Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 3, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with a recent survey indicating that a majority of advisors are viewing new client acquisition as their primary challenge in the current competitive environment for financial advice (followed by compliance and technology management) and suggests (..)

Financial Planner 246

Financial Planner Retirement Planning Financial Advice Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

As the financial advice industry began shifting from a sales-based model to a more sustainable asset management approach, advisors found their roles shifting along with it. Yet, even for advisors who understand the value of delegation, actually letting go is often easier said than done.

Financial Advice 246

Financial Advice Communication Sales Assets 246

Nerd's Eye View

DECEMBER 2, 2024

This month's edition kicks off with the news that the retail brokerage platform Robinhood is acquiring RIA custodian TradePMR, which appears to be less about Robinhood wanting to compete with the likes of Schwab and Fidelity in the custodial space and more about keeping the assets of its wealthier customers "on-platform" by giving them referrals to (..)

Clients 130

Clients Portfolio Management Numbers Retail 130

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

Instead, advisors can take a more direct approach in introducing the next steps to becoming a client during a discovery meeting to keep the momentum going and potentially increase the chances that the prospect will become a client.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Sales Planning Clients 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Traditionally, investment planning has been at the forefront of how financial advisors add value for their clients. Combined with growing advisor (and consumer) interest in comprehensive financial planning services, the number of ways advisors can add value for their clients has expanded greatly.

Clients 246

Clients Fee Only Planning Advertising 246

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 15, 2023

Jim is the founder of MainStreet Financial Planning, an hourly, fee-only financial planning firm, and also created Procrastination Junction, a coaching program for fee-only financial advisors looking to improve their sales skills. Read More.

Fee Only 246

Fee Only Clients Financial Planning Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Tax-loss harvesting – i.e., selling investments at a loss to capture a tax deduction while re-investing the proceeds to maintain market exposure – is a popular strategy for financial advisors to increase their clients’ after-tax investment returns. With these three tools (i.e.,

Taxes 246

Taxes Clients Tax Planning Sales 246

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

The need for financial professionals to ask prospects and clients questions has a long history in the industry. One of the best ways to accomplish that goal is not to ask better questions, but to also ask engaging follow-up questions that build trust and rapport with clients.

Clients 246

Clients Communication Financial Planning Retirement 246

Nerd's Eye View

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

The initial step towards the eventual sale of an advisory firm requires the seller to identify a well-suited counterparty, which can be challenging given the population of well-funded serial acquirers who have a material advantage over firm owners, many of whom have likely never bought or sold a business. Read More.

Compliance 246

Compliance Sales Financial Planning Financial Advisor 246

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 19, 2025

Training programs for new financial advisors have traditionally followed a sales-focused, sink-or-swim approach that primarily paid on commission for product sales. Some programs emphasize technical expertise, while others focus on communication skills needed to engage effectively with clients. Read More.

Financial Planning 147

Financial Planning Communication Certification Clients 147

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 28, 2025

Kay Lynn is the President of Merit Financial Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia, that oversees approximately $13 billion in assets under management for 26,000 client households. Read More.

Financial Advisor 147

Financial Advisor Clients Valuation Sales 147

Nerd's Eye View

AUGUST 14, 2023

When a financial advisor first opens their own firm, they often start with few (or no) clients and little revenue. letting a client go), it can help to have a ‘quitting coach’ to hold the individual accountable for their pre-commitment. And because actually following through on kill criteria can be challenging (e.g.,

Clients 245

Clients Accounting Financial Advisor Numbers 245

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

When it comes to focusing on a niche for financial advisors, business owner clients can be an appealing target as they can have complex financial planning problems ranging from cash flow management to tax planning to acquisition strategies. An effective strategy for attracting business-owner clients is to engage with a CEO Peer Group.

Financial Advisor 243

Financial Advisor Clients Financial Planning Tax Planning 243

Wealth Management

MARCH 22, 2024

Dave Goes discusses his new role at Advyzon and the mission to scale up to enterprise clients.

Sales 257

Sales Clients 257

Nerd's Eye View

OCTOBER 7, 2024

This month's edition kicks off with the news that digital estate planning platform Wealth.com has raised a whopping $30 million in Series A funding, following on the heels of Vanilla's follow-on $20M capital round just a few months ago – which on the one hand reflects the anticipated enthusiasm for solutions that can help advisors efficiently (..)

Clients 246

Clients B2B Estate Planning Planning 246

The Big Picture

MARCH 31, 2025

A quick note on tariffs : Over the past few weeks, I’ve been putting together my quarterly call for clients. I understand that any VAT or sales tax is agnostic as to place of production, while tariffs are not. Its easy to get distracted by the chaos of random policies that have been coming rapid-fire at Americans.

Taxes 303

Taxes Economics Education Planning 303

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

And be certain to listen to the end, where David shares why advisors might consider doing a partial sale of their no-longer-as-profitable clients to give them lifestyle flexibility while monetizing at least part of their business (and then continue to serve the smaller group of remaining high-value clients with better profitability and fewer working (..)

Planning 162

Planning Valuation Financial Advisor Sales 162

Wealth Management

AUGUST 16, 2024

Art sales have slowed, leading wealthy clients to look for ways to unlock liquidity while keeping their collections.

Sales 284

Sales Clients 284

Wealth Management

JULY 18, 2024

According to the brokerage regulator, Laura Casey purchased securities in clients’ brokerage accounts when she could have avoided sales charges by using advisory accounts.

Accounting 278

Accounting Sales Clients 278

Wealth Management

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Listen as Peter Nolan, Head of Sales at Pontera, shares how his firm empowers advisors to offer holistic, integrated advice on all client assets, including 401(k) plans

Wealth Management 277

Wealth Management Management Sales Assets 277

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 24, 2024

The requirements to run a successful, growing advisory firm are often less about doing the technical work with clients and more about marketing value to get prospects in the door in the first place. Which means that advisors should not be expected to champion the planning industry alone when prospecting for clients. Read More.

Financial Advice 190

Financial Advice Clients Financial Planning Planning 190

Wealth Management

APRIL 23, 2024

The bank has struck an agreement to transfer clients and their assets from the unit known as Marcus Invest to Betterment, a $45 billion digital investment-advisory firm.

Investing 233

Investing Investments Sales Banking 233

Nerd's Eye View

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Many employee advisors gravitate toward service-oriented roles; this preference often stems from their initial motivation for entering the profession – wanting to help clients or perform the more analytical aspects of investing and financial planning. Rarely do they enter the field to be in a sales or marketing role.

Strategic Planning 246

Strategic Planning Sales Clients Planning 246

Wealth Management

OCTOBER 7, 2024

Listen as Peter Nolan EVP, Strategic Sales & Partnerships, Pontera, shares how his firm empowers advisors to offer holistic, integrated advice on all client assets, including 401(k) plans

Wealth Management 259

Wealth Management Management Sales Assets 259

XY Planning Network

MARCH 31, 2025

More and more potential RIA clients are turning to ChatGPT for quick, consolidated answersand I dont blame them. Search is indeed evolving. Why sift through keyword-stuffed blogs when you can get a direct answer curated from across the web? AI is improving the end-user experience, and we, as an industry, need to adapt. Deliver more value.

Sales 85

Sales Clients Fee Only Financial Advisor 85

Nerd's Eye View

MARCH 12, 2025

Charitably inclined investors can donate appreciated securities and avoid gains on the sale. Recently, several ETF sponsors have launched ETFs seeded in-kind by individual investors, creating a new channel for advisors who want to take advantage of Section 351 exchanges for clients.

Taxes 147

Taxes Portfolio Asset Allocation Assets 147

Wealth Management

JANUARY 11, 2023

Four steps clients should take before they even consider the possibility of a sale.

Sales 264

Sales Clients 264

Nerd's Eye View

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Yet, while these advisors recognize the importance of business development to grow their firms, they are also very often intimidated by the process of adopting sales techniques to convert leads to clients. Core to the no-stress sales process is establishing trust equity with the prospect.

Sales 240

Sales Clients Financial Planning Planning 240

Nerd's Eye View

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Cold calls, country club memberships, Chamber of Commerce networking, and referrals (from clients or centers of influence) were staples for growth, and determining how successful those sales-centric efforts were was rather straightforward.

Marketing 245

Marketing Marketing Sales Clients 245

Abnormal Returns

MAY 19, 2025

(wealthmanagement.com) Data provider YCharts is for sale. citywire.com) Clients What are the odds some one will need long term care? citywire.com) Clients What are the odds some one will need long term care? wsj.com) Is your client a builder or avoider? kitces.com) The CFP Board a new AI-powered exam prep platform.

CFP 144

CFP Clients Planning Sales 144

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 12, 2025

A common structure at many advisory firms is for the owner to handle most of the sales and prospecting, while employee advisors focus on delivering planning and analysis for existing clients. One of the most effective ways to do that is by directing the advisor toward a specific niche.

Financial Advisor 147

Financial Advisor Marketing Marketing Healthcare 147

XY Planning Network

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Ready to kick your sales strategy up a notch? Whether you're a seasoned pro or considering diving into entrepreneurship, we have 30 actionable tips to help you convert your prospects into clients! So let's dive in, demystify the process, and remove the “ick” from Sales!

Sales 113

Sales Financial Advisor Clients Fee Only 113

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 7, 2025

In the rush to secure a new client, many advisors instinctively push for momentum during the sales conversation, often feeling the pressure to keep things moving forward.

Sales 122

Sales Clients 122

NAIFA Advisor Today

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Thats why I, Ken Leibow, Founder and CEO of InsurTech Express, have partnered with Nick Bowman, CFP, MS, CEP, Co-founder & Head of Sales at Xcela, to bring you this actionable guide on leveraging AI to enhance your practice.

CFP 94

CFP Insurance Financial Services Sales 94

Indigo Marketing Agency

JUNE 18, 2025

The Best Content for Financial Advisors to Attract Clients in 2025 Does your blog feel stale? That might be why you’re not attracting new clients. Potential clients can see your face, hear your voice, and get a sense of your personality before they ever step into your office. Are your videos getting zero engagement?

Financial Advisor 52

Financial Advisor Clients Education Healthcare 52

Nerd's Eye View

JUNE 14, 2023

One common sales tactic for financial advisors is to offer prospective clients a free (or low-cost) financial plan to demonstrate the advisor’s expertise and to let the prospect ‘test drive’ the advisor’s services.

Financial Planning 246

Financial Planning Clients Planning Sales 246

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

AUGUST 4, 2024

By Matt Pais, MDRT Senior Content Specialist Even the most successful advisors appreciate the value of a good sales idea. When given these choices, clients contextualize the options and tend to purchase more. These are a few favorites from MDRT members: Prospecting tips Prospecting is a numbers game.

Sales 101

Sales CFP Numbers Clients 101