Tag Archives: Technology

Advisor Innovations Podcast: Mark Miller on Rebooting a Retirement Plan

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Mark Miller is a career journalist who digs deep into the world of retirement planning, social security, medicare and the state of retirement “readiness” among people nearing the goal line. Miller has written regularly for The New York Times, Reuters, Morningstar and has been a long-standing columnist for Wealth Management magazine and WealthManagement.com. He is the author of the recently published Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. In this episode, Wealth Management editor David Armstrong speaks with Miller about the challenges of retirement planning from both an advisor’s and client’s perspective. 

Mark discusses:

  • Why for many, but certainly not all, clients, social security should be considered longevity insurance, and delayed for as long as possible.
  • What advisors get wrong about advising clients on Medicare choices, and where to go for unbiased, objective advice. 
  • Helping clients do the math around long-term care insurance and LTC riders. 
  • How new research models suggest a higher allocation to equities does not help a retirement portfolio in draw-down mode.
  • What many get wrong in the debate around the financial sustainability of Social Security and Medicare. 

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Mark Miller is a journalist, author and podcaster specializing in coverage of retirement and aging. He contributes regularly on retirement to The New York Times, and writes columns for Reuters, Morningstar.com and WealthManagement.com. He is the author of Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation (Post Hill Press) and The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security (Wiley).



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Advisor Innovations: Asset Management Pioneer Bruce Bond on the Story Behind Innovator ETFs

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In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Bruce Bond, CEO and co-founder of Innovator Capital Management, a pioneer in the ETF industry and three-time WealthManagment.com Industry Award winner, to discuss pushing boundaries within the ETF market, diving into where the ETF business is going and how advisors are using ETFs in their client portfolios. 

Bond discusses:

  • The problem Bond and co-founder John Southard were looking to solve with Innovator’s Buffer ETFs, which limit the upside potential on market gains while setting a floor on the downside, and how advisors are using them.
  • Why the ETF is a better wrapper for the investment strategy that typically was found in a structured product offering from the largest investment houses. 
  • Bruce’s outlook for the markets, and how the volatile turn in equities is accelerating asset flows this year into the Buffer ETFs.
  • How the Buffer ETFs prompted a number of imitators to launch their own versions of defined-outcome ETFs. 
  • Which asset classes are on the white board at Innovator headquarters for the next ETFs. 
  • The story of how Innovator’s hometown of Wheaton, Ill., became the hotbed of ETF innovation, starting with Unit Investment Trust managers from Nuveen and Nike Securities, now First Trust. 

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About Our Guest:

Bruce is co-founder and CEO of Innovator Capital Management. Having cofounded PowerShares Capital Management in 2003, he is recognized as one of the pioneers of the ETF industry. His leadership, creativity and entrepreneurial vision challenged the conventional thinking about ETFs and blazed a trail that made way for the massive growth of what is known today as smart or strategic beta. In addition to being recognized for best-in- class products, Bruce has been named the ETF industry’s most influential person on multiple occasions. He is a thought leader and has been quoted in financial publications around the globe.



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Advisor Innovations: Shirl Penney on The Modern Independent Advisor

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In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, diving into the history and ecosystem of the independent financial advisor movement. 

Shirl discusses:

  • The problem Penney and his co-founder were looking to solve when they launched Dynasty.
  • How technology was the great enabler fueling Dynasty’s growth
  • Replicating wirehouse capabilities and financial products outside the wirehouse’s walls. 
  • What are advisors looking for as independent advisors, and how that has changed over time.
  • How newer investors in the independent channel of financial advice are changing the market, and what an economic downturn might mean for advisors.
  • Where the business of wealth management is going, and the role Penney sees Dynasty playing in the future.

Connect With Shirl Penney:

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About Our Guest:

Shirl Penney is the founder of Dynasty Financial Partners. He currently serves as President and CEO of Dynasty and is a member of the Board of Directors. Shirl is a frequent speaker at industry events, often quoted in various financial publications, and was named to Investment News’ 2015 list of 40 most influential people in wealth management under the age of 40. Shirl was also named to the 2016 inaugural list of Icons and Innovators in wealth management by Investment News.



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TAMP Technology Changing The Onboarding Process with Scott MacKillop

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In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Scott MacKillop, CEO of First Ascent to discuss TAMP services, differentiating themselves from the competition through the team they have and how their team works. Scott shares the benefits of technology within the business, both for the advisors they work with and within their own team, while revealing the problems that arise from a legal and fiduciary standpoint when advisors don’t understand the context surrounding TAMP and it’s uses with clients.

Scott discusses:

  • How First Ascent has adapted to a digital workspace and how they have benefited
  • Why they acquired a client onboarding technology to increase value
  • The value of TAMP for advisors and clients, including why advisors are looking for TAMP software, how it is implemented and what clients get out of the technology
  • The legal and fiduciary problems surrounding TAMP-based services used by advisors without consideration

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About Our Guest:

Scott MacKillop is the founder and largest shareholder of First Ascent Asset Management, LLC. Prior to establishing First Ascent, Mr. MacKillop served for 8 years as the President of Frontier Asset Management. Mr. MacKillop has also served as President of US Fiduciary Services, President of Trivium Consulting, President and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PMC International, Inc. and President and Senior Vice President of ADAM Investment Services. Mr. MacKillop also served as an independent trustee of First Western Funds Trust.

 

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Advisor Innovations Podcast: Facet Wealth’s Anders Jones

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Facet Wealth’s Anders Jones on Building a Hyper-Efficient Financial Planning Firm for the Mass Affluent.

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Anders Jones, co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth, to discuss the firm’s recent $100 million equity raise, how the business model of Facet Wealth has evolved from a buyer of clients’ business from other RIAs to a consumer-facing, subscription-based financial planning firm for clients who may not at first have the assets to sit comfortably at a more traditional RIA, and how the company is using technology to improve the efficiency of its over 100 in-house CFPs to the point where each advisor can take on more than twice the number of clients than the industry’s average. 

Anders discusses:

  • How Facet’s original intention of buying smaller clients from existing RIAs didn’t really work, and why that’s a testament to most advisor-client relationships.
  • How they’ve grown to 11,000 clients, 75% of whom have never had a financial advisory relationship, with an aggressive digital marketing strategy, taking in thousands of leads a day.
  • How Facet’s technology model creates highly efficient advisor workflows, separating prospecting and onboarding of clients from the responsibility of financial planners. 
  • How the firm plans to use its newest round of capital—not to hire more advisors necessarily, but to expand the service offerings into areas like taxes and estate planning.  

Connect With Anders Jones:

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About Our Guest:

Anders Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth. He is a venture partner with Argyle Ventures, and previously was on the business development team of LiveRamp, an enterprise data marketing platform, prior to its acquisition by Acxiom.

 

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19. CAIS’s Matt Brown on Connecting Advisors to Alternative Investment Managers

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Traditional 60/40 portfolios are not delivering the returns clients are looking for, argues Matt Brown, a former financial advisor and now CEO of CAIS, an alternatives investment platform for wealth managers. In the current market, alternative investing has increased in demand, prompting advisors to look for more information on these investment options.  

In this episode, David Armstrong talks with Brown about how the CAIS platform works to connect financial advisors with alternative asset managers and strategies that are right for their clients. Matt talks about the role of alternative investments within the current market and the importance of education as investing continues to evolve.

David and Matt discusses:

  • How CAIS provides connections to facilitate investments in alternatives
  • Why alternative investments are increasing in popularity among advisors and clients
  • The importance of education when advisors implement alternative investing
  • The role for crypto and blockchain technology for CAIS. 

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About Our Guest:

Matt Brown is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of CAIS. He has spent over 30 years at the intersection of wealth management, alternative investments, and platform design. He began his career as a financial advisor at Shearson Lehman Brothers and Smith Barney. In 2009, Matt founded CAIS, the first truly open marketplace for alternative investments, where financial advisors and asset managers can engage and transact directly on a massive scale. Financial advisors, the professionals we designate to oversee our economic futures, do not have the same access to alternative investments in comparison to large institutions. CAIS is changing that. Matt believes entrepreneurship is the major driver of economic and social change. He’s spent the better part of two decades working with Endeavor, the world’s leading organization for high impact entrepreneurs. During his tenure, he had the opportunity to mentor dozens of entrepreneurs from around the world, including Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Matt is honored to have been on Endeavor’s South African and Turkish Boards which ultimately led to a position on the Global Board of Directors. The experience deepened his belief that helping entrepreneurs build and scale their businesses promotes economic growth and prosperity. It’s Matt’s personal mission to ensure that anyone with a dream, and the drive to achieve it, have an equal opportunity to make it happen.

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17. The Wealthtech Landscape with LPL’s Gary Carrai

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In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Gary Carrai, former financial advisor, co-founder of Fortigent with Steve Lockshin, and currently executive vice president of LPL Financial in charge of third-party technology partnerships. Gary discusses the evolving affiliation options LPL Financial has opened for financial advisors and how he views the fintech ecosystem around wealth management, where he thinks LPL will turn next for fintech partnerships and his views in Cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence as it relates to financial advice. 

Gary discusses:

  • His career in financial services, including his early days as an advisor and selling his technology firm to Fortigent to LPL.
  • His current role overseeing wealth technology partnerships for LPL
  • What many advisors get wrong about their technology stack
  • The great bundled, to unbundled, to bundled again pendulum in technology ecosystems for independent advisors
  • How COVID-19 impacted financial advisors’ decision-making
  • LPL’s approach to cryptocurrency

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8. Matthew Enyedi on Business Solutions for the Modern Advisor

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The modern advisor is not just a financial advisor to their clients, they are also business owners.  LPL, with their Business Solutions Suite, helps advisors with everything from office administration to real estate needs. 

How comfortable are you with hiring new staff or handling all the office administration within your practice? 

In this episode, David Armstrong speaks with Matthew Enyedi, managing director at LPL Financial, about the many ways in which LPL assists their advisors to run their businesses more efficiently.

David and Matt discusses:

  • A deep dive into LPL’s business support services for advisors
  • How hundreds of LPL advisors are using LPL employees as administrative assistants.
  • The assistance LPL gives advisors when it comes to mergers and acquisitions
  • An explanation of the business service support subscription fees
  • How LPL’s support for advisors will evolve in the future

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About Our Guest:

Matthew Enyedi has served as managing director, business solutions of LPL Financial since November 2020. He is responsible for developing and deploying a suite of automated professional services to LPL advisors, and aligning them with the firm’s other programs that support advisors as business owners.  Prior to his promotion to managing director, Matt served as executive vice president, national sales from March 2015 to January 2020. In that role, he led the firm’s data analytics and business intelligence efforts, and oversaw a team focused on providing front‐ and middle‐office capabilities to help advisors grow their businesses and reach new segments of clients.

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7. Gavin Spitzner on What Advisors Get Wrong Around Technology

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Clients aren’t leaving their financial advisors because of performance issues.  They’re leaving because of communication and service issues with their current advisors. 

What are you doing to prevent your clients from switching advisors? 

In this episode, David Armstrong talks with Gavin Spitzner, president of Wealth Consulting Partners, about the many ways in which financial technology is growing and changing the financial world. They also discuss what you can do to ensure you aren’t underutilizing what strategies and technology is available to you as an advisor. 

David and Gavin discusses:

  • How most advisors are underutilizing the technology they have.
  • How the long-term bull market in equities has made many advisors complacent and masks problems around organic growth and client expectations.
  • Why advisors should expect companies like Amazon or Apple to enter the wealth management industry, and how to prepare..
  • When every aspect of wealth planning is built around algorithms, what’s left for the human advisor?

Connect With Gavin Spitzner:

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About Our Guest:

Gavin Spitzner founded his company Wealth Consulting Partners six years ago. They help wealth managers (banks, RIAs, broker dealers) design and execute profitable revenue growth strategies based on enhancing client and internal associate experiences and leveraging modern, integrated technology, professional development and process re-engineering. Some areas of focus include digital advice, portfolio management, reporting and CRM systems, client portals, data aggregation tools and other systems of engagement capabilities as well as emerging AI/machine learning capabilities. 

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