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Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (April 20-21)

April 19, 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 CFP Board announced that it has crossed the milestone of 100,000 CFP professionals in the United States, and despite having just celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, just set a record high in the number of advisors sitting for the CFP exam this March, reflecting the value many financial advisors and consumers place on the brand, including the requirements to obtain it as well as the standards CFP professionals must follow (though, as CFP Board has recognized, there is potential room for it to improve in both of these areas!).

Also in industry news this week:

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of the Department of Labor's new "fiduciary rule", indicating that it could be released in the coming days or weeks (though, like its predecessors, its ultimate disposition is likely to be determined in the courts)
The IRS announced this week that it is excusing Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries who inherited IRAs and are subject to the "10-year rule" to distribute these accounts from having to take RMDs again in 2024 (just as it did for 2021, 2022, and 2023) and indicated that Final Regulations regarding RMDs for those in this position could be coming this year

From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:

4 unique risks retirees face when drawing down their assets, from sequence of returns risk to tax risk, and how financial advisors can help clients mitigate them
How the differential effects of the "Great Recession" have led to younger Baby Boomers having fewer assets than their older Boomer counterparts
How financial advisors can help their clients identify and avoid a potential retirement income "death spiral", whereby a client's assets are depleted over the course of only a few years

We also have a number of articles on financial advisor marketing:

5 relatively low-cost marketing tactics for financial advisors, from expanding the types of Centers Of Influence they approach to leveraging "social proof" to attract clients
How advisors can boost the relevancy and effectiveness of the "Calls To Action" (CTAs) on their website
Strategies advisors can use to build urgency and help reluctant prospects overcome their hesitance to sign on to become clients

We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about online security:

A recently released feature can help protect iPhone owner's private data from thieves who are able to access their phone and passcode
How activating 2-factor authentication and other security measures can help protect users' social media accounts
Why the "private browsing" feature of internet browsers does not provide the level of anonymity users might assume

Enjoy the 'light' reading!

Kitces & Carl Ep 136: Should Internal Succession Plans Provide A G2 Discount For Lack Of Affordability?

April 18, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Kitces & Carl Podcast

Kitces & Carl Ep Should Internal Succession Plans Provide A G Discount For Lack Of Affordability

For over a decade, the financial advice industry has been bracing for an "any-minute-now" tsunami of advisor retirements and concomitant sales of financial planning practices. Although that wave has yet to materialize (as many advisors may find that they'd prefer to stay engaged and earn well past the 'traditional' retirement age), the fact remains that, at some point, many aging advisors will have the opportunity to capture the enterprise value that they've spent their careers building. For many firm owners, an internal succession plan can be an attractive strategy to sell their practice, as it provides both continuity of service for clients and opportunities for the next generation of advisors to become firm owners themselves. However, younger advisors don't typically have the same deep pockets as large 'serial acquirer' firms, making affordability a hurdle that both buyer and seller must navigate. Which begs the question, to what extent should an advisory firm owner discount the sale price of their firm for a next-gen successor?

In our 136th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards explore the extent to which a firm owner might consider selling their practice at below-market value to an internal successor, why both buyer and seller might reconsider the valuation metrics that have been common in the industry, and ways to structure an internal succession deal that can make sense for both parties.

The primary risks when selling an advisory firm are that the deal may fall through, and existing clients may choose to leave the firm. Firm owners can maximize the value from a sale by ensuring that the buyer is a "good fit", which, if they aren't, can have real financial consequences. In the case of an internal successor, some risk is mitigated as the next-gen advisor has likely developed a relationship with clients already and is doing a good job servicing them. And maintaining pre-existing client relationships not only lowers the overall risk of the deal, it also makes the transaction a whole lot smoother. However, while that may be worth a modest discount (say, 5% or so), offering 20%–30% below fair-market value may be unrealistic. In other words, while an owner might have preferences beyond 'just' getting the highest dollar amount possible, there shouldn't be an expectation (or obligation) for the owner to offer a steep discount because the next-gen advisor can't afford it.

On the other hand, there are times when the seller's or buyer's price expectations don't align with the reality of how the firm operates. Traditionally, a standard benchmark for advisory-firm sales has been 2X annual revenue; with many firms running at an average 25%–30% profit margin, this results in 7X–8X earnings valuations. However, firms with margins outside a traditional range might result in unrealistically high earnings multiples for the buyer.

Ultimately, the key point is that advisory firm owners interested in selling their firms to next-gen advisors within their practice don't always have to structure a deal as a high-stakes, all-or-nothing transaction. Instead, the owner can facilitate a gradual sale over multiple years, allowing the buyer to adjust to the logistics of note payments and the firm's cash flows on a much more manageable scale, while the seller can continue to benefit from the ongoing growth in their firm's enterprise value. And while shifting ownership in tranches over time might not feel like the optimal deal for either seller or buyer, the end result is a deal that's fair and beneficial for both sides!

3 Question Types To Go From (Just) Retained To Highly Engaged And Happier Clients

April 17, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Client Trust & Communication

After advisors do all of the work of bringing on a new client (Marketing! Prospecting! Onboarding! Compliance!), it can sometimes feel natural to let the relationship go into "maintenance mode". And while all may appear well on the surface – the client rarely contacts the advisor with problems but they show up for every annual meeting – they may actually be feeling quite disengaged with the financial planning services being provided. This can result in fewer referrals and even the loss of the client, who might eventually opt to move their accounts to another (more appealing) advisory firm.

Some types of client disengagement can be difficult to detect until it's too late, as client disengagement manifests, by definition, as a lack of action, up until the client decides to leave the advisor altogether. Given how difficult it can be to detect forms of disengagement, it may be helpful to think of different levels of client engagement as part of a spectrum, where the most engaged client recognizes their advisor as a partner and guide; they are open to exploring new ideas proposed by their advisor, ask questions, and are willing to develop and maintain good habits. Clients on the lower levels of client engagement may tend to disregard their advisor's instructions or have a limited understanding of what their advisor can do, simply viewing them as problem-solvers for pain points and not as sources of guidance to plan for – and reach! – important goals.

One particular key attribute of many disengaged clients is that they tend not to reach out when issues arise, which can create a vicious cycle precluding an advisor from providing deeper value (because they didn't know there was an opportunity to do so in the first place) and resulting in the client's failure to recognize the advisor as someone who could have provided guidance and value, reinforcing their decision not to reach out for help… and so on.

However, advisors can address client disengagement by using questions that encourage client participation and invite them to engage more actively in the financial planning process. Questions such as "What is different from the last time we met?" and "What changes are coming up soon?" can help to reveal relevant talking points and planning opportunities at the beginning of the meeting that the disengaged client may not have thought about mentioning on their own. Additionally, checking in with clients deeper into the meeting to monitor any potential financial anxiety can facilitate a more open and honest discussion if there are issues that a client has, but have not yet surfaced. For example, advisors might ask how confident the client feels with their financial plan or what worries them most (or least) about their finances. Finally, asking for feedback at the end of the meeting can help the client recognize that the advisor values their engagement and input; it also helps them recognize the progress they've made and the advisor's role in achieving that progress. Facilitating another opportunity for honesty and discussion provides another way to build trust and encourage client engagement.

Ultimately, the key point is that highly engaged clients not only provide more referrals and recognize their advisors' value, but they also tend to be more enjoyable to work with. And by carefully choosing the right questions to ask, advisors can recognize their clients' engagement levels and ensure that more of them are (and stay!) fully engaged!

#FA Success Ep 381: Helping Clients Go Beyond The Plan To Actually Implement As A Fractional Financial Behavior Officer, With Ashley Quamme

April 16, 2024 07:02 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Financial Advisor Success Podcast

Ashley Quamme Podcast Featured Image FAS

Welcome back to the 381st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today's podcast is Ashley Quamme. Ashley is the Founder of Beyond The Plan, a consulting firm based in Evans, Georgia, that offers a Fractional Financial Behavioral Officer service including consulting and training to advisory firms and even direct meeting support for new or existing clients.

What's unique about Ashley, though, is how her background in psychology and couples therapy allows her not only to be able to help clients navigate their relationships with money but also to help advisors get their clients unblocked so they can actually move forward and implement the advisor's financial planning recommendations to achieve their financial goals.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Ashley helps advisory firms figure out why their clients are getting stuck in their financial journey and, through an offering of advisor training and even supporting directly in client meetings, guides clients through the necessary changes in behavior to achieve their desired outcomes, how Ashley assists advisors with the "Self-Work" of better knowing and understanding their own behaviors, biases, and potential blind spots that could otherwise result in certain types of clients being more challenging to work with, and how Ashley developed an Office Hours format for advisors to talk through particularly challenging client situations and receive structured feedback on how they might improve their approach with their most difficult clients.

We also talk about how Ashley built on her experience as a couples therapist, after hearing 20-25 clients/week come in for couples therapy that often ended up tying into a discussion of financial issues, to pursue and learn how certain therapy tools and techniques could effectively translate to the world of financial advice, how Ashley uses the Klontz Money Script Inventory and Datapoints' Building Wealth Assessment to help advisors' planning clients gain a better understanding of themselves through an analysis of their relationship and mindset as it relates to money, and the way that Ashley introduces herself into advisors' client meetings to reduce any perceived awkwardness when joining the meeting and ensure that clients themselves feel supported.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Ashley shares the surprises and challenges she went through when she decided to launch her own consulting practice as an independent business owner to serve financial advisors (which unfortunately came right in the midst of the COVID pandemic), how surprised Ashley was when she realized how much of a demand and support there is for financial behavioral services within the financial advisory industry, and the way Ashley's focus and success shifted when she stopped trying to find her compass and figure out what was next after the first decade of her career, and instead simply looked internally to figure out what she enjoyed doing… and let that become her compass instead.

So, whether you're interested in learning about how to get clients unstuck on their financial journey, how the principles of couples therapy can be applied in the financial planning context, or tools that can help clients better understand their relationship and mindsets with regard to money, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Ashley Quamme.

Repurposing Your Content To Enhance Growth: How 1 Piece Of Content Can Cover 6 Different Marketing Tactics

April 15, 2024 07:01 am 0 Comments CATEGORY: Marketing

Growing an advisory firm is no easy task – and advisors who start firms often have few resources to spare (beyond their own knowledge and time), face huge to-do lists, and are required to wear a number of hats. Foremost among their responsibilities is business development, which compels them to seek out prospects who will eventually become clients (so that they can grow their firms, allocate resources accordingly, and do even more financial planning!). That being said, the latest Kitces Research on Advisor Marketing suggests that the more marketing techniques (which can range from referrals to drip marketing to webinars) that advisors can implement, the faster their firms grow – advisory firms who cover at least 5 marketing techniques consistently land in the top third of growth for firms, regardless of their size. But with limited resources to invest in elaborate marketing campaigns, how can newer advisors leverage a multi-tactic approach to attract new clients and grow their firms?

In this article, Managing Editor Sydney Squires explains how 1 piece of video content can be reused to cover 6 different marketing techniques: the video itself, podcasting, social media, blogging, newsletter drip marketing campaigns, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) boosts. This approach allows advisors to get their name and brand spread across more areas, increasing the breadth of their marketing with just 1 piece of content.

The first step of this process is to record a video, being mindful to verbally describe any visual elements (so that the video can work in an audio and transcript format). Small video snippets can then be selected from the video as highlights to share; additionally, 1–2 sentence summaries, bullet-point lists, and overviews of individual video segments can also be impactful supplements. Thankfully, not all of this has to be done manually by the advisor – there are many software tools that can help advisors reformat most of their content relatively quickly without needing much technical knowledge.

With all of this "supporting material" taken from the original video, an advisor can make the most out of 1 recorded video. For example, a video with a transcript can be published as a blog post, and a summarizing sentence can be paired with a snippet and released on social media channels. As an added bonus, many of these techniques also impact the SEO score of the site, meaning that search engines may find the website more trustworthy – and thus, make it more visible in internet searches.

Ultimately, the key point is that by investing time upfront and using a bit of creativity to develop a repeatable process, advisors can get 1 piece of relevant content to cover a wide breadth of channels and mediums, both appealing to a variety of learning styles (e.g., podcasts for auditory learners, videos for visual learners, and transcripts for learners who prefer to read) and increasing the likelihood of finding prospects where they are. And as advisors gain more experience and their firms' needs change and evolve over time, advisors can observe both what they enjoy and what clients respond to, which can offer valuable clarity on where to focus future marketing dollars and efforts!

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (April 13-14)

April 12, 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 recent study has found that many small- and mid-sized advisory firms that use "supported independence" platforms for their technology and back-office needs, have the potential to see greater growth in the years ahead given the efficiencies gained (and potential cost savings compared to creating a tech stack and hiring their own staff 'a la carte'), and give aspiring firm owners a platform to get their firms up and running quickly (whether breaking away or starting anew). Implying that part of the potential appeal to such support platforms is not simply about whether it's more cost-effective to use their tech and services to replace the advisor's own overhead costs, but that it's easier to scale up quickly as a fast-grower by leveraging incrementally more of the support platform's capabilities than needing to take the time to manage their own hiring and technology additions.

Also in industry news this week:

A recent study indicates that advisors charging clients on a monthly subscription basis hiked their fees by an average of 6% in 2023, raising the salience of how advisors can most effectively communicate fee increases to clients
A survey suggests that while financial advisors are increasingly aware of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered software tools and are frequently leveraging them in their personal lives, they appear to be more skeptical about using them to craft financial recommendations

From there, we have several articles on talent management:

How financial advisory firms can expand the pool of candidates for open positions, from leveraging employees' professional networks to recruiting firm clients with relevant professional skills
How effective leadership techniques, including inclusive vision-setting and giving employees autonomy, can help promote employee retention
A recent report identifies actions financial planning firms can take to be more attractive (and fair) to women advisors, from boosting "sponsorship" programs that can help women advance within the firm to creating a culture that rewards performance rather than time spent in the office

We also have a number of articles on long-term care insurance:

Why starting conversations about long-term care needs with a discussion of the client's care preferences rather than the products that might meet their needs could be a more effective approach for financial advisors
Why costs for long-term care facilities tend to go well beyond the monthly rent charged and how advisors can adjust financial plan assumptions to reflect these expenses
How advisors can help clients choose between traditional long-term care insurance policies and hybrid policies that combine long-term care coverage with life insurance

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

How light movement, from a walk outside to climbing a few flights of stairs, can boost creative thinking
Why sustained, moderate-intensity exercise can be particularly effective in boosting an individual's fitness and overall health
Why, at a time when individuals can access increasing amounts of biometric data, constantly monitoring one's blood sugar levels might be counterproductive

Enjoy the 'light' reading!