The Advisor Lab by CION (CION Investments)

In this episode, we sit down with Eric Arnold, CEO of Planswell. Planswell’s mission is to create the world’s most actionable financial planning experience for everyone for free. They provide any consumer the ability to get a financial plan in 3 minutes. They also partner with advisors to connect investors looking for help in a new way – through education, insight, and training. Eric and I got into what they’ve seen from doing hundreds of thousands of financial plans and how advisors can educate investors on the biggest buckets when it comes to financial planning.

Learn more about Planswell: www.planswell.com

In this episode, we’re joined by Diana Britton, Managing Editor, WealthManagement.com, and host of The Healthy Advisor podcast. Diana is known for her excellent coverage of the wealth management space, but I wanted to chat with her about her podcast, The Healthy Advisor, and how she’s helping advisors build a life of meaning. In her podcast, she dives into the struggles and stories of financial professionals, and by taking a step out of the day-to-day, how they’re able to prioritize other areas in their lives in order to grow in their business. We dive into what she’s hearing from advisors, their biggest struggles, and what you can do about it.

With the year kicking-off,  how are you going to hit your goals? In this episode, we break down a four point framework for what you can do to 1. understand where growth came from in 2021 2. what channels drove the most growth 3. what channels you should focus on in the year ahead and 4. how you need to map the right tactics to those channels. 

Check out www.thesevengroup.com to learn more. 

Tim Mitrovich, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ten Capital, has built a winning event strategy by focusing on client experience. It's a unique approach that combines thematic consistency with creating events that run the gamut from great speakers to fun activities - and everything in between. Tim has seen huge growth by keeping the focus on the client - not the advisor. 

Follow us: https://twitter.com/sevengroupnyc 

Website: https://www.thesevengroup.com/ 

In this episode, I’m joined by Matthew Halloran, Partner and Chief Relationship Officer at ProudMouth – A full-service podcast and marketing agency for financial advisors and financial services firms. If you ever wanted to launch a podcast – this is the episode for you. Matt, who also has a podcast, and I dive into what it takes to build a podcast and the steps you should take to get something that’s sustainable, valuable, and engaging off the ground.

For more: https://proudmouth.com/

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Reiner. Matt is a partner of Capital Investment Advisors, a $2.8B RIA in Atlanta, managing partner of Wela Strategies, an RIA that deals with the investment needs of the mass affluent, and the founder of Benjamin - a tech platform that helps advisors streamline time-consuming tasks and allows for greater client engagement through technology. 

Matt is all about maximizing his time and impact, and in this episode, we dive into his journey of how he’s able to build and maintain so many growing businesses. 

Doug Boneparth is the financial voice of a generation, and over the course of his career, he's seen how the challenges his generation faced have redefined financial planning. Older millennials may make different decisions from past generations on everything from education debt for their kids to retirement to estate planning. The portfolios they need to reach their goals are very different and need to be based on a whole new set of assumptions.

We welcome Greg Margolies, Partner, Ares Management for a deep dive on private credit. This alternative asset class has seen tremendous demand from retail and HNW investors, and we take a close look. Ares is a leader in the space, and Greg has spent a 35-year career in credit. He gets into the mechanics of the deals, what to look for, and how private credit can help diversify a portfolio through all stages of the economic cycle.

Becky Swansburg, CEO of Stonewood Financial, has trained advisors across the country on incorporating tax-efficient retirement strategies into their practices. Becky focuses on the new reality that taxes in retirement likely won't be lower, and the tax risk to a plan is as significant as investment risk. She has some surprising insights, and a point of view on ways to introduce a conversation that has prospects and clients "all ears."

In this episode, we catch up with Callie Cox, an investment analyst at eToro who has built an incredibly engaged audience on Twitter talking all things macro and the market. Everything Callie puts out pulls and engages new readers, so we wanted to get into the details of her blueprint, personality, and thought process. We also discuss her take on what's happening in the macro economy. 

On this episode of Advisor Lab by CION, we sit down with Josh Reidinger, CEO of Waverly Advisors. Waverly has grown organically and through acquisitions, backed with private equity. We get into how Waverly built a unique culture, what they see going forward in the independent advisor space, and how they develop niche-based offerings for clients. Waverly believes in scaling your business, but not your relationships. 

Julia Healey, the CEO of United Charitable (unitedcharitable.org) has spent a career working with non-profits. She helms a nonprofit organization that works closely with wealth advisors and their clients to increase a donor’s ability to do more with their contributions while minimizing their tax liability through Donor Advised Funds. We get into how giving has become central to how people think about money at all stages of their finanical journey, and how advisors have a central role to play. 

In this episode, we sit down with Marie Swift, President, and CEO of Impact Communications – A communications agency serving the financial services industry. Impact is all about Credibility Marketing and helping advisors and the financial services world build their brand and expand their influence through their digital footprint. We dive into what credibility marketing means, some of the more significant trends we see in the space, and how you can focus in 2022 on your digital footprint.

Visit: https://www.impactcommunications.org/

No matter where you are in your practice life cycle, setting goals and objectives is a major part of your practice. In this episode, we welcome Matt Spielman, Chief Performance Officer and Head Coach of Inflection Point Partners, an organizational, career, and executive coaching firm. Matt has coached folks like Alex Rodriguez to optimize their lives throughout the years. 

Find out more about Matt: https://www.theinflectionpointsbook.com/

In this episode, we’re taking a step outside of the financial planning world and welcome Kris Rudeegraap, CEO and co-founder of Sendoso, a SaaS platform that helps companies stand out by giving them new ways to engage with customers through gifts, giveaways, and direct mail. Kris dives into his story, why it’s important to delight customers, and why it’s not B2B or B2C anymore, rather Human to Human.

www.sendoso.com for more.

We welcome H. Adam Holt, CEO and Founder of Asset-Map. Adam needed a better way to help clients visualize their money, and his original hand-drawn prototype has become a tool that facilitates client engagement and can help advisors see where the opportunity is. Our conversation is a fascinating look at how deliberate design can create a feedback loop that helps advisors and their clients meet their goals. 

In this episode, we sit down with Scott Frank, founder of Stone Steps Financial, who has built a unique client experience for years leveraging new tech and different life planning approaches. We get into his experience introducing life planning into his practice and the latest tech he is using to improve his client experience and get back his time. 

Check out Stone Steps: https://www.stonestepsfinancial.com/

Check out Elements: https://getelements.com/ 

In this episode we sit down with Diana Angelini – Director of Business Development for Ladder for Advisors. Ladder is an insurtech platform making it easier for consumers to get life insurance. This is one of our more tactical conversations, Diana and I come from a heavy LinkedIn background – so we get into the weeds on how you can leverage LinkedIn to expand your network, build your influence, and grow your brand. We cover content, cadence, and engagement.

Check out Ladder here: www.ladderlife.com/advisors 

On the heels of the #XYPNLIVE conference, in this episode, we share what we saw, heard, and discussed as it relates to the biggest advisor and wealth tech trends. 

We cover everything from the future of conferences, why advisors need to niche now, and what new products are popping up to serve both investors and advisors. 

www.thesevengroup.com

www.xyplanningnetwork.com 

In the past few weeks, we've seen more market volatility than we've seen in the last decade, and it's being talked about everywhere. Now is the time to stay in front of clients, and in this video, we dive into 5 firms that are crushing it with content.

Check out the examples - Animal Spirits: https://apple.co/3l9QZEy Potomac: https://potomacfund.com/ IronBridge: https://ironbridge360.com/ BWM Financial: https://bwmfinancial.com/ Callie Cox: https://twitter.com/callieabost

Check out Seven Group: https://www.thesevengroup.com/

How do you give someone the Ritz Carlton experience? We’re joined by Brian Leitner, Head of Mariner Platform Solutions, Mariner Wealth Advisors, an RIA based in Kansas that’s grown to over $50 billion in assets. We dive into how advisors can build more engaged prospect and client bases, including a cohesive referral network and a more influential COI roster.

For more: https://marinerplatform.com/

Adrian Johnstone, CEO of Practifi, has spent a career harnessing technology to optimize growth. Gathering data isn't enough; it's about unlocking knowledge to create a customer experience that helps firms grow at every stage. Moving from insight to action is the challenge for advisors. Doing it consistently and at scale can seem impossible. Adrian breaks down how Practifi thinks about a rapidly evolving industry. 

In this episode, we welcome Carl Richards, the NYTimes Sketch Guy and Chief Brand Officer for Elements. Carl and Derek get into the unique and powerful role that financial advisors play in aligning people's time, dreams, and money. It’s not easy to hold people accountable to their own goals, and supportive conversations are key. Carl also explains why Elements was a great fit - and it comes down to turning prospecting into a simple, actionable visual.

This episode is from a recent panel we did at Snappy Kraken’s Jolt conference with some others in the space, including Taylor Schulte, Matt Halloran, Emily Binder, and David Armstrong. We dove into voice and video marketing – including the ins and outs of how to get started, what you need to produce, and why your early data won’t tell you the full picture. 

Whether it’s Ritholtz Wealth and their slew of podcasts and blogs, The Colony Group deploying their white-glove digital platform to clients, or individual brands like Doug Boneparth generating large followings on platforms like Twitter – being digital-first and marketing-led is at the core of how advisors should be building brand now and in the future. But no progress comes without some bad actors and turbulence. And we’ve first-hand seen advisors been tricked into thinking that marketing is a magic potion that can 10X your business in 90-days. The reality is much different. The reality can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow. We dive into the ugly truths about marketing every financial advisor should know.

Learn more about Seven Group: https://www.thesevengroup.com/ Check out our podcast: https://www.thesevengroup.com/podcast/ Get a demo: https://calendly.com/seven-group/30min

Stephanie Bogan, Chief Possibility Officer for Limitless Advisor, makes redefining success upwards - for herself and the advisors, leaders and founders she partners with - look easy. But there's a career's worth of insight, intelligence, method and practice in her coaching. Stephanie gets serious about the inspiration and the hard questions in this episode. 

On this episode of Advisor Lab by CION, we welcome Anna N’Jie-Konte, the Founder of Dare-To-Dream Financial Planning. Anna N’Jie Konte has built a unique and successful business by looking at what attracted her, and adapting it to her own firm. She’s a firm believer in creating marketing rooted in the advisor’s personal story and value system to create client trust. We discuss Anna’s journey, and how her commitment to fitness and self-care was critical to her success.

Derrick Kinney is a successful advisor who has become one of the top advisor coaches with his Advisor Accelerator program. He focuses on bringing meaning to money, for both clients and advisors. Along the way, he teaches advisors how to take back time, own problems to drive to solutions, create a strategic brand and rethink events and sponsorships so they are memorable and bring results. We get into the tactics, the specifics - and a lot of great stories. 

Michael Kitces needs no introduction. One of the foremost voices in the industry, he's a financial planner in his role at Buckingham Wealth, and also a commentator, speaker, blogger, podcaster and educator. From Kitces.com, to his Nerds' Eye View blog and Advisor Success podcast, Michael leads the conversations that change the industry. XYPN, the integrated support system for independent financial advisors, is Michael's response to the problem of bringing younger advisors into the industry, and it's now celebrating ten years of helping advisors build the practice they want. We get into the bifurcation Michael sees in the industry, the role of AI, and more in this episode recorded at Future Proof. 

Robert Russo has built a powerhouse firm around the concept of helping independent advisors identify where they need support to grow, and providing that support. From the complexities of business ownership, to gap analysis to grow a practice, his firm, Independent Advisor Alliance, has a process in place. The best part? They also provide a community focused on creating peer learning, growing and resources. 

In this episode, we sit down with Ben Cruikshank, Head of Flourish, a digital-first platform that brings solutions to advisors that are not easily accessible. The Flourish platform is used by over 420 RIAs managing over $1.1T in assets. Flourish recently launched Flourish Crypto, and since we’ve been on a bit of a crypto kick lately, we wanted to have Ben on to talk through why they launched it, what they’re hearing from advisors around crypto, and how advisors can bring their clients along in the education journey when it comes to where crypto fits in.

Check out Flourish at flourish.com.

In this episode, we sit down with Jackie Wilke, Vice President and Advisor Consultant at First Trust. Jackie has built her career coaching and training advisors on how to grow their practice through marketing and strategic business development. And while we spend a lot of time talking about marketing to new prospects, we wanted to have Jackie on the show to discuss how you can activate clients as an advisor. 

Learn more: www.ftportfolios.com

Remember to follow our blog at: www.thesevengroup.com

What has Apple, Nike, and Squid Games taught us? The art of storytelling matters. Brands are built on storytelling. In this episode, we dive into telling a better story tactically within the financial advisor space.

Learn more: www.thesevengroup.com

Follow us: @sevengroupnyc

In this episode, we sit down with Marc Butler, President and COO of Skience, a wealth management consulting and technology platform that focuses on helping advisors automate and operate tasks within their practice. Marc and I dive into the role of leadership and what it will take for advisors to lead over the next several years. Marc shares his 3-point framework on how advisors can lead your teams in the future.

To learn more about Skience, visit: https://skience.com/

In this episode, we sit down with Andy Hudson of Step Strategic, a consulting firm focus on helping advisors navigate the 401k space. If you’re an advisor and you support plan sponsors, or are looking to build your 401k book of business – this is the episode for you. Andy gets into his philosophy on identifying red flag trigger events, how advisors can drip on 401k plans, and how you can expand the conversation to show your unique value. 

For more, visit: www.401kgrabngo.com

In this episode, we welcome Ann Garcia, she’s owner of Independent Progressive Advisors, and the author of how to pay for college book and course. Ann has built a pretty incredible media portfolio around the topic of college, and in this episode, we dive into how she did it while running her practice. Let’s get into the conversation with Ann Garcia.

Check out the course: https://howtopayforcollege.com

In this episode, we sit down Luis Rosa, Founder of Build a Better Financial Future, an RIA that partners with Gen X and Gen Y. He’s also a co-founder of the BLX internship program, an internship program for aspiring Black and Latinx financial planners. In this discussion, we dive into how you can cut through the noise with Gen X and Gen Y and why going digital first, sharing your own experiences is the way to go.

To check out the internship, head to https://blxinternship.org/

Masha Hodi, Partner and Client Experience Officer at Cerity Partners, has worn a lot of hats in her career, and she brings that knowledge to a conception of client experience that is built on and continually references growth. She breaks down how Cerity stays in front of an ever-changing industry, and the importance of creating and maintaining a strong culture. 

We welcome Zach Conway, Founder and CEO of Seeds Investor. One of the biggest issues for financial advisors is engaging and retaining the “next gen” investor - Gen X and Millennials. These generations realize investing is key to achieving the flexible life they want, but they want to invest on their terms. Values-based investing is a huge part of this. Zach has created an efficient and scalable way to help advisors align clients’ values with their goals. We get into detail about how advisors can tell a story beyond performance every time they talk to their clients, which is critical to mapping goals to money.

Dr. David Kelly is the Chief Global Strategist and Head of the Global Market Insights Strategy Team for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. David provides valuable insight and perspective on the economy and markets to the institutional investor and financial advisor global communities.

David’s research focuses on investment implications of an evolving economic environment. He has developed a unique ability to explain complex economic and market issues in a language that financial professionals can use to communicate to their clients. 

We welcome Mary Ann Bartels, Chief Investment Strategist of Sanctuary Wealth, to give us an outlook on what 2024 has in store. Mary Ann brings all the data, and wraps it into a narrative that resonates. Across markets, economics, asset classes and the historical comparisons, Mary Ann makes some great points.

In this episode, we sit down with Broc Buckles – Co-Founder at BC Brokerage, an insurance company partnering with fee-only financial planners to help them with life insurance, disability insurance, annuities, and more.

We get deep into the insurance industry – why they decided to partner with fee-only advisors, how the insurance world is changing, and how advisors can introduce the insurance conversation into client discussions without it feeling overwhelming and complex.

For more on BC Brokerage, head to: https://www.bc-brokerage.com/

For more on the webinar mentioned, hear here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1DODs8ZfQtaUMI0Ti2AgXQ

In this episode, we sit down with Nicole Casperson, FinTech Reporter for Investment News, content producer for the podcast Her Success Matters, and co-host of TechStack, a podcast all about wealth tech. I’ve been following Nicole for a while now – she’s always been ahead of the game when it comes to trends, news, and information regarding the wealth tech space, so I wanted to sit down with her to pick her brain on what she’s seeing in the space now and in the future.

In this episode, we sit down with Justin Green, Founder at Assist FP – a niche financial planning firm focused on online fitness coaching. With all the discussion around niche building, I wanted to go deep into it with Jusin on how he went ultra-niche to find his groove. We talk through the early learnings he’s had as he’s built his firm from the ground up. 

In this episode, we sit down with Erica Pauly - founder and owner of Track That Advisor. Erica is all about metrics and what advisors could and should be tracking from a metrics perspective. We dive into what metrics make sense to track, how to get started on your baselines, and how much time it should take to measure consistently. 

Learn more on: https://trackthatadvisor.com/

Learn more about them at vinovest.co

Matt Middleton is CEO of Future Proof, the most innovative and disruptive event in the wealth management industry. Only in its third year, Future Proof's events, starting with the Festival in Huntington Beach, are already the foundational and definitional events for where wealth management is going. Matt gets into his vision, and how keeping it tech-enabled and human-centered has meant both massive growth and an incredibly high level of attendee satisfaction.

On this episode of Advisor Lab by CION, we welcome Brian Levitt, Global Market Strategist. We sat down with Brian to discuss his view on the volatility and uncertainty of last year, how things changed in the last few months, and what he thinks may be in store for the economy and the markets in 2023. Along the way, we hit the Fed’s terminal rate, the debt ceiling, the 60/40 portfolio, and got into alternatives. It’s a great listen to set you up for 2023.

On this episode, we welcome Michael Batnick, Director of Research at Ritholtz Wealth, and co-host of the popular podcast Animal Spirits. We dive into how they’ve built such a unique, powerful place of knowledge for so many people within our space. Michael and I get into the origins of the podcast, their research process leading up to each episode, and what advisors should expect when building any content series.

Check out Animal Spirits: https://apple.co/3wA2wAc

Advisors are often asked to help solve financial problems, and some of the most difficult pertain to taxes. Our guest, Hubert Johnson, has built a business around understanding how to successfully negotiate with the IRS, and he also has some great insights on how to avoid getting to that point. 

We welcome John DeVincent, Chief Growth Officer of Intention.ly, a financial services-focused marketing consultancy. John has been at the forefront of financial services marketing, leading teams at SaaS platforms that have revolutionized the industry, including eMoney Advisor. Advisors have more tech and tools than ever before to market their practices, but sorting through them and selecting the right ones is a challenge. John breaks down the fundamentals of a digital strategy, and along the way offers a lot of insight into the future of the industry. 

George Kinder, founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning, is internationally recognized as the Father of the Life Planning Movement. Life planning focuses on the human side of financial planning. It puts people, not products, at the center of analysis and advice, helping clients meet unique goals and unlock the greatest meaning in their lives. George has a new book, The Three Domains of Freedom, and we get into it on this episode.

We sat down with Gabe Rissman, co-founder and President of YourStake. Gabe has created a firm with a vision of simplifying advisors' work and enhancing the client journey to drive personalized investing. YourStake began with the “NoScore” data approach in 2020 to offer a transparent alternative to traditional ESG data. Today, it offers a suite of AI-driven solutions for every part of the advisor-client relationship.

In this episode, we welcome the team that makes up Quorum Private Wealth. Mike Barry, Kelly Milligan, Sue English Mazzetti and Melissa Yue made the decision to become independent a couple years ago, and they are finding that while the process was seamless for their clients, independence has led to some surprising results and growth avenues. The new model of financial advice is shifting towards “life advisor,” not just money advisor, and the Quorum team has found new ways to make this core to their practice.

In this episode, we sit down with Joy Lere, Co-Founder of Shaping Wealth. Joy is a clinical psychologist, founder, consultant, educator, and writer - and she has an incredibly unique point of view on how advisors can create more self-awareness in their practice to improve their client relationships. 

Shaping Wealth just launched a new program, OCBO, your Outsourced Chief Behaviorial Office. You can learn more about it here: https://www.shapingwealth.com/ocbo

We welcome Nick Rose and Emily Biehler, founders of NovaTrak, a SaaS financial planning tool they created that also helps motivate clients and demonstrates the value of the flexible financial planning fee model. It's unique, and we get into the details. 

Our guest this episode is Mark Gatto, co-Founder and co-CEO of CION Investments, Advisor Lab’s parent and sponsor. Mark explains why CION created a podcast focused on the advisor community, and along the way we talk about the growing demand for alternatives from retail investors and CION’s very differentiated view of how to support the advisor community by leading with education. We also get into one of the alts asset classes that is making headlines this year: private credit.

In this episode, we welcome Beth Hendler-Grunt, founder of Next Great Step. Finding a first job as a new college grad can be difficult. Beth’s process teaches kids the skills they need to stand out, and teaches parents how to help their kids launch. The first job is a key piece of the financial journey for both kids and parents, as parents exit the college burden and ramp up retirement planning.

There’s been so much noise around Web3, DeFi, and Crypto over the last 12 months that we wanted to dive deeper into it. We welcomed Adam Blumberg, co-founder at Interaxis, an education platform for financial advisors on all things DeFi and Crypto. This is a marathon of an episode - Adam shares the full background on the space, what to know about it, and how Advisors can best prepare for the year ahead when it comes to your own practice. 

If you're interested in learning more about Interaxis, head here: https://www.interaxis.io/. You can follow Adam on Twitter: @Interaxis8

We're at ep 100! In this episode, we sit down with Andres Garcia-Amaya, Founder of Zoe Financial - a platform that connects investors with advisors, while educating the market on different financial planning topics and discussions. 

Zoe has become a huge asset for financial advisors trying to grow their practice, but they're also seeing every day what investors want. We get into the biggest investor trends and how you can be thinking about serving clients in a future world. 

Check out Zoe at: https://zoefin.com/

In this episode, we dive into a report released last month that was deemed: The New State of Advice. We cover the big themes that came out of the report, what it means for the wealth management industry, and what you can do about it as a financial advisor. 

Find the report here: https://www.accenture.com/ca-en/insights/capital-markets/wealth-management-financial-advice

Visit us here: www.thesevengroup.com

Follow us on Twitter: @sevengroupnyc

We welcome John Prendergast, co-founder and CEO of BlueLeaf. John created BlueLeaf with the vision of making an environment that allows the advisor to be fully appreciated by their clients. The best ideas are simple in articulation and complex in execution, and John gets into how they solved for that. We dive into what this means now - and in an AI-driven future. 

Operations and optimizing your CRM is something near and dear to every advisors heart and in this episode, we welcome Kate Guillen – founder of Simplicity Ops, a firm that helps advisors fix and optimize their CRM, we get into how to clean up your CRM data and begin to extra true value for your business and the pivots you should make going forward. We cover the exact blueprint to help you do this. 

In this episode, we sit down with Meg Bartelt, founder, and lead planner at Flow Financial Planning, a practice focused on women in tech.

With Meg’s background and how she’s doubled down on her niche, I wanted to spend some time learning from her – why she pivoted to going after a specific niche, what were some of the trials and tribulations when building the niche, and how she found the growth rhythm.

Follow her on Twitter: @MegBartelt

Check her out at: www.flowfp.com

Visit us here: www.thesevengroup.com

Follow us on Twitter: @sevengroupnyc

Paul Saganey, Founder & CEO of Integrated Partners, has cracked the code of supercharging growth. He helps advisors succeed with much larger clients than their existing books, and pairs that up with a deep understanding of how to build a COI network with the "grail" of referrral sources: CPAs.

In this episode, we sit down with Reese Harper – founder or Dentist Advisors, an RIA focused on dentists throughout the country. Reese is also the founder of Elements – a mobile first application that gives financial advisors the framework, processes, and software needed to deliver ongoing financial planning and an excellent client experience–at scale. I wanted to sit down with him to hear what it’s like to build a niche practice from someone who’s done it before. 

Learn more about Elements at: getelements.com

We had the opportunity to sit down with the Creator of the Behavior Gap himself, Carl Richards. Carl and I dove deep into the concept of Advisors being Guide vs. Defenders. He shares examples, as well as tactical steps you can take to become the guide of your practice and your clients. 

Head to thesocietyofadvice.com for more. 

Jennifer Palmer, CEO and Founder of JPalmer Collective, joins us to explain asset-based lending and how it can be a solution for businesses that want to raise capital, but also want to keep equity intact. The range of eligible assets is broad, and our discussion about the true cost of capital is eye-opening. Jenn has spent a career as a leader in the space, and founding her own firm has allowed her to focus on the segment of the market that she is passionate about. This ep gets deep on financing detail, but also takes a look at the trends and growth in woman-owned businesses.

Amit Dogra is President and COO of tru Independence, a platform that helps financial advisors optimize their independence with guidance, expertise and support. In this episode, we go deep into the continually evolving financial advisory landscape, the trends Amit sees now, and some very good advice for what advisors should be thinking about, from asset growth to succession planning.

In this episode, we sit down with SEI's Head of Practice Management, Shauna Mace. We get into her experience in working with advisors on how to go from busy to productive. We also dive into the launch of SEI's Growth Lab - a place where advisors can find resources and tools to help them build their practice. 

Learn more: https://info.seic.com/welcome-to-the-sei-growth-lab

Learn more about us: advisorio.co

In this episode, we welcome Brendan Frazier, Founder of Wired Planning. Behavioral finance isn’t new - but Brendan has got implementing it down to a science. Our discussion with him breaks it down in ways that will resonate with advisors that are building a practice, and we also get into an interesting chat about the future of financial advice in our new AI Chat world that provides insight for advisors at all levels.

In this episode, we sit down with Julie Littlechild – Founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement. Julie and her platform are all about the client experience and client referrals, so I wanted to pick her brain around how advisors can build out an ecosystem that enables more referrals. We dive into having client conversations, prepping clients for meetings, and surveying clients to capture information and generate more word of mouth. This is our conversation with Julie Littlechild.

Check out https://absoluteengagement.com/

Follow Julie on Twitter: @jlittlechild

In this episode, we welcome Jonathan DeYoe. Jonathan combines Buddhism, academia, and advisory in a unique practice that focuses on holistic planning and becoming a better investor. The goal is to live a better life, transform relationships with money, and identify a circle of competence that improves outcomes. Sounds like a lot - but Jonathan brings it together in surprisingly tactical ways.

In this episode, we welcome back Dasarte Yarnway for a second time on the podcast. Dasarte is the founder of Berknell Financial Group, Head of Community at Altruist, and Co-Founder of Onyx Advisor Network – a network for minority advisors who are looking for more resources, community to help them grow their practice. We dive into his journey, why he launched Onyx, and what equity means to him.

For more on onyx, head to: https://www.onyxadvisornetwork.com/

Katie Braden, founder and Chief Video Officer of Advisor Video Marketing makes an encore on the pod to get us up to speed on how video is evolving. We asked Katie to come back because we think video is one of most important marketing tools for today’s advisor. Katie gets into why video is so effective, how you can get started, and the best uses to grow your practice and create stickier relationships.

Bringing it back to the begining, in this episode, we talk through the launch of Seven Group and the biggest learnings we've had so far building this business and the five biggest learnings we've had with this experience, including: 

1. Developing Your Gap-Filling Value Prop

2. Building the Right Team

3. Launching Before You're Ready

4. Creating a Transparent Sales Process

5. Embracing the Process

To learn more about Seven Group, head to: https://www.thesevengroup.com

In this episode, we dive into the 3-actions to take with clients when it comes to the current market environment, including what to share, how often to share, and how you can conduct meetings. 

Check out more on out blog: https://www.thesevengroup.com/blog/

In this episode, we sit down with Amanda Campbell, Vice President at Wealthspire Advisors. Amanda, who was recently highlighted as one of Investment News’ 40 under 40 advisors, has made it her life's mission to ensure that every woman, in any walk of life understands her wealth in a real and meaningful way. This means connecting wealth to health – both mental and physical. We talk about what it’s been like focusing in on this audience, how’s she transitioned from going after everyone to narrowing her audience, and why it’s important for advisors to connect different areas of life together. 

With us coming to the end of the year, we’re going to be taking a two week break from the podcast. We’ll be back on January 3rd with a new set of guests, rocking new episodes every week. We welcome Michael Nathanson, Chair and CEO of Colony Group, an RIA with over $13 billion in assets under management. We dive into all the aspects, why advisors need to innovate, what investors care about, and how you can focus on innovation within your practice without losing the focus on your core business.

Martinelli Financial Services has been acting as a fiduciary for clients since 1981. Michael Martinelli joined his father Ernie 11 years ago, and together they've leaned into expanding the role of alternatives in HNW client portfolios. We get into how they approach it, what the pain points are, and where they see the industry going. 

We sat down with Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre, a certified Financial Therapist and consultant with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. Dr. Shay’s work focuses on supporting advisors in strengthening their relationships with their clients and integrating interior finance concepts into their practices. She helps advisors work through generational family dynamics to have productive conversations, and to help people find the motivation to get past their money mindset

In this episode, we welcome Jason Barsema, president and co-founder of Halo Investing. This fintech platform provides financial advisors with solutions for their clients that historically have only been available to ultra high net worth individuals. Be it bonds or equities, the 60/40 portfolios have had the worst first half of any year going back to 1932. Downside risk is on everyone's mind. Find out why Jason and Halo Investing are seeing such a huge demand for their platform and their business.

Real Assets are evolving as we look to a low-carbon, ai-driven future in which geopolitics will play a bigger role. Where are the opportunities? What are choices from an investor standpoint? How does ESG fit in? We sat down with Will Thomson of Massif Capital for an enlightening and in-depth discussion. Some of the answers are surprising.

Todd Mercer, founder and Managing Partner of Mercer Wealth Management, discusses how utilizing “a la carte” technology has allowed him to increase his level of service across the board. He goes deep on how and why Mercer incorporated alternatives into client portfolios, and his outlook on the evolution of the industry. 

In this episode, we sit down with Andres Mazabel – Business Development Manager at Trust and Will. Trust and Will is an Estate Planning Platform that helps end consumers navigate the estate planning process at a much lower cost with much lower friction than traditional sources. They also partner with Advisors to enable advisors to serve end-investors easier across multiple areas of the financial planning process. Andres is partnering every day with advisors on the future of estate planning, so I wanted to get his thoughts on how tech is changing estate planning.

Find out more: https://trustandwill.com/advisors/

We’re flipping the script in today’s episode, and in this episode, it comes from a session I recently did with Marie Swift of Impact Communications on her podcast, Swift Chat. We dive into what Advisors can be doing to market towards their niche, including how to think about your audience and persona, what kind of content you should be creating, and what you should be measuring. 

Learn more about what we do: www.thesevengroup.com

We welcome Tim Gerend, Chief Distribution Officer of Northwestern Mutual. There's a growing recognition among investors that their financial planning needs work, and that financial advisors are the most trusted resource for financial advice. Northwestern Mutual's recent study has the data, and Tim has an interesting and detailed perspective on how Advisors can harness the trends to build their practice. 

Michael Clarke, author of A Firm Worth Building, has figured out the balance between doing the work of an advisor and the work of running a business. Advisors can be prisoners of their own success, and Michael has created a framework and mindset for coaching advisors that covers everything from branding to firm culture to growth strategies, and that allows Advisors to focus streamline their own workload. Along the way, he developed National Referral Network, a COI community that focuses on helping every member create more value for clients. 

In this episode, rather than have a guest, we wanted to take time to walk through specifics on how to think about your marketing and growth as a financial advisor. We get into the Seven Sequence and the different elements you should be thinking about regarding your marketing.

www.thesevengroup.com for more. 

We welcome Jeremy Straub, Founder and CEO of Coastal Wealth, for an episode focused on the business side of building a successful financial advisory practice. Jeremy has created companies that are great places to work at by motivating and managing people to do their best. Jeremy’s story is amazing, and his point of view on steps and strategies to create a financial advisory business that the advisor enjoys is a must-listen.

In this episode, we discuss the broken marketing model and how you, as a financial advisor, can fix it and increase lead pipeline quality. We cover creating top-of-funnel momentum, developing mid-funnel assets, and a systematic follow-up program.

www.thesevengroup.com for more. 

Seth Streeter, Founder and Chief Impact Officer of Mission Wealth, has some very clear principles. He wants to help clients redefine wealth, and has created a service model that places inspiration, balance, and purpose at the center of a holistic process. For advisors, this means creating a collaborative culture backed up by custom tech. The goal is to ensure that clients feel a sense of shared mission that goes beyond planning, especially for clients facing transitions. 

Seth and Derek touch on a lot of areas on this episode, but you'll want more from this very thoughtful industry leader. Here's where you can find it: 

Seth Streeter TEDx Talk
www.sethstreeter.com

In this episode, we sit down with Caitlin Cook, Head of Community and VP of Operations at Onramp, a cryptoasset integration platform solution for financial advisors. As Onramp has a major focus around community, we dive into what it takes to build a sticky community in 2021, and how you as advisors, can adapt your practice to establish a bigger community feel with clients and prospects.

Check out Onramp: https://onrampinvest.com/

Check out Onramp Academy: https://academy.onrampinvest.com/

With all the news and headlines surrounding the RIA acquisition market, I wanted to cover a 2022 update, so in this episode, we welcome Nathan Kubik, CEO of Transform Wealth, a $1.8B RIA headquartered in Denver. Transform has been very focused on both organic growth and acquisition growth, and the perspective Nathan has is invaluable. We dive into what makes a sound acquisition opportunity, how not to disrupt culture, and what smaller advisors can do to grow into a merger opportunity.

More on Transform: https://transformwealth.com/

In this episode, we sit down with Steven Jarvis, Co-Founder, CEO and Head CPA at Retirement Tax Services – a tax planning platform that enables financial advisors to better communicate, engage, and educate their clients around taxes. Steven and I get into the experience of building his business so far – how he went narrow on both audience and topic, what he’s learned about the model as he’s scaled, and how advisors can integrate more tax planning content and services into their business.

Check them out: https://retirementtaxservices.com/

Check us out: https://www.thesevengroup.com/ 

In this episode, we sit down with Chip Castille and Becca Long from GoalBasedInvestors (GBI). GBI is a platform that connects investors with advisors in a simpler, more user friendly way using goals based planning. We dive into the details on why goal based planning can work, how GBI is making investing more social, and what advisors can do to simplify the onboarding experience for clients. 

Check out goalbasedinvestors.com for more. 

Jonathan Foster, President and CEO at Angeles Wealth Management, has a created a stratgic vision for his firm that taps into his deep understanding of family wealth dynamics and the unique wealth management needs of ultra-high-net worth families and individuals. As co-founder of Angeles Wealth, Jonathan played a key role in developing the platform that offers comprehensive wealth advice and institutional-quality investment solutions to generationally wealthy clients. We get deep on how he helps clients create and preserve multi-generational wealth.