The Exchange conference is right around the corner, starting March 23 in Las Vegas. VettaFi Senior Industry Analyst Kirsten Chang interviewed legendary advisor Jeff Concepcion for the latest installment of Road to Exchange. Concepcion is the founder and CEO of Stratos Wealth Partners. For seven years running he has been on Barron’s Top 100 RIA’s list.
Financial advisors face a host of challenges in their day-to-day activities. Because of the sheer volume of work, many advisors would be best served by stepping back and outsourcing some of what they do to better get their hands around other aspects of the business.
Concepcion noted that though financial advisors haven’t contended with the fee compression that issuers have felt, they have had to face time compression. “It becomes really important and also difficult for a solo practitioner to wear all these hats and wear them effectively,” he said. As individuals get stretched too thin, they hit ceilings in what they can do until they change something. Concepcion offered that changing something could be brining on more talent or new technologies.
Concepcion on the No. 1 Advisor Mistake
Asked what the biggest mistake advisors make is, Concepcion said, “Advisors tend to wear too many hats.” Being responsible for opening new accounts, financially planning, marketing, business development, and investment advising all at once is a recipe to get overwhelmed.
Hiring and retaining talent is important and comes with its own challenges. But Concepcion says advisors need to think about it like business owners who want to invest in making the right choices for their business.
Outsourcing Talent
Letting go of the desire to control everything is critical. That’s because there naturally are things that an individual can do well and other things that would benefit from a differently wired brain. Many advisors will initially hire an operations person who can assist with scheduling, paperwork, and those sorts of tasks. “It’s just kind of figuring out what you do well,” Concepcion said. Bringing on financial planners and client managers can often follow suit. Not bringing in help can have dire consequences, according to Concepcion. “At some point you will stop growing or start diluting the value of service you provide.”
Finding talented people who can handle business development, financial planning, operations, relationship management, or any of the myriad tasks a growing practice relies on can be challenging in its own right. Once you find and empower someone really qualified though, for many advisors it can be hard to empower talent and then retain it. “When you find those folks you just can’t live without, you’ve got to wrap your arms around them,” Concepcion said. He noted that good people will ultimately need a stake in the business, or they might go elsewhere.
The Challenges of Handing Off Relationships
“What we do is really intimate, its not like you’re making widgets,” said Concepcion. Clients will often pour out their hearts and souls and the challenges around their financial plans cut to life dreams, marriage, and often harsh realities. Given this level of intimacy, it can be particularly difficult for an advisor to feel they can step back from relationship management. “There’s a great deal of gratitude to clients who choose you,” Concepcion noted.
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