The Wealth Consigliere

  The popular Netflix series on chess  reminded me of my brilliant Dad who loved Chess. This week I’ll discuss how we can play our own game of Chess.  Hopefully, the three strategies will help your independent wealth advisory business win your game. They won’t need to be memorized, but it should be implemented. The strategies work in our post pandemic world. The pandemic has accelerated the need to change. This reality embraces some old beliefs, but the new strategies will help us win.  Social Media   Our clients use Social Media.  We should communicate our unique message using Social Media too. The business tools we need to become expert are LinkedIn and Twitter.  If our clients don’t know how to use either we should teach them.  The good news is both are free and are embraced by compliance.  I check my LinkedIn and Twitter feed several times each day. Firewall   Our clients and our regulators require we have a Firewall protecting ...

  Our world has changed and the impact is causing gridlock.  This week we will examine the gridlock in the independent wealth advisory business. Unfortunately,  political pollsters missed these changes too. We hope we can help avoid similar mistakes. The areas our blog will examine are essential to our industry’s evolution. We will begin with with predictions and end with the effective checks and balances established by our forefathers.  Predictions We yearn for someone to predict the future. Our older clients believe there are analysts that can help qualitatively. Millennials demand a process that is more quantitative. These two different opinions have supported Passive and Active funds. We need to accept we won’t change minds and need to move forward. The current older clients believe they are correct and the younger generation “doesn’t get it”. This is gridlock and only time will solve these differences. It wasn’t that long ago we believed that a woman would never...

  Our monthly podcast summary will not write about the President. I’m an auditory learner anyway.  Our favorite podcasts are organized in two categories. Short and no election narratives. Education   The Memo by Howard Marks  Reimagine with Eric True Crime ESPN Investigates Brainwashed   Please use your new-found knowledge to vote! Thanks

It is important we convey our unique values.  The old approach of advertising and commercials doesn’t work as well as the new technology solutions.  This week we will examine the old and new approaches.  Each continues to work in their target demographic.  Don’t throw out the baby.  Old Media It is easy to have a knee-jerk reaction during traumatic times. Our belief is that we can improve, but all of our old beliefs are NOT wrong. We just need to examine old beliefs with an open mind. Our thought is that they have survived this long for a good reason.  Book I am currently writing a book. Why? is a question I ask myself daily. The reason I write is to memorialize my observations. Observations are difficult to argue but I wish someone had done the same for me. My mentors did and their thoughts still resonate. I’m hoping my book will do the same for young professionals.  Gutenberg  invented the printing press in the 1400s. Seems like books are surviv...

The COVID pandemic has encouraged us to find new approaches.  Many celebrities have decided to use their skills on Social Media platforms.  The best person we need to emulate is The Rock .  We all know professional wrestling is fake, but we still watch.  This week we will summarize what many celebrities and pro wrestlers are doing.  Our belief is that their approach can work in the wealth advisory industry.  Wrestling is not as stupid as you think.   200,000 followers   Social media metrics are seductive. The Seth Godin idea of MVA works for our industry because customized solutions and good customer service takes time. Followers work for a mass market solution but fail for wealth advisors and our children. Congratulations to The Rock for surpassing 200,000 followers. The metric works for movie stars and pro wrestling.  Start Now Technology makes it easier for us to convey our message but it also makes it easier to see what others are doing....

  Many Independent Wealth Management websites have a link for people to request an appointment to discuss their personal financial information. We all can do better.  This week I’ll explain how we can use AI to help.  I’m using an AI tool called gamification to help us in three important areas. We often outsource these three needs to expensive professionals. I will propose that a computer can help, complemented with human professionals.  Computers can identify our tendencies and mistakes, but humans deliver empathy.   Recruiting   Recruiting is on the top of most firms wish list. The recruiting game has standard questions that all recruiters have asked for years. Our game will include those questions, but also ask our colleagues what questions resonated for them. The other aspect of recruiting that can be improved is references. All of our current clients should be randomly chosen by the computer to eliminate using our Mom as a reference. The new recruitin...

We all need to listen more and talk less. Our blog this week will cover the podcasts we listen to without guidance from The Presidential Debate Commission .   We also remember the Gloria Evestefan song .  True Crime Whistleblower   Broken: Seeking Justice Piketon Masecre Education   Amended   Masters of Scale Take 15 I promise I’ll be quiet and follow the rules.