Running For President


Last week’s news cycle was filled with new candidates entering the presidential race and new independent RIAs entering the independence race. Our blog will examine the similarities of the announcements and opine on who will win. My only concern is the permanence of social media posts. They are easy to make but they never go away. 

This last week saw more Democrats declaring their candidacy for president.  It also had the venerable Goldman Sachs buying its way into the independent RIA space with their $750 million purchase of United Capital.  We see more similearities in Goldman’s move and the Depomaratc Presidential candidadtes. Give us 400 words to show you why.

President

At this early stage in the presidential “race” it seems easy to declare you are in.  History warns that to be successful you need to identify an issue and make that a centerpiece  for your campaign.  One item?  Yes one, and repeat it it numerous times on the stump. Statistics have shown that we are one issue voters.  Look at Clinton vs Trump.  Clinton had numerous solutions and Trump had one.  This approach is not new, Alexander Fraser Tytler had a similar observeation in the late 1780’s.
Goldman 

Goldman is a lot of things but one thing you can’t argue is they are smart.  Goldman hires and trains the best and the brightest and they have a track record of success anticipating industry trends.  The recent move into indpendendent  wealth management caught our attention.  It feels good when a firm like Goldman validates your industry.  It feels good but once the glow fades and they start to make the rules we will know how they really feel bout RIAs.  Money is a strong one issue vote but once the deal closes and the election is complete we start to learn what the firm and the candidate really believe. A smart firm, Dynasty, has declared and established themselves in the RIA race. Heck, even Dick Fuld is getting involved.


 Collusion 

Politics and financial services are both guilty of collusion. Not the Russian kind but collusion of their message.  Politicians collude with their staff and donors that their policies will work.  Financeal services professionals have been trained to believe that their methods can beat the markets and insure their clients’ savings programs will meet their goals.  Unfortunately all fall short.  What can we do?  Our hope is that both groups will seek the help of expertienced practitioners and ask them how their plans worked.  You will be surprised by the answers.    


Proclamations and social media statements feel good, but we need to question their efficacy and vote with our experienced elders.

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