members to participate in the financial growth of the firm until they were offered a chance to outright buy in as equity partners.

And be certain to listen to the end, where David shares struggles with relinquishing control and how a key mentor cautioned him that it wouldn't be enough to 'just' compensate his team well while trying to keep all the firm's equity to himself, the way David balanced his goals of building and expanding a network of professional COIs that could provide him referrals and the sheer need to cold-call in his early years just to get any new clients on board when he was first getting started, and how David handled the challenges when he discovered that being an independent wasn't just about having more control and autonomy, it also meant figuring out everything from team and hiring to trade order management systems and technology APIs, and how it took a full 3 years before he finally felt like the challenges he faced in the business were no longer about the existential threat to survive but simply the strategic opportunities they would have to navigate to reach the next level of success.

So, whether you're interested in learning about David's focused strategy with ultra-high-net-worth clients, how David and his partner implemented an equity appreciation rights plan at the firm, or how he hires team members to support hyper-customized needs of clients, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with David Savir.Read More...

The Latest In Financial #AdvisorTech (February 2024)

February 5, 2024 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

Welcome to the February 2024 issue of the Latest News in Financial #AdvisorTech – where we look at the big news, announcements, and underlying trends and developments that are emerging in the world of technology solutions for financial advisors!

This month's edition kicks off with the news that financial planning software platform RightCapital has launched a workflow management tool called RightFlows to help advisors manage and assign steps in the financial planning process to team members and clients – which on the one hand capitalizes on advisor demand for workflow solutions tailored to the financial planning process without using a separate third-party tool, but on the other hand raises questions about how many different workflow support tools advisors will want to manage, given that many already use workflows within their CRM software (and other individual software tools may follow RightCapital's lead by offering their own embedded workflows).

From there, the latest highlights also feature a number of other interesting advisor technology announcements, including:

Dispatch (formerly OneAdvisory) recently raised $8 million in seed funding as it seeks to provide a centralized data warehousing solution for advisory firms and eliminate the need for point-to-point data integrations between individual software solutions – which although a relatively new category for AdvisorTech, seems poised to pick up steam as advisors increasingly seek better integration among their constantly-expanding tech stacks
Flourish has launched a new annuities platform, aiming to not only provide a marketplace of fee-based annuities for fiduciary RIAs but also to solve for the operational challenges of implementing annuities (and their notoriously burdensome paperwork) through streamlining and automation of the application process
Estate planning software provider Vanilla has announced a partnership with Vanguard's Ultra-High-Net-Worth (UHNW)-focused Personal Advisors Wealth Management, as Vanguard seeks to improve its estate planning offerings to better compete with other UHNW-focused firms and shows that the market for estate planning technology remains strong even as fewer and fewer people are actually subject to estate tax

Read the analysis about these announcements in this month's column, and a discussion of more trends in advisor technology, including:

Income Lab has released Life Hub, its holistic "financial dashboard" tool, as a standalone software offering where it will compete with Asset-Map – which underscores the growing popularity of tools that can clearly visualize a client's current financial situation, while highlighting how different software companies have approached the question of whether to split off popular features as their own standalone solutions or to leave them "bundled" with their other offerings
At the annual T3 Technology Conference, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-related vendors were present, but overall the tone towards AI was more measured than expected given the hype surrounding AI over the past year – suggesting that even though AI may prove transformative for AdvisorTech in the long run, it has a long road ahead for gaining trust and adoption in the advisory industry

And be certain to read to the end, where we have provided an update to our popular "Financial AdvisorTech Solutions Map" (and also added the changes to our AdvisorTech Directory) as well!

*And for #AdvisorTech companies who want to submit their tech announcements for consideration in future issues, please submit to [email protected]!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (February 3-4)

February 2, 2024 02:00 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that a Morningstar survey has found that financial advisory clients are more likely to stick with their advisor for emotional reasons rather than investment returns alone. Which suggests that building trusting relationships with their clients and giving them added confidence in their financial decision-making (rather than focusing on ways to juice investment returns) could be the keys to improving client retention!

Also in industry news this week:

A recent study from advisor digital marketing firm Snappy Kraken suggests firms that invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), have a regular cadence of emails to their subscriber list, and include video content in these messages tend to get greater returns from their marketing efforts
CFP Board has created a guide to help financial advisors vet potential technology providers to ensure not only that software tools will provide accurate outputs for the advisor's clients, but also will allow the advisors to remain in compliance with relevant regulations

From there, we have several articles on practice management:

A step-by-step guide to the process of buying or selling an RIA, from the due diligence undertaken by both the buyer and seller to the legal documents that can protect both parties
While the number of minority investments in RIAs slowed down in 2023, they could pick up as some founders nearing retirement are finding their next-gen advisors are unable to buy them out in full
Why private equity dollars continue to flow into the RIA space and how these investments differ from the common private equity "fix and flip" approach

We also have a number of articles on cash flow and spending:

The IRS has debuted its Direct File online portal to allow (a relatively small group of) consumers to file their taxes directly through the IRS website for free, though many might still choose to use more advanced software or human tax preparers
While the new FAFSA form is simpler than its predecessors, its delayed rollout is causing headaches for some families with students applying to college this year
Why a measure in "SECURE Act 2.0" allowing transfers of leftover funds from a 529 plan to a Roth IRA could give clients more confidence in funding these education savings accounts

We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about health and wellness:

Why an individual's "healthspan" could be even more important than their lifespan when it comes to determining their happiness and potentially merits consideration when preparing a financial plan
How maintaining muscular strength can play a key role in promoting health as one ages and why regular weightlifting sessions are not necessarily required to do so
How caffeine can provide a variety of health benefits in addition to providing a jolt of energy

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Using A Testamentary Charitable Remainder Unitrust (T-CRUT) To Give Twice To Both Loved Ones And Charitable Organizations

January 31, 2024 07:03 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Estate Planning

In late 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, introducing several significant changes to retirement planning. Of the many provisions in the bill, the so-called "Death of the Stretch" arguably received the lion's share of consternation from the financial advisor community. Under the new law, non-spouse beneficiaries (with few exceptions) must now withdraw the entirety of an inherited IRA within 10 years of the account owner's passing rather than over their own lifetimes. This shift has led financial advisors to explore new strategies for mitigating the resulting tax-planning challenges. One effective approach is the use of a Testamentary Charitable Remainder UniTrust (T-CRUT). As a non-person entity, the T-CRUT is not subject to the 10-Year Rule and can be designated as the IRA beneficiary while naming the original non-spouse beneficiary as an income recipient of the trust and a charitable organization as the remainder beneficiary. This allows the account to grow on a tax-deferred basis, with income to beneficiaries being taxed when distributions are made.

In this guest post, Kathleen Rehl, a "reFired" financial planner and author of "Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows", shares her story of how (and why) she used a T-CRUT to create, upon her passing, a steady stream of income for her son, thus preserving the wealth of his legacy over time, avoiding the income tax burden that he would potentially encounter as the sole beneficiary of her IRA, and leaving a portion of that account to various nonprofits she supports.

Notably, her strategy to preserve her son's wealth while meeting her own charitable goals relies on 4 key principles. First is that the underlying vehicle is a Charitable Remainder UniTrust (CRUT), which pays a fixed percentage of the trust's value for either a specified number of years (not to exceed 20) or through the lifetime of the beneficiary. Second is that the CRUT is testamentary (i.e., it is an 'empty basket' that doesn't receive funds until the owner's passing). Third, the IRA assets are directed to the T-CRUT as its funding source upon her passing, and fourth, that, at the end of the specified period, a minimum of 10% of the initial fair market value of the assets placed within the trust is transferred to a qualified charity (or charities) as the final remainder beneficiary.

While such a strategy may not provide the same level of after-tax benefit to her son if he were to inherit her IRA outright (where he would be faced with the temptation to empty the account and spend the proceeds immediately), the T-CRUT strategy ensures her son's financial security through an annual income stream lasting into his retirement as well as leaving a charitable legacy that matches her values. As such, while leaving funds in an IRA may be the better option for those seeking to maximize wealth, using a T-CRUT to preserve wealth for a beneficiary while meeting philanthropic goals can be a very appealing solution.

Ultimately, the key point is that there are a number of tools that financial advisors can use to help their clients' beneficiaries circumvent the tax burden (as well as other potential challenges) associated with inheriting retirement accounts. More importantly, using various tax-efficient "Give It Twice" charitable tools allows financial advisors to help their clients create comprehensive estate plans that can benefit both their loved ones and the causes that are most meaningful to them!

#FA Success Ep 370: Leveraging Google Reviews To Generate Inbound Local Prospects, With Tim Goodwin

January 30, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome back to the 370th episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Tim Goodwin. Tim is the founder of Goodwin Investment Advisory, an RIA based in Woodstock, Georgia, that oversees $275M in assets under management for 370 client households.

What's unique about Tim, though, is how he leaned into Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Google Reviews in particular – coupled with paid search ads to capture consumers actually searching for "financial advisor near me", and in the process has created a robust prospecting pipeline, which has generated so much demand that Tim has had to triple his minimum fee requirements in the last 2 years.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Tim built a pipeline for growth by systematically asking for reviews online, which has resulted in almost 50% of his clients posting Google Reviews, how Tim leverages those 150+ Google Reviews, alongside signing up for Google Screened, and investing into paid search, targeted, and remarketing ads, to build prospects' trust and get them comfortable in reaching out over the internet, and how Tim has reallocated his marketing dollars from third-party lead generation platforms and instead invested more deeply in his firm's own SEO and Google results, driving a 2.5X return in new onboarded client revenue for every $1 spent in marketing.

We also talk about how Tim's marketing success led to a level of growth and in-flow clients that created significant capacity constraints, and why he ultimately decided to decrease the quantity of prospects and increase the quality of prospects by increasing his firm's minimums (and then crafted an options-focused framework to 'graduating' clients who didn't meet those new minimums and ensure they could transition in an empowering way), how Tim navigates the sometimes contradictory pull between running a profitable firm, preventing employee burnout, and a desire to serve clients… (who may no longer meet the firm's growing minimums), and why Tim has made the health and happiness of his employees, not his clients, his priority as a founder and leader – because as Tim highlights, a cared-for and happy staff ultimately give better a better client experience anyway.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Tim shares why he has found that clients – who already enjoy and understand the company culture and objectives – can yield great dividends as a place to find new employees, how, as a 22-year old tackling the hurdle of not just finding, but also establishing trust with older prospects, Tim was able to get over the initial painful ramp-up by giving himself a 2-year deadline to make the firm pay for itself, and how Tim has intentionally sought out and created 2 of his own Mastermind groups as a way to cope with the challenge that as a founder, it can be lonely at the top, and helps to have peers who understand and can empathize with the weight of being in charge and having team members rely on you for their livelihood.

So, whether you're interested in learning about how Tim's ongoing investment into a healthy and a SEO-reputable website resulted in a multi-dimensional prospecting in-flow, how Tim manages SEC marketing compliance while still consistently asking clients for referrals, and how Tim has built a 'fireproof' hiring process putting people in roles that matched their natural aptitudes and inclinations, then we hope you enjoy this episode, with Tim Goodwin.

Advisors Are Becoming Better (Not “Faster”) With Advances In #AdvisorTech

January 29, 2024 07:04 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Technology & Advisor FinTech

For financial advisors, the promise of technology has always been to help advisors better leverage their time to grow their business. One possible way to do this is to use the time savings of technology to serve a higher number of clients. However, another approach advisors can take is to use their technology to do more – and better – work for the same number of clients while earning higher fees for the higher-value services they provide.

In the last 10 years, coinciding with the rise of robo-advisor technology that makes it possible to streamline and automate much of the process of investment management, advisors have leveraged the decreasing amount of time it takes to manage client portfolios by providing more and deeper planning for their clients – highlighted by the fact that, while the number of clients served by each professional at an advisory firm has actually decreased over that time, revenue earned per client has actually increased by 72%, either due to advisors increasing their fee schedules or using the same AUM fee schedule but working with more affluent clients with larger account balances (and therefore pay higher fees).

In more recent years, however, entrepreneurial software providers have picked up on advisors' demand for tools that help them broaden and deepen their planning beyond even what traditional comprehensive planning software can do. And so there has been an explosion of new tools in the AdvisorTech landscape that are not about saving time on advisors’ existing processes, but instead are geared towards adding new functions that advisors don’t already do, such as providing more in-depth and specialized planning capabilities, and engaging clients more proactively throughout the year rather than centering around 1 or 2 review meetings.

As a result, there is now a plethora of tools to choose from for advisors who want to enhance the value they provide to their clients – so much so, in fact, that there are now more of these solutions than one advisor could possibly use. Which means the challenge for advisors is not necessarily in finding new ways to improve their planning services, but in deciding which approach will deliver the most value (and which of the ever-growing number of tools available will best support it) for the cost in time and dollars that it requires.

The key point is that by digging deep into how they want to provide value for their clients, advisors can choose how to get the most out of their technology. This is particularly important at a time when most advisors are bombarded with pitches for new tools that often promise the world in terms of the features they deliver. By viewing the decision through the lens of the client’s needs and wants, advisors can have an easier time deciding which tools can best enhance their work – because ultimately, each new solution on the market is just a tool to support the advisor's 'real' work of creating a great planning experience for their clients.

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (January 27-28)

January 26, 2024 02:00 pm 0 Comments CATEGORY: Weekend Reading

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news of a survey indicating that about 90% of financial advisors would switch firms based on bad technology at their current firm, and that 44% have already done so. The survey also suggests that a firm's tech stack can affect its ability to attract and retain clients, with 93% of advisors who said they work with state-of-the-art technology reporting that they have added new clients as a result of another firm's bad technology, and 58% of all advisors surveyed reporting they had lost new business due to bad technology.

Also in industry news this week:

A House committee has advanced a bill that would extend several expired business-related tax measures from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and would increase the value of the Child Tax Credit
The SEC released its examination priorities for 2024, which include a focus on advisers' adherence to their duty of care and duty of loyalty obligations, including when recommending complex investment products

From there, we have several articles on marketing:

How financial advisors can address the "Curse of Knowledge" to communicate more effectively with prospects and clients
How advisors can overcome "impostor syndrome" and market themselves effectively when serving a niche clientele
How advisory firm owners can better align their staffing and marketing expenses with their growth goals

We also have a number of articles on retirement planning:

A variety of limits and rules related to retirement planning are changing in 2024, introducing several potential opportunities for financial advisors to use with their clients
Why financial advisors and retired clients themselves might both be responsible for the relative lack of popularity of immediate annuities, despite the potential benefits they offer
How retirement income guardrails could help retired clients spend down their assets in a sustainable manner in a variety of market environments

We wrap up with three final articles, all about Artificial Intelligence (AI):

How Enterprise Large Language Models could help advisory firms overcome the privacy and compliance challenges of using publicly available AI tools
Why skilled human translators continue to survive amidst competition from AI, and the potential lessons their experience offers for financial advisors
Why certain AI tools are less cost-effective than human workers for many job functions

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Kitces & Carl Ep 130: Helping Everyone You Can Vs Getting Paid What You’re Really Worth

January 25, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Few service industries have as much potential to impact lives as financial advice, and it's that very ability for financial advicers to help their clients achieve positive outcomes that can often compound for decades and beyond that make the profession deeply satisfying for so many. It's no wonder, then, that the profession attracts individuals who are highly service-minded and enjoy helping others. (It also doesn't hurt that advicers can earn a good living, and can also build their practices in any number of ways that fit their personal preferences, needs, and goals!) Not surprisingly, the most recent Kitces Research Study on What Actually Contributes To Advisor Wellbeing shows that, while advicers who have a service mentality are typically happier in their roles, service-minded advicers who are also on the higher end of the income spectrum tend to be the happiest. Which highlights an interesting tension in that some households reaping the greatest benefit from an advicer's help might not always be the most profitable for the advicer, and sometimes may not be profitable at all!

In our 130th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and Carl Richards explore this duality of solving for both providing service and earning income, the key metrics that separate advicers who are "thriving" from those who are "struggling", and why advicers who intentionally build towards having a highly profitable business don't need to forego being of service towards underserved individuals who truly need help with financial planning, even when those clients may not be profitable.

Conventional wisdom holds that an effective way to increase the chances of having a successful practice (and being happy) is to simply move up the proverbial food chain by finding wealthier clients and jettisoning the least profitable clients. Taken to a logical extreme, then, it would seem that the 'happiest' advicers would only serve the highest-of-high-net-worth clients. But the reality is that it doesn't take a big leap in client affluence before advicers begin achieving material gains in happiness. Notably, 'struggling' advicers had clients who averaged having $600,000 or $700,000 in assets, while 'thriving' advicers had clients with an average of $1,000,000 in assets. The difference also resulted in material benefits, including fewer hours worked, fewer clients, less overhead and staff, more autonomy and freedom, and greater profitability.

In other words, there appears to be a threshold where, once achieved, advicers can reclaim a non-trivial number of hours each week when they can focus their efforts on other rewarding endeavors… like offering pro bono financial planning services or creating broader content that addresses the widespread need for financial education. That way, an advicer can have the satisfaction of getting paid well while still being able to serve the underserved.

Ultimately, the key point is that being a happy advicer who's paid well for doing good work doesn't necessitate sacrificing service to those who need real financial advice the most. By being intentional around building a client base of profitable clients, reasonably reducing overhead, and learning how to say "no" to prospects who aren't a good fit (and helping them find the help they need), advicers can increase their take-home pay and reduce the number of hours they work. And a focus on building a profitable business in which an advicer is paid well for the good work they do isn't only about being happier… it's also about having the satisfaction of being able to create the freedom and capacity to serve those who are truly in need

Avoiding Client Power Of Attorney (POA) Rejection By Taking A Comprehensive ‘Kitchen Sink’ Approach

January 24, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Estate Planning

As more Americans are living well into their 80s and even into their 90s, the spectrum of risks that an aging population faces is only getting wider. The need to address longevity risk has become increasingly important, allowing financial advisors to add even more value for their clients by ensuring that their financial needs are met throughout retirement. This is particularly relevant when cognitive or physical impairments diminish (or eliminate altogether) their ability to make decisions on their own, and it becomes necessary to transfer those responsibilities to someone else. And while transferring responsibility may be relatively easy for accounts that are jointly titled or held within a trust, other accounts, such as qualified savings vehicles or annuities, require a Power Of Attorney (POA) when delegating decision-making authority to a third party.

In this guest post, David Haughton, the Team Lead for Advanced Planning at Commonwealth Financial Network, explores the importance of comprehensive POAs and how they can be constructed to avoid many of the common pitfalls that loved ones may encounter when accessing an incapacitated person's assets.

When it comes to giving someone the authority to act on behalf of a grantor, an essential consideration when developing a POA is durability. Unfortunately, nearly half of all U.S. states do not consider POAs to be durable (i.e., these states do not consider the POA in effect after the grantor's incapacitation) unless they expressly state otherwise. Moreover, even if durability is established, it's important to distinguish between an immediate POA, which is effective as soon as the document is signed, and a springing POA, which won't be effective until the grantor becomes incapacitated, and that incapacitation has been certified by a doctor as well!

Still, even with a durable and immediate POA, financial institutions are often reluctant to grant access to a grantor's accounts, which is understandable given the amount of fraud and elder abuse present in society. There are several reasons for financial institutions to prevent an agent from being added to an account, including the age of the POA itself and whether the document was prepared so long ago that it is considered 'stale', any number of (nuanced) state-specific signature formalities (e.g., notarization or witness requirements), the inclusion of multiple agents (which are often prohibited by financial institutions simply for the logistical complexity of getting more than one signature), complications with forms that are specific to an individual financial institution (but not others), and a failure to specify that the agent is authorized to take actions that are otherwise prohibited under the Uniform Power Of Attorney Act (UPOAA).

As a result, taking a 'kitchen sink' approach to drafting POAs is advisable, even if the resulting document may seem overly complex and lengthy. By including every possible specific power an agent could conceivably need when acting on behalf of someone else, the chances that an institution might block an agent from taking various actions (like making a gift or changing beneficiaries) are greatly reduced.

Ultimately, the key point is that a properly drafted POA is an essential part of every estate plan. By using a 'kitchen sink' approach when granting a loved one the authority to access a client's assets, an advisor can help ensure that their financial needs can be met at a time when they aren't able to act on their own behalf. While it's important for financial institutions to protect their customers from fraud and abuse, the roadblocks that can prevent an agent from taking action can be numerous and complex, meaning that advisors who understand the nuances around navigating those hurdles can help their clients gain peace of mind knowing that their needs are met at a time when they need help the most!

#FA Success Ep 369: Breaking Through To New Growth By Changing Your Mindset Around Hiring (Complementary) Team Members, With Michelle Ogden

January 23, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Welcome back to the 369th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Michelle Ogden. Michelle is the founder of Ogden Wealth, an RIA based in Maitland, Florida, that oversees $50M in assets under management for almost 120 client households.

What's unique about Michelle, though, is that after seeing the challenges that come with too-fast growth in her husband's business, she decided to be very slow and methodical in her own growth and limit her need to rely on any staff for more than a decade… only to eventually hit a wall when the whole business relied on her, leading her to eventually decide to partner with a TAMP, and then quickly more-than-double her business in the subsequent few years by finally getting to just focus on what she does best!

In this episode, we talk in-depth about Michelle's journey from vowing to avoid the Financial Advisor industry after a negative internship experience as a woman in a male-dominated wirehouse in the 1990s to eventually coming into the industry with a positive experience at Charles Schwab and ultimately forming her own successful RIA, how a wariness of trusting others led Michelle to slow the growth of her own firm and the way partnering with third-party platforms including Edelman Financial and then Carson Partners ultimately allowed her to unlock the next level of growth and better leverage her own skills, and how word of mouth through Kingdom Advisors and her strategy of simply passing along financial information she found that she thought might be helpful to others on Social Media gave Michelle the reputation of being the person to connect with for any questions surrounding anything with a dollar sign and eventually grew her client base.

We also talk about Michelle's experience with Charles Schwab and Edelman Financial and how to support of those relationships, combined with her husband's travails in running his own business, led Michelle to structure her work in a way that brings her joy rather than just money, how Michelle overcome the challenges that arose when she was forced to learn how to manage the team that she had hired despite not having any prior experience managing people , and the realization, once Michelle decided she had to begin charging a fee to clients who had previously been handled pro-bono, that nobody actually expected her to work for free, and that her fee increase led to an increase in revenue without an increase in workload.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Michelle shares insight on how she wishes she had been more persuasive in convincing clients to do certain things for themselves and how that built her confidence to be more persistent in following up with clients and prospects (and if she was unsure, to just ask them when they felt it would be OK for her to follow up!), how Michelle finds it energizing and recharging for her to make deep and meaningful connections with clients and prospects (which has helped to carry her through the inevitable business challenges that come along the way), and how Michelle has developed her confidence that, through faith and diligent work, everything will work out, even (and perhaps especially) in situations in which Michelle had no control .

So, whether you're interested in learning about how to purposefully control your growth in order to maximize your own skillsets, how to increase your firm's revenue without increasing its workload, or how overcoming an aversion to hiring and trusting your team can allow you to focus on the elements of work that actually bring you joy, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Michelle Ogden.
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