Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 5, 2024

As their practices grow and they start to serve more clients, though, advicers invariably reach a point where they simply don't have the time to do everything on their own and need to decide whether to make their first hire (or not!). From there, the next decision will be whether the new hire should be an employee or independent contractor.

Compliance 189

Compliance Clients Consulting Accounting 189

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 17, 2024

After advisors do all of the work of bringing on a new client (Marketing! Compliance!), This can result in fewer referrals and even the loss of the client, who might eventually opt to move their accounts to another (more appealing) advisory firm. Prospecting! Onboarding!

Clients 246

Clients Financial Planning Planning Compliance 246

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 24, 2025

We have provided an onboarding plan template for advisors to download, which breaks up the skills list into two primary categories: 1) client communication skills (e.g., building an initial financial plan). meetings, email communication, and phone calls), and 2) technical skills (e.g.,

Planning 130

Planning Clients Financial Planning Communication 130

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 31, 2024

Even firms with robust compliance programs that do a good job following their required policies and procedures can struggle with examinations if they don't have the information that examiners will ask for readily available.

Compliance 246

Compliance Ethics Advertising Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

This moves the deal into the closing period, where the transaction can be publicly announced and any closing conditions must be met (such as obtaining consent from the seller’s clients to transition to the new owner). Only then can the new owner begin the work of integrating processes and systems and serving their new clients.

Compliance 246

Compliance Sales Financial Advisor Financial Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 17, 2024

Nonetheless, fewer than 10% of SEC-registered investment advisers report using them, even though the SEC’s updated investment adviser marketing rule allows financial advisors to proactively encourage testimonials (from clients), use endorsements (from non-clients), and highlight their own ratings on various third-party review sites.

Financial Advising 246

Financial Advising Compliance Advertising Marketing 246

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 17, 2025

This is largely because, for financial advisors, it's not 'just' about capturing notes from the client meeting itself, but also about managing everything that follows: recording meeting notes in the CRM for compliance purposes, assigning post-meeting tasks to the team, and sending the client a post-meeting recap email.

Financial Advisor 143

Financial Advisor Clients Financial Planning Professional Services 143

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

Financial advisors who pay third parties to solicit or refer prospective clients to generate new business have historically been subject to the SEC’s Cash Solicitation Rule. These requirements include ensuring that promoters are eligible to receive compensation for testimonials or endorsements (i.e.,

Advertising 242

Advertising Compliance Marketing Marketing 242

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

This month's edition kicks off with the news that Practice Intel has launched a new "growth platform" centered around quantifying the quality of an advisor's client relationships with an all-in "Relationship Quality Index" (RQI) – which while potentially valuable in helping advisors understand and improve their client experience (and subsequently (..)

Compliance 246

Compliance Valuation Financial Advisor Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 31, 2024

Even firms with robust compliance programs that do a good job following their required policies and procedures can struggle with examinations if they don't have the information that examiners will ask for readily available.

Compliance 189

Compliance Ethics Advertising Clients 189

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 6, 2023

Which at best will still be a substantial uphill battle, given the hassle of switching from one financial planning platform to another (and the fact that most advisors are generally satisfied with their current financial planning software in the first place!).

Compliance 246

Compliance Financial Planning Planning Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

While some are looking to gain a first-mover advantage by leveraging client testimonials and third-party endorsements (and adjusting their compliance programs before doing so), others are taking a wait-and-see approach. How a regular firm newsletter can keep clients engaged and improve retention.

Financial Planner 244

Financial Planner Retirement Planning Compliance Clients 244

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 1, 2024

A little over 20 years ago, when the Internet was still just a few years into gaining widespread use, the SEC understood its potential to transform how financial advisory firms conducted business with the ability to deliver advice digitally, lowering the barriers to serve clients across the country.

Investments 246

Investments Investing Compliance Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 21, 2023

All investment advisers are fiduciaries that owe a duty of care and loyalty to their clients, and, in an ideal world, advisory firms and their staff would abide by these requirements without the need for a prescriptive code of ethics. Read More.

Ethics 244

Ethics Fiduciary Duty Compliance Clients 244

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 22, 2024

Notably, different affiliate platforms have different payout rates; those that pay out the most (and thus have the lowest fees) tend to cover relatively few functions such as compliance and technology, while those that pay out the least (and therefore have the highest fees) cover a significant amount of the advisor's overhead costs.

Compliance 246

Compliance Clients Financial Advisor Numbers 246

Nerd's Eye View

JULY 12, 2022

Kamila is the CEO and Founder of Collective Wealth Partners, an independent RIA based in Atlanta, Georgia, that oversees nearly $25 million in assets under management for almost 175 client households.

Financial Advisor 246

Financial Advisor CFP Clients Financial Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 30, 2024

Tim is the founder of Goodwin Investment Advisory, an RIA based in Woodstock, Georgia, that oversees $275M in assets under management for 370 client households. return in new onboarded client revenue for every $1 spent in marketing. return in new onboarded client revenue for every $1 spent in marketing.

Financial Advisor 246

Financial Advisor Clients Compliance Engineering 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 7, 2023

Which makes it all the more important for IARs to ensure Form U4 is up to date and that the way they are presenting themselves to current and potential clients in public – including content on their website, advertisements, and social media post – aligns with their (also publicly available) regulatory disclosures! Read More.

Compliance 246

Compliance Advertising Media Investments 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 6, 2023

Adam is a principal with RubinGoldman and Associates, and the Founder and CEO of Asset-Map, a financial planning tool that helps financial advisors create a visual representation of their clients’ financial situation, reaching over 1.25 million users.

Assets 246

Assets Financial Advisor Financial Planning Insurance 246

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 2, 2023

Jake is the Founder of Experience Your Wealth, an independent RIA based in Bristol, Rhode Island, that advises 78 client households with a 3-person team supporting more than $550,000 of ongoing revenue. Welcome back to the 331st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Jake Northrup.

Financial Advisor 246

Financial Advisor Financial Planning Clients Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 1, 2024

This month's edition kicks off with the news that held-away asset management platform Pontera has raised $60 million in venture capital funding as advisors increasingly seek to directly manage clients' 401(k) and other outside assets – although an ongoing investigation by Washington state regulators over whether advisors' use of Pontera violates (..)

Retirement Planning 246

Retirement Planning Startup Clients Compliance 246

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Bridget is the President of WealthChoice, a virtual independent RIA that oversees nearly $80 million in assets under management for 68 client families, and Co-Founder of Equita Financial Network, an advisor platform that helps advisors plug in and share resources. My guest on today's podcast is Bridget Venus Grimes.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Financial Advisor Clients Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 3, 2024

This month's edition kicks off with the news that 'startup' custodian Altruist has completed a $169 million fundraising round as it continues to rebuild the RIA custodial tech stack layer-by-layer while positioning itself as the biggest RIA custodian built from scratch and solely for advisors – which, while making it the clear #3 custodian behind (..)

Risk Tolerance 246

Risk Tolerance Communication Startup Financial Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Hearsay Systems rolls out a new small-to-mid-sized RIA platform for social media compliance and website design. Riskalyze signals an intent to rebrand itself away from ‘just’ risk tolerance assessments to a broader focus on helping advisors grow clients and assets.

Risk Tolerance 241

Risk Tolerance Startup Compliance Clients 241

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 7, 2023

This month's edition kicks off with the news that estate planning platform Wealth.com has launched Ester, an AI-driven 'legal assistant' that uses machine learning to help advisors quickly review and extract the key information from clients' estate planning documents, as it joins FP Alpha in the competition to become 'Holistiplan for estate planning (..)

Estate Planning 246

Estate Planning Wealth Management Financial Advisor Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

But by being aware of the varying requirements and filing documents in an accurate and timely manner, new firms can navigate their way through the registration process and (finally) begin offering planning services to clients! Notably, along with certain standardized forms (e.g., Read More.

Compliance 130

Compliance Investing Investments Government 130

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 5, 2023

This month's edition kicks off with the news that Riskalyze has completed its previously-announced rebranding, and will now be known as “Nitrogen”, a ”growth platform” for advisory firms – which represents less of a shift in the platform’s core function (given that Riskalyze’s risk tolerance tool was always (..)

Risk Tolerance 245

Risk Tolerance Retirement License Retirement Planning 245

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 12, 2024

Financial advisors, as professionals whose clients rely on their advice to make financial decisions, are legally and financially responsible for the advice that they give. Because ultimately, it's better to be surrounded by others who take care in advising their clients than to be the only one doing so! Read More.

Fiduciary Duty 245

Fiduciary Duty Risk Tolerance Investing Investments 245

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 30, 2023

But in the financial advisory business, firms are typically less concerned about employees taking intellectual property (e.g., financial planning processes and other 'trade secrets') with them to a competitor and are more concerned about clients (and the revenue they bring in) following their (departing) advisor to their new firm.

Clients 246

Clients Communication Financial Planning Planning 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Mindy is the owner of Creative Money, an independent RIA based in Seattle, Washington, that offers a unique 12-month financial planning engagement – or as Mindy puts it on her homepage, “financial planning that doesn’t suck” – which has allowed her firm to work with nearly 400 client households just this year.

Fee Only 130

Fee Only Clients Financial Planning Financial Advisor 130

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 26, 2023

Firms seeking acquisitions may talk up their values prior to the sale, but the reality is that at a firm that is rapidly acquiring other businesses – particularly when funded by private equity ownership – the focus is often on the growth of assets and profitability, no matter what the core values are purported to be.

Compliance 246

Compliance Sales Planning Media 246

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 17, 2022

Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) are generally required to enter into an advisory agreement with their clients prior to being hired for advisory services. million under the management of the adviser, or with a total net worth of at least $2.2 million under the management of the adviser, or with a total net worth of at least $2.2

Clients 246

Clients Assets Financial Planning Management 246

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 24, 2022

Advisory agreements for Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) contain many sections that are important both for the purposes of complying with SEC and state securities regulations, and for constituting a valid agreement between the RIA and the client. The agreement should also lay out some acknowledgments for the client to review.

Electronics 242

Electronics Clients Retirement Planning Financial Advice 242

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 24, 2022

Advisory agreements for Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) contain many sections that are important both for the purposes of complying with SEC and state securities regulations, and for constituting a valid agreement between the RIA and the client. The agreement should also lay out some acknowledgments for the client to review.

Electronics 238

Electronics Clients Retirement Planning Financial Advice 238

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 17, 2022

Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) are generally required to enter into an advisory agreement with their clients prior to being hired for advisory services. million under the management of the adviser, or with a total net worth of at least $2.2 million under the management of the adviser, or with a total net worth of at least $2.2

Clients 229

Clients Assets Financial Planning Management 229

Nerd's Eye View

DECEMBER 6, 2023

Thus, Advice, Business, Compensation, and Securities (ABCS) are the key elements in this definition. But once a financial coach addresses specific questions from clients around actual securities (e.g., Read More.

Investments 246

Investments Investing Retirement Planning Financial Advising 246

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 4, 2024

Freeman is the Co-Founder of La Crosse Financial Planning, an RIA based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, that oversees nearly $50 million in assets under management (AUM) for 73 client households. My guest on today's podcast is Freeman Linde. Read More.

Fee Only 130

Fee Only Financial Advisor Clients Estate Planning 130