Practice Management

Many advisors aren’t familiar with financial phobias. They are common and can be debilitating.

Let me share some reminders about what needs to be in place for team members to thrive and stay inspired.

When I first read about the discovery of a vast new deposit of lithium in a volcanic crater along the Nevada-Oregon border, I can’t say that I was surprised.

A flurry of hedge funds, direct lenders and others are expecting a revival of the $1.3 trillion collateralized loan obligation market — and they want to be ready to reap the benefits when it happens.

“Spray-and-pray” marketing is a good model for selling t-shirts – not so good for getting advisory clients.

A recent experience reminded me how much low-hanging fruit is still ripe to be picked in our profession.

For banks in 2023, one message is coming through clearly: Scale is good.

Why has there been a reluctance within the advisory profession to actively collect, much less leverage client experience feedback?

Understanding and managing your firm’s practice growth multiplier is your ticket to enduring success, higher profits, and a more rewarding practice.

Emails are ignored and even seen as a nuisance, because free information is everywhere, and it’s no longer trusted.

I lost my dad, Alfred Munro Flaxington, this past weekend.

Communications should be planned and thoughtful. Rarely – if ever – should a serious message be delivered without warning.

Should the US Securities and Exchange Commission approve an exchange-traded fund focused on the spot market for Bitcoin? The question has yet again gained relevance, thanks to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which last week reversed the SEC’s decision to reject a Bitcoin ETF proposed by Grayscale Investments.

Multi-sector fixed income strategies can deliver significant benefits to investors – including yield enhancement, volatility reduction and diversification of asset-class exposures – because of managers having the freedom to make tactical shifts between fixed-income sub-sectors.

This article explores how promoting individual strengths and skills, advocating for enhanced diversity and inclusion, fostering a collegial environment, encouraging diversification, and attracting a broader range of clients helps RIAs stand out in a competitive industry.

There’s no clearer way to say it. Leave these garbage phrases out of your marketing.

We seem to be in what I can only call an “AI lull.” The initial excitement about ChatGPT, which started in January, has receded. Google searches for ChatGPT peaked in April and are now down significantly, as is customer engagement with ChatGPT.

President Joe Biden and his team insist that “Bidenomics” — a term they’ve embraced — is more than a mere bundle of policy initiatives.

Here are the six things you can do to create stellar content and increase your odds of going viral.

Why is it so hard to gain the confidence with my existing clients that I have with prospects and raise their fees?

It’s time to focus on your happiness. Here are some tips, including some unconventional suggestions.

AI is a tool to elevate and redefine job duties. Here are strategies for how AI can augment the work of fiduciary advisors while helping them stay relevant and competitive.

Let’s explore the transformative potential of AI and the opportunities and challenges it presents and make an informed decision about harnessing its power for your firm.

So-called “finfluencers” are preying on naïve investors, promising unrealistic returns while generating excessive commissions for themselves. Their bait is an indexed-universal life (IUL) policy. Read this to avoid making a costly mistake.

Applying planning expertise is a very complicated art form, a skill that is acquired over time, but which can be accelerated if there were a way to capture many of things that soon-to-be-retired advisors have learned through years of practice.

Financial advisors frequently attribute their marketing challenges to not finding that one magic solution. But the true culprits are deeper, foundational issues.

A marketing firm is helping us rewrite our copy on the website and producing some marketing materials. But the question coming up from my team is, “How do we turn this into an elevator pitch?

Be a financial physician with a reassuring presence who can reduce anxiety, bring clarity, and induce confidence.

When your client conveys vast amounts of information – as is typically the case in a discovery meeting – it’s unrealistic to expect you to retain that information without writing it down. That’s about to change.

Let’s look at the keys to creating a successful podcast.

I have participated in several industry panels over the years. A question I am often asked is, “What size practice do you need to start your own RIA?”

There are tools to help you level up in client behavior, experience, and engagement.

The performance of PE funds has been disappointing. New research explains why this happened: Instead of driving operational efficiencies (as PE investors typically claim they do), those funds relied heavily on increasing the debt burden for the companies they bought.

Here are two suggestions that can save you money or time, especially if content marketing is part of your strategy.

How do you cultivate a successful referral program?

I’ll outline content ideas to help your top sellers, C-suite leaders, or founders emerge as thought leaders.

I’ll share some of the insights my team has gathered in 2023.

Advisors are using tax-managed products for tax-sensitive clients. In this interview, we learn how tax-managed products maximize the after-tax returns for investors to help them get to their goals with greater certainty.

The Agg is supposed to be to bonds what the S&P 500 Index is to equities. But it is an insufficient gauge for measuring the bond universe.

IUL is a popular investment, thanks to aggressive marketing. Before your clients succumb to high-pressure sales tactics, here’s a cautionary tale based on another lifetime purchase decision – buying an engagement ring.

Here are the essential steps to accelerate recovery from growth and move into the next phase.

Twenty years ago, the answer to this question was obvious. Wirehouses had better technology compared to any other firm or affiliation model.

Why don’t more advisors recommend simple portfolios?

I’m having a hard time helping the senior advisor see that I have insights and ideas.

If you are paying for any of the following garbage, get the scissors and snip it out of your budget.

Advisors are increasingly turning to OCIOs to differentiate their firms, increase profitability and scale their businesses through gained efficiencies.

The most frequent question I’m asked when mentoring newer advisors is, “How do I demonstrate my value to prospects?”

Cathie Wood said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission may approve multiple spot-Bitcoin ETFs at the same time, reversing an earlier view that her firm would be first in line to get potential approval for the long-awaited product.

What is the secret to digital marketing that drives website traffic and leads?

Admittedly, I’ve glossed over the other catalysts in Ackman’s thesis — including the aforementioned supply-demand issues and the fiscal and governance challenges that Fitch underscored in its recent downgrade — but the inflation call seems to be the linchpin to his argument, at least going by the math in the post.

Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy pulled off a financial double play this earnings season: generating strong revenue growth from the core e-commerce business while cutting the pace of spending. The shares rose about 9% as the markets opened on Friday.

The only constant in life is change — and Wall Street strategists trying in vain to divine the stock market’s future. After collectively missing the lion’s share of the year-to-date rally in the S&P 500 Index, the Street’s macro soothsayers appear to be getting modestly more bullish again.

Of all the signs out there that the US will manage to dodge a recession once deemed inevitable, perhaps none is more convincing than this: CEOs across the country are opting to reinvest more of their profits in expansion projects rather than handing the money back to shareholders.