Featuring Melissa Smith-White RIA firms whose growth strategies include recruiting advisors from the wirehouses and regional broker dealers face a highly competitive landscape. But that’s not the only challenge. Making the move to fiduciary is a huge decision with potential risks for the advisors they are recruiting. The prospect of losing client assets during the...Continue Reading

Featuring George Webb Wealthy, educated Americans turning 65 today have the means and knowledge to lead healthier lives, giving them the ability to extend life much further than the average American (up to 15 years for the wealthiest men vs. their poorer counterparts).1 This means that the clients you serve and the clients you are competing...Continue Reading

Featuring Jenny McNamara and Stephanie Prince When your firm promises high-touch service, large and slow-moving or out-of-touch business partners threaten to disrupt your customer experiences. For RIA firms like Richard Young Associates (“RYA”) of Georgia, there is no way to NOT depend on them. This introduces some risks to the client experience. Awkward robo attendants,...Continue Reading

Featuring Rudy Blanchard, MSM, APMA If it’s true what the Greek philosopher Epictetus said, that “Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself,” then it’s a safe bet Rudy Blanchard and his partner Eric Greschner were firehosed with personal insights from 2000 to 2010. Starting an RIA firm during the tech bubble...Continue Reading

Featuring Kim Spencer, CFP®, CDFA® Moving assets to fee-based structures and transitioning those clients without back-office support can be very disruptive for advisors. The shear bulk of the work can be so daunting that some things fall through the cracks. Like annuity assets. Paperwork, complexity, lack of choice in fee-based offerings—all of these factors can...Continue Reading

Featuring Harold Grubbs, RFC, AIFA® Because they aren’t typically insurance licensed, and they don’t take commissions, Registered Investment Advisors like Harold Grubbs have had to outsource annuity-related client needs, or ignore them. Annuities have also been so complex and expensive that their essential value, tax deferral, has been neutered. But a new generation of low-cost,...Continue Reading