Financial Advisor Success

As advisors, many of us have been taught that it’s a bad idea to discuss religion or politics with clients, but my guest today disagrees with this conventional wisdom. In fact, he has found that focusing on religion has actually been good for business. Rob West is the president of Kingdom Advisors, a membership organization that supports financial advisors who want to serve Christians as their niche market segment and boasts 70% growth over the last five years. In this episode, Rob shares how he has successfully integrated faith and finance into his business, from incorporating nearly 23,000 passages from the Bible about money and possessions into financial planning conversations with clients to developing a training program and supporting Certified Kingdom Advisor® designation to be “the gold standard for delivering biblically wise financial advice.” Listen in to hear how he has formed a niche in an underserved majority, and why combining your values with your work is important not only for differentiati

My guest today has not only gone against the conventional wisdom of never talking politics with clients, but he’s based his entire business on that very subject. Zach Teutsch is the founder of Values Added Financial, an independent RIA that focuses on working with progressive Democrats. And while this undoubtedly drives some prospects away, it has also quickly accelerated the growth of his firm, which has reached more than $300,000 in recurring retainer fees in less than 18 months. In this episode, Zach shares how picking a niche—even one based on politics—can actually be quite effective, as well as what he’s done to leverage this fact. Listen in to hear what kinds of clients he has been able to attract with his targeted messaging, how he’s created a pricing model specifically to fit his clientele, and how the way he’s structured his firm has gotten him to the point where he no longer has to choose between work that feels good and being financially successful. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kit

My guest today brings a very different perspective to the show, not just because of the clients she works with and how she runs her practice, but also because of her unusual path into the industry. After transitioning from working as a math teacher to offering financial coaching and counseling to doing financial planning work, Phuong Luong founded Just Wealth, a virtual, fee-only, hourly financial planning practice focused on working with younger clients who are still in the wealth-building phase of their careers. Having worked extensively with low-income individuals and people of color, Phuong has seen firsthand the racial and socioeconomic challenges that impact their ability to build wealth. In this episode, she shares how stereotypes about race and low-income individuals can become blocking points when it comes to giving them effective advice and helping them to reach their financial goals. Listen in to learn how many of the financial challenges people of color face can be traced back to past instituti

Stephanie Bogan is a successful practice management consultant who teaches advisors how to run an advisory business as a business. After building and selling her first consulting firm, Stephanie has gone on to found a new one called the Limitless Adviser Coaching Program, not because she needed to do so, but as a way to have a greater positive impact on the advisor community. In this episode, Stephanie shares what she calls the seven pillars of building and running a successful advisory firm, as well as the important mindset shift that really creates business breakthroughs. Listen in to learn the common mental constructs that hold too many advisors back, the key to success and satisfaction with your advisory business, and how to execute your vision to turn it into reality. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/96

My guest today has seen what it’s like to build an advisory business and what it’s like to build a business for advisors. Previously a co-founder of IPS Advisor Pro—the first software for doing investment policy statements in a standardized way—Linda Lubitz Boone is now the founder of The Lubitz Financial Group, an independent RIA in that oversees nearly $250 million of AUM for 125 affluent clients. Yet, despite having reached a phenomenal level of success, Linda continues to proactively make changes to improve her advisory firm. In this episode, she shares how she continues to evolve her business, from the service providers she uses to support the business to the very business model itself. Listen in to learn why she decided to outsource her back office investment operations, how she is shifting her own role within the business, and what she's doing to build trust with her clients. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/95

Today’s guest has built a high-margin solo practice with quite an unusual structure. The founder of Bason Asset Management, James Osborne grew his advisory firm to over $225 million of AUM and nearly $400,000 of revenue by charging his clients a simple flat fee of $4,800—regardless of their assets. And he managed to do so by the age of thirty-five. In this episode, James shares why he decided not to follow the traditional AUM model, as well as the benefits of his flat-fee approach. Listen in to learn why he chose to build a business model that fits his personal lifestyle and family goals, why he isn’t working to gain more clients and hire staff, and what he plans to do in order to maintain his high-income lifestyle practice once he reaches his personal capacity. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/94 

My guest today has one of the most fascinating practices and niches in the advisor space. Sunit Bhalla is the founder of Oak Tree Financial Planning, a solo advisory firm that oversees more than $40 million in assets under management in a hyper-targeted niche of engineers. A former engineer himself, Sunit has been able to build nearly $300,000 in revenue—with an 85% profit margin—by working with just 17 affluent clients. In this episode, he shares how he built his highly efficient solo practice with a relentless focus on staying focused. Listen in to hear about his unique financial planning process, why he offers all his prospective clients just one comprehensive financial planning and investment management service, and what he says all advisors should focus on in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/93

Today’s guest is an expert at operations and systems. Jennifer Goldman is the founder of an eponymous practice management consulting firm that works intimately with advisory firms on their operations, technology, workflows, and processes. After starting her career as a financial advisor and transitioning to operations leadership roles at two more advisory firms, Jennifer ultimately decided to go out on her own as a consultant. In this episode, Jennifer shares her personal journey to building her own consulting practice, as well as the important lessons she learned while scaling her business. Listen in to hear the key mentality shift she had to make in order to transform from an advisor to a business owner, what it really means to adopt and implement workflows and processes into an advisory firm, and why it’s so important for business owners to do just that in order to grow and scale their firms without losing themselves in the process. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/92

My guest today trains and coaches financial advisors on how to ask the right questions in order to have better conversations with clients. Mitch Anthony is the co-founder of ROLAdvisor, a coaching community that helps practices transform into Life-Centered Planning firms. With his truly unique gift for finding the right words for effective client conversations, Mitch describes the value of financial planning itself based on six principles that all advisors should take into account. In this episode, we talk about the real value that financial advisors provide, as well as the best way to communicate this to clients and prospects. Listen in to hear Mitch’s advice for effective client conversations, the problem with the traditional focus of benchmarking an advisor’s return on investments, and why he is more focused on providing what he calls a “return on life.” For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/91

My guest today has not only had a unique journey into the financial planning world, but she also brings a very different approach and perspective to the field. Julie Murphy is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of JMC Wealth Management, a dual-registered advisory firm that serves more than 200 clients with $200 million of AUM—on top of generating nearly $300,000 a year in recurring planning fees. With financial conversations that are heavily focused around the intersections of money, our emotions, and our energy flow, Julie’s firm offers a distinctive focus on financial healing. In this episode, Julie shares how was able to accelerate her success and growth by doing what she calls “letting her freak flag fly” and simply being her authentic self. Listen in to hear how she’s allowing clients who are interested in what she has to offer to be drawn to her (rather than trying to advertise out to them), how she transitioned into doing only the things that make her happy in her business, and what she says

My guest today has built one of the largest successful advisory businesses in the country. Ric Edelman is the founder and executive chairman of Edelman Financial Services, a mega-independent RIA with more than $22 billion in AUM, with 165 advisors serving 36,000 clients across 43 office locations from coast to coast. After starting out like any other financial advisor—selling mutual funds in the 1980s as an individual advisor—Ric has spent the last thirty years ultimately building a marketing machine that brought in a whopping 45,000 prospects to his firm last year alone. In this episode, Ric shares how he grew and scaled Edelman Financial over time, as well as how his marketing of the firm has evolved over the years. Listen in to hear why he considers it the firm’s job to bring in new clients (and the role of advisors to simply service those clients), how he would do things differently if he were starting fresh today, and advice for advisors who are thinking about or actively building a practice from scr

Today we’re going to talk about a topic that makes many financial advisors cringe: sales. But despite the negative reaction many people within the industry have to this topic, my guest today is here to explain why “sales” actually isn’t a dirty word. Nancy Bleeke is the founder of Sales Pro Insider, a training platform for financial advisors that teaches how to better turn prospects into actual clients, and she’s here today to share how to take a comfortable and ethical approach to selling that really works. In this episode, Nancy shares her somewhat nontraditional sales training approach that simply focuses on having a structure to conversations with prospects to ultimately help them make a decision or take an action at the end. Listen in to hear her expert advice for how to talk to both prospects and clients using the WIIFT™ structure—which is both focusing on what’s in it for them and a five-step conversation process—the big mistakes many financial advisors make that scare away potential clients, and w

My guest today has had quite an unusual path through the industry. After building a successful practice at a wirehouse for the first 20 years of her career, René Nourse went independent so she could use the system she wanted to use to build with the type of clientele she wanted to serve. Now the founder of Urban Wealth Management—an independent RIA in the Los Angeles area that manages nearly $120 million of AUM for more than 200 clients—René is focused on serving her niche working with professional women. In this episode, she shares what it was like building her advisory practice in a wirehouse environment as both a woman and a minority, as well as the process she went through to break away from the wirehouse world and form her own independent RIA. Listen in to learn how she retained the trust of her clients after the shift, how she structures her own firm, and how she has used a digitally savvy marketing approach to grow her business to where it is today. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces

Eric Roberge is the founder of Beyond Your Hammock, an independent RIA that specializes in financial planning services for high-income young professionals in their 30s and 40s. In just five years, Eric propelled his advisory firm from $0 to $300,000 of revenue with a unique marketing approach that's earned him a fair share of criticism along the way. In this episode, he shares how his unusual marketing process works, as well as why it serves as the ultimate differentiator for his business. Listen in to learn how he survived the early years of getting his practice off the ground, what he did to move away from the way advisory businesses typically operate, and how he ultimately figured out and attracted the exact type of client he wanted to serve by simply being himself. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/86

My guest today has been in the financial planning industry for 35 years, and has been incredibly active in the profession. In addition to serving as CEO of Yeske Buie, an independent RIA that manages nearly $750 million in AUM for 240 clients, Elissa Buie sits on the Cornerstone Advisory Board of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, serves as a Dean for FPA's Residency Program, and holds an appointment as Distinguished Adjunct Professor in Golden Gate University's Ageno School of Business. In this episode, Elissa shares what has kept her excited to remain in the field for all these years, as well as her firm’s unique way of leveraging next-generation talent. Listen in to learn how Yeske Buie uses a resident program to boost productivity, how things have evolved with the way advisors are trained and educated as professionals, and advice for new advisors coming into the field. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/85 

Diane Compardo is a partner and team leader at Moneta Group, an independent RIA with 40 partners and nearly $20 billion of assets under advisement. Now the leader of a 16-person team with four partners and $1.4 billion of AUA, Diane shifted gears after nearly two decades of building an incredibly successful advisory practice as a way to re-energize herself after a mid-career crisis. In this episode, she shares the details of her trailblazing career path to working her way up to partner, as well as what she did to pick herself up from the low point of her career. Listen in to hear the key lessons she learned over the years, how she maintains a healthy work-life balance, and advice for newer planners hoping to follow a similar path to success. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/84

My guest on today’s podcast shares my philosophy that the industry could use a little more transparency when it comes to broker-dealers, and he is working to make that happen. Jon Henschen is the president of Henschen & Associates, a recruiting firm that specializes in helping advisors find and match themselves to the right independent broker-dealer when making the switch to a new platform. In a segment of the industry that historically has thrived by keeping much of its compensation hidden with back-end commissions and markups, Jon’s willingness to be transparent is refreshing, to say the least. In this episode, he talks in depth about what advisors should know about the broker-dealer landscape these days. Listen in to learn how the independent broker-dealer recruiting model works, the differences in dynamic between larger and smaller firms, and what advisors need to know in order to pick the right broker-dealer for them. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/83

History always has a way of shedding light on current issues and giving us insight into the future. Ben Coombs was one of the first recipients of the CFP certification and having been involved in the growth and evolution of the financial planning industry, his insight and acquired wisdom is incredibly helpful. He talks about the early struggles of the industry and shares advice on how to advance your career while providing more valuable services to your clients. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/82 

My guest today has found an impressive balance between creating a successful advisory firm and giving back to his community. Louis Barajas is the founder of Wealth Management LAB, a multi-family, office-style advisory firm that specializes in providing financial advice and business manager services to entertainers and other celebrities in the Latino community. The first Latino minority to join the National Board of the Financial Planning Association over a decade ago, Louis built his advisory firm over time, from trying to serve Latino small business owners in the barrio where he grew up to writing books and teaching financial literacy to the Latino and broader communities. In this episode, Louis shares the stages of his unique path into financial planning that culminated in him starting his own solo practice, as well as how he stayed positive and overcame the setbacks he faced along the way. Listen in to learn how Louis built his success by focusing not on financial planning but on what he calls financial do

My guest on today’s podcast has grown his niche practice of serving physicians and retirees to nearly $70 million in assets under management and $800,000 of revenue in just eight years. Matthew Blocki is a 30-year-old financial advisor who built his financial-planning-centric business by starting out at Northwestern Mutual and quickly evolving from nearly 100 transactional insurance clients per year to a hyper-focused practice that’s aiming to grow with just 15 affluent clients per year instead. In this episode, Matthew shares how he got started and survived in the early years of building his practice from scratch, as well as how he differentiated himself as a 20-something advisor working with retirees. Listen in to hear what helped shape his career in the beginning, how his practice and focus have changed over the years, and what it takes to come out exponentially ahead in your business. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/80