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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. While this model can work well in the early stages of a firm, it often becomes a bottleneck over time, limiting growth to the firm owner's marketing capacity and leaving employee advisors underprepared for more senior roles that require business development skills.
From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Jump to 2 Week Highs After US/China Trade Talks Tariffs and trade policy have been a new and important consideration for the bond market for just over a month now. That matters to mortgage rates because mortgage pricing is primarily determined by bond prices. Over the weekend, the US and China agreed on a 90 day pause on the more extreme tariff brinksmanship.
Hey, just back after taking the redeye home from Futureproof Colorado , and getting my feet back under me. But I wanted to briefly discuss tomorrow’s release of the University of Michigan (UMich) long-term inflation expectations. You probably know my thoughts on both Inflation Expectations and Sentiment Surveys. ICYMI, Inflation Expectations are a backwards looking exercise in the Recency Effect.
Automation generally supercharges any process and brings its value to the forefront. See how infusing automation such as ART (our month-end close solution), into your close can get you to the next level of closing. We will share a live demo of SkyStem's solution, ART and share the key elements of month-end close automation. Through ART, we'll take a look at: What month-end close automation entails Which process steps can and should be automated Benefits of achieving process automation, and Why i
Young advisors may feel – and face – an extra burden to prove their expertise to clients. After all, it can feel odd to create an estate plan that will impact a client’s grandchildren… when those grandchildren may be older than the advisor themselves! And while any advisor needs to determine how much detail to share when explaining strategic decisions, younger advisors may feel added pressure to prove their credibility.
Ten advisors responded to Ameriprises opposition to their motion to stay its lawsuit against LPL, saying its dripping with personal vitriol and contempt for their legitimate privacy interests.
From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 1.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 9, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 1.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 9, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Also on the site How to contribute to the Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative. (abnormalreturns.com) The gold dilemma isn't going anywhere. (abnormalreturns.com) Top clicks this week You are NOT Warren Buffett. How to be a better you. (ritholtz.com) Why municipal bonds are underperforming in 2025. (morningstar.com) What you are saying when you bet on individual stocks.
Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that Republicans in the House of Representatives this week released their long-awaited tax plan to address the impending sunset of many measures in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The proposed legislation makes several aspects of TCJA 'permanent', including maintaining TCJA's tax brackets and the elevated estate tax exemption, while also introducing new potential tax-savings op
The move was accompanied by a set of FAQs on how to custody digital assets, and marked the latest step in the commissions effort to significantly reform its previous approach to cryptocurrencies.
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Housing Starts Increased to 1.361 million Annual Rate in April A brief excerpt: Total housing starts in April were at expectations and starts in February and March were revised up, combined. The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2024 (blue) and 2025 (red). Total starts were down 1.7% in April compared to April 2024.
Where are top advisors focusing in 2025? AcquireUp’s 2025 Industry Index reveals it all. Based on insights from 200+ financial professionals nationwide, discover why 74% say seminars and referrals deliver the best ROI, how automation is helping advisors scale faster, and why only 8% are tapping into niche marketing (a major growth opportunity!). Whether you're refining your client acquisition strategy or scaling your practice, this report gives you the real-world data, benchmarks, and action ste
A bonus LIVE episode of Masters in Business: I speak with bestselling author and financial journalist Michael Lewis, live, from the Landmark Theater in Port Washington, NY. Our wide-ranging, 90-minute conversation covered the full arc of his career, from Liars Poker to this years Who is Government. The informative and at times hilarious conversation included his experiences turning Moneyball into a film (including on-set hijinks from Brad Pitt), how his career as a writer evolved, and what he
Companies Charter Communications ($CHTR) and Cox Communications are merging. (cnbc.com) Meta's ($META) Facebook and Instagram are increasingly scam-filled. (wsj.com) How big an additional opportunity is experiences for Airbnb ($ABNB)? (platformaeronaut.com) Apple Apple ($AAPL) made a strategic mistake. (spyglass.org) Apple ($AAPL) is never going to make iPhones in the U.S.
On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.1% from March to April (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 5.2 percent from April 2024. From the Census Bureau report : Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $724.1 billion, up 0.1 percent from the previous month , and up 5.2 percent from April 2024.
Speaker: Claire Grosjean, Global Finance & Operations Executive
Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.
Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 437th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Ed Slott. Ed is the president of Ed Slott And Company, a financial education company based in Rockville Centre, New York that offers seminars and newsletters for financial advisors and consumers focused primarily on IRAs. What's unique about Ed, though, is how he has been able to charge premium fees for his accounting and education services over time by becoming a nationally r
This week, I speak with John Montgomery , CEO, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Bridgeway Capital Management. His responsibilities include the firms strategic direction, investment management and risk oversight, portfolio management, and mentoring. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a BA in Philosophy from Swarthmore College, and graduate degrees from MIT and Harvard Business School.
Jump, Zeplyn and Zocks, which can all capture meeting notes and create summaries, help generate client communications and trigger service actions, have now been integrated with the AdvisorEngine platform.
From the NY Fed: Change in Household Debt Balances Mixed; Student Loan Delinquencies Rise Sharply The Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The report shows total household debt increased by $167 billion (0.9%) in Q1 2025, to $18.20 trillion. The report is based on data from the New York Feds nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel.
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
Markets The impact of macro events can take longer than you think. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Why gold has a unique reputation among investors. (humbledollar.com) 2025 is not that unusual stock-market wise. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Berkshire Hathaway How Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) came to own a big chunk of Apple ($AAPL). (readtrung.com) Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) is living with the downside of success.
It’s been a wild ride in the stock market this year: The S&P 500 was up around 5% on the year through mid-February. It was more or less straight down from there. By the end of the first week in April the market was down more than 15%, good enough for a drawdown of 18.9% from peak to trough. Now stocks are up nearly 14% from the lows and down less than 4% on the year.
Up to $30 billion in mutual fund marketing and distribution fees could be at risk if the SEC approves dual share classes. The Mag Seven stocks have regained momentum in recent weeks, but will that last? These are among the investment must reads we found this week for financial advisors.
The first graph shows the unemployment rate by four levels of education (all groups are 25 years and older) through April 2025. Note: This is an update to a post from several years ago. Unfortunately, this data only goes back to 1992 and includes only three recessions (the stock / tech bust in 2001, and the housing bust/financial crisis, and the 2020 pandemic).
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Consumer sentiment fell for a fifth straight month as ongoing economic uncertainty and inflation worries continue to drag down consumer attitudes. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 50.8 in May, the second lowest reading on record.
Quant stuff The case for upping the complexity of your models. (alphaarchitect.com) Some recent academic research including 'Bond Factor Momentum and Its Predictability for Stock Returns.' (alphainacademia.substack.com) A review of "Reminiscences of a Bond Operator: A Guide to Investing in Corporate Debt" by Mark A. Rieder. (blogs.cfainstitute.org) Research Why profitability matters.
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Ive spent the last 30+ Thanksgivings in Chicago. It’s a great city, with wonderful food, cold winters, and warm people. We opened an office here a few years ago with two fantastic advisors (Jonathan & Brian) and a killer staff (Anna and Colleen). Since then, the Chicago hub has grown rapidly, running a lot of our operations. We finally reached the point where we needed a great office to fit the great RWM folks here.
From the BLS : The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after falling 0.1 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.3 percent before seasonal adjustment. The index for shelter rose 0.3 percent in April, accounting for more than half of the all items monthly increase.
Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?
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