1. Overcome the Fee Discussion by Focusing on the Things that Matter to Your Clients
Among the many trends affecting the way financial advisors must operate these days, fee compression has been the most impactful. The discussion of fees charged by advisors has moved to the forefront due to the low costs and transparency of digital advice platforms and the highly competitive arena in which they find themselves. As a result, clients are more willing to confront their advisors on the subject of fees and the value they receive in exchange for them, catching many advisors off guard. — Don Connelly
2. Turn Happy Clients into Your Best Referral Sources
Are you nervous about asking your clients for referrals? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or pushy to approach the subject? What if we told you there was a process to get your clients telling you if they’d like to make a referral? No more nerves; no more uneasiness. — Jason L. Smith
3. Total Trust Market Shrinking
The total number of personal trust accounts has been on a steady decline for 12 years, according to Spectrem Group’s “Comprehensive Bank Trust Update”, with only 432,902 personal trust accounts in 2020. However, for the third year in a row bank personal trust assets have increased, ending 2020 at an estimated $1.14 trillion. This asset level still remains below the high achieved in 2007 of $1.15 trillion. — Catherine McBreen
4. How Successful People Hire a Money Mindset Coach
If you want to take your business, life, or money to the next level, a money mindset coach may help you on your journey. Achieving your goal requires that you understand how successful people think and what they do. It is also important to understand how they hire advisors, coaches, and consultants. — Annette Bau
5. Should You Take an Investment Sabbatical?
For decades the stock and bond market have both performed exceptionally well…often at the same time. This challenges basic allocation strategy and questions our perception of correlation between stocks and bonds. The adage is that when stocks do well, bonds will suffer and when stocks suffer, bonds will do well. That is a basic axiom that investors rely upon when creating a diversified portfolio. — Jay Mooreland
6. When Your Clients and Prospects Are the Most Excited About You
As we’ve been updating our home, one thing has proven to be true: there are three distinct moments when I’m beyond excited about a product or a company. Take the pendant lights in the master bedroom. I’m pretty sure I scrolled through at least 4,000 options on-line, so when I finally found “the one”, I was ecstatic. Moment #1. Opening up the package was thrilling since I’d only seen this on a screen and here in my hands was our idea of perfection—plus it arrived early! Moment #2. A couple weeks later our electrician was finally able to install them and They. Looked. Fabulous. Moment #3. — Rochelle Moulton
7. Is the “Best Way To Invest” Always The Best Way?
Is “buy and hold” always the best way to invest? It is common to see increasing numbers of articles touting the benefits of “armchair” investing during long bull market advances. The last decade has been a boon for the index ETF industry, financial applications, and media websites promoting “buy and hold” investing and diversification strategies. — Lance Roberts
8. Real Estate Has Inflation-Fighting History on its Side
This space isn't dedicated to economic forecasting, but inflation sure has the look of being more persistent than transitory. Perhaps it will ebb early next year as some experts are wagering it will. The Federal Reserve believes much, but the Fed's recent comments on the matter indicate the central bank believes inflation, though likely to fall next year – so the they say – will remain above the desired 2% target for several years to come. — Todd Shriber
9. Differentiate Your Firm with Short Film Bios
As an independent financial advisor, somewhere between 90-95% of your web traffic is to your bio page. If a visitor bounces after reading your bio, all the rest of your web content is wasted on them. So, make your bio count. Sure, professional experience matters and there are other boxes that need to be checked—relevant certifications, previous roles, etc. but, everyone knows what prospective clients seek: Trust. There are many ways to begin a trusting relationship. I suggest starting with the truth. You can hire a talented copy writer to draft a compelling story about yourself. That’s a great start. Or, you can also leverage the power of video. — Drew Force
10. It’s Time To Invest in “The Next Pot Stocks”
Today, I’m going to reveal what I call, “The Next Pot Stocks.” This is a new class of stocks that provide the rare opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an investment craze… Just like pot stocks a few years ago. You probably remember that craze... when many companies in the marijuana business jumped 1,000%, 2,000%, even 3,000% in under three years. The Next Pot Stocks could provide investors with similar gains… and they could do it even faster. — Chris Wood
11. Achieving Success: It’s Not That Complicated
Everyone who enters the industry wants to become a successful financial advisor. Experienced advisors seek to create a perpetual motion machine that keeps on growing and producing revenue. Over the decades, the industry has changed a lot. Several times people have predicted the demise of the financial advisor. Ditto the accountant. They were wrong. The landscape might have changed, but the basics haven’t. — Bryce Sanders