Wealthmanagement.com Advisor Innovations with David Armstrong, Editor in Chief

After a summer break, the Advisor Innovations podcast is back. In the new season's inaugural episode, David Armstrong, director of editorial strategies at Informa Connect's Wealth Management group, is joined by Rick Wurster, the president of the Charles Schwab Corporation, along with Bernie Clark, managing director and head of advisor services. The conversation was held … Read More Read More

Tim Maurer is a financial advisor and author who most recently took on the role of Chief Advisory Officer at SignatureFD. In this episode of the Advisor Innovations podcast, Maurer talks with David Armstrong about what, exactly, a Chief Advisory Officer does, and how he sees the lessons of life planning and qualitative financial advice … Continue reading Advisor Innovations Podcast: Tim Maurer on Personal Finance is More Personal Than Finance →

For many advisors, Larry Swedroe needs no introduction; He's the author of numerous books on investing, a frequent columnist in advisor publications, including Wealthmanagement.com, and the Head of Financial and Economic Research at Buckingham Strategic Wealth, one of the largest RIAs in the country. He's also active on social media where he can be found … Continue reading Advisor Innovations Podcast: Dumb indexes, “Smart” Beta and Intelligent Design—How Larry Swedroe Helps Advisors Make Sense of Investments →

Advisors have long been aware that the better they know the client, the better client experience they can provide. Advisory boards and feedback surveys have been around forever to give the advisor some guidance over how to better engage with clients and prospects.   In this episode, David Armstrong speaks with Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO … Continue reading Julie Littlechild on Client Feedback and the Engagement Engine →

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 … Continue reading Advisor Innovations Podcast: Mark Miller on Rebooting a Retirement Plan →

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.  … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Asset Management Pioneer Bruce Bond on the Story Behind Innovator ETFs →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by James Hughes. head of investment advisory at Live Oak Bank, to discuss how and why Live Oak became one of the earliest lenders to RIAs, helping facilitate succession plans and the rise of mergers and acquisitions. Hughes has a bird's eye view on the RIA industry, peering … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Live Oak's James Hughes on Underwriting RIA Growth →

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 … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Shirl Penney on The Modern Independent Advisor →

In this episode, recorded live at the Wealth Management EDGE conference at the Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood in Florida, David Armstrong is joined by Robert Sofia, Founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken, a digital marketing platform for financial advisors. Robert discusses: What problem Sofia was trying to solve when he founded Snappy Kraken. Why each … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Robert Sofia on Bringing Digital Marketing to Advisors →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Founder and CEO of Altruist, Jason Wenk, to talk about the state of advisor technology and the move toward consolidation of onboarding, custodial services, trading, account management and portfolio reporting with digital applications. Wenk explains why the current state of advisory technology needed a kick to bring … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Jason Wenk on Scaling Advisor Technology the Right Way →

In this episode, David Armstrong talks to Dr. Daniel Crosby, Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions. The son of a financial advisor, Crosby holds a Ph.D in psychology from Brigham Young University, and has spent his career bridging those insights to help people understand how they think about, and plan for, money and finances. … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Dr. Daniel Crosby on Understanding a Client's Money Mindset →

Sometimes, your clients might get emotionally carried away and make irrational money decisions, especially during times of high market fluctuations. It is your responsibility, as their advisor, to remind them that money is not the end goal, but only the means to the goal — a joyful and meaningful life. In this episode, David Armstrong … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Brian Portnoy on Helping Clients Rethink Wealth →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Carter Gibson, vice president and head of advisor M&A at LPL Financial. Working with a network of some 20,000 independent advisors, Gibson and his team have consulted with firms across the spectrum, giving him unique insight into how advisors think about, plan for, and execute, successful succession … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Carter Gibson on Planning for the Future of Your Firm →

By November 2022, all advisors will have to be in compliance with the new rules for marketing and advertising their firms, including the use of client and third-party testimonials. Understanding what these new rules are and how they will impact an advisors' ability to market their services is crucial.  In this episode, David Armstrong is … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Max Schatzow on The SEC's New Rules for Advisor Marketing In 2022 →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Colin Falls, president of GeoWealth, on the firm's growth trajectory, what it means to be an “advisor-driven” turnkey asset management platform for RIAs, and how technology can ease the tension for RIAs between model portfolios and customized investment management, and what the company's recent capital raise means … Continue reading Advisor Innovations Podcast: GeoWealth's Colin Falls →

In this episode, David Armstrong talks with Kay Lynn Mayhue, president of Merit Financial Advisors, about the $7 billion firm's aggressive growth trajectory..  Kay Lynn discusses: The strategy that's fueled Merit's aggressive growth rate since 2017. Merit's “hub and spoke” approach to acquisitions and partnerships.  How Merit evaluates its acquisition prospects—and what will kill a … Continue reading Advisor Innovations: Merit Financial's Kay Lynn Mayhue on Plotting an Aggressive Growth Trajectory →

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 … Continue reading TAMP Technology Changing The Onboarding Process with Scott MacKillop →

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 … Continue reading Advisor Innovations Podcast: Facet Wealth's Anders Jones →

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, … Continue reading 19. CAIS's Matt Brown on Connecting Advisors to Alternative Investment Managers →

Ten years ago, the idea of a $1 billion AUM client-facing RIA was hard to fathom. Today, the $100 billion RIA is the new hurdle, and a few have already crossed it. That speaks to the incredible growth and whirlwind of mergers and acquisitions in the independent advisory channel, and few have watched that transformation … Continue reading 18. Advisor Innovations: Mark Bruno on Billion-Dollar RIA →

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 … Continue reading 17. The Wealthtech Landscape with LPL's Gary Carrai →

Winners of Wealth Management's 2021 Best Financial Planning Technology, Asset-Map  has grown from personal use cases to helping thousands of financial advisors make meaningful decisions to grow their business.  In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by the CEO and founder of Asset-Map, Adam Holt. Adam shares why he started Asset-Map, and how its success … Continue reading 16. Adam Holt on The Role of Technology for Advisors in Creating a Client's Plan →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Services (now Edelman Financial Engines) and the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals. Edelman discusses how he founded his firm with a focus on middle class savers when every other advisory firm was only looking for HNW clients, and grew the … Continue reading 15. Ric Edelman Looks To the Future →

Clients largely respond positively to values-based investing—when it can be explained to them.  In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Jay Lipman, co-founder of Ethic, a direct-indexing investment platform for advisors. Ethic can demonstrate to clients how to construct portfolios that reflect their values, or demonstrate how far their current portfolios are from their … Continue reading 14. How To Invest Sustainably with Jay Lipman →

In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Tom Murphy, senior vice president of LPL's advisory program. Tom discusses how LPL has augmented advisor services while the industry has evolved from facilitating transactional relationships with clients toward a more holistic planning approach, with all the inefficiencies and customization that requires. He gives an insider look … Continue reading 13. LPL's Tom Murphy on the Firm's Efforts Toward Modernizing the Advisor-Client Relationship →

As more RIAs become interested in managing cryptocurrency portfolios for their clients, several tech providers are trying to build easy access that fits into advisors' existing workflows.  In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Christopher King, founder and CEO of Eaglebrook Advisors, on why advisors should consider crypto, why separately managed accounts are the … Continue reading 12. Christopher King on Advising Advisors About Cryptocurrency →

Brian Hamburger is the founder of Hamburger Law Firm and Marketcounsel, providing legal and regulatory support to financial advisory firms. In this episode, David Armstrong talks to Brian about the pioneering work his firm did helping wirehouse brokers “break away” and establish their own RIAs, and how his firm's services have evolved alongside the growth … Continue reading 11. Brian Hamburger on The Advisor Transition Game →

Rick Ferri has been an outspoken critic of many standard practices in the investment advisory industry. He was an early advocate of John Bogle and index-based investing, claiming most clients were better off with passive investment portfolios over using active, and more expensive, investment managers. More recently, he's argued that advisors who give investment advice … Continue reading 10. Rick Ferri on His Career, Mistakes He Has Made and Why He Thinks Most Advisors are Overcompensated. →

Mergers and acquisitions can be a rewarding path to growth for an RIA firm, but also complicated for the companies involved. Often, the most overlooked, but most important, component to making the transaction a success is the firms' “culture.”  But what is culture, how is it formed and reinforced throughout an organization, and how can … Continue reading 9. Greg Friedman and Cynthia Greenfield on Why Culture Matters in RIA Mergers or Acquisitions →

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 … Continue reading 8. Matthew Enyedi on Business Solutions for the Modern Advisor →

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 … Continue reading 7. Gavin Spitzner on What Advisors Get Wrong Around Technology →

For many advisors, marketing can be a very scary and daunting task. Advisors don't want to come off as derivative or phony. And there are many different marketing channels an advisor could use—whether that's social media, video, blogs, events, email, etc. How should advisors best approach a marketing strategy so that it's efficient and authentic?  … Continue reading 6. Marketing Strategies With Sarah LeBlanc →

As the world changes, and we realize we can't keep up the same unsustainable practices as we have in the past, ESG strategies have come to the forefront for many companies around the world. But do you know what that means for you, and your company in the future?  In this episode, David Armstrong talks … Continue reading 5. The New Business World of ESG with Jeffery Gitterman →

Sponsored by: LPL Across the board, many companies struggle with succession planning—some of this fear comes from human capital, and others come from misunderstanding of new trends in the industry.  In this episode, David Armstrong, editor-in-chief of WealthMangement.com, speaks to David DeVoe, founder and CEO of DeVoe & Company to discuss his insight about mergers … Continue reading 4. Trends in RIA M&A with David DeVoe →

HolistiPlan's planning software is an advisor-oriented tool that integrates a client's tax return into their financial plan as a way to find more opportunities for “tax alpha.” The technology makes the tax analysis and planning process a scalable, structured procedure between advisors and their clients. In this episode, David Armstrong, editor-in-chief of WealthMangement.com, speaks to … Continue reading Episode 3 – Tax-Based Financial Planning –– With Holistiplan's Kevin Lozer →

In this episode, David Armstrong, editor in chief of WealthMangement.com, speaks with Marc Cohen, executive vice president of advisor business at LPL Financial in San Diego.  David and Marc discuss how LPL Financial is enhancing the business to appeal to independent advisors, the expansion of their custodial platform and services for fee-only advisors, and the … Continue reading Episode 2 – The Evolution of LPL's New Affiliation Models –– With Marc Cohen →

Welcome to Advisor Innovations, the newest podcast from WealthManagement.com. In this inaugural episode, David Armstrong, editor in chief of WealthMangement.com, speaks with Mindy Diamond, a long-time columnist for the publication and its predecessor titles, the CEO of Diamond Consulting and one of the country's leading consulting and recruiting firms for financial advisors.  Mindy and David … Continue reading Episode 1 – How Do You Want To Live Your Professional Life –– With Mindy Diamond →