1. The Stock Market Is About To Get Rocky
In January, everyone predicted a brutal year for the markets. Wall Street strategists expected stocks to FALL for the first time in over 20 years! But I bet against the bankers and recommended buying stocks... It was the right call. — Stephen McBride
2. Reluctant To Retire? Potential Victims of an Advisor’s Reluctance To Retire
Delaying an advisor’s retirement (exit from practice) might be hurting their clients, their team members, and their family as well as themselves and their firm. Determining the ideal retirement age is a personal decision for every financial advisor, and while many choose to work beyond traditional retirement age, it's crucial to consider the impact of this decision on clients, team members, and one's own well-being. — Christine Timms
3. Are Wealthy Prospects Paying Their Financial Advisor Too Much for Too Little?
Let's face it, you have to deliver more value than ever before to compete with ideal prospects. You have to have a solid value promise, lower cost, and comprehensive advice and planning as part of your deliverables. You know that ideal prospects are not getting what you deliver, yet they stay with their advisor. Why? Is it because of relationships? Is it because they don't know how to fire their advisor? — Grant Hicks
4. Predictions Are Pointless. Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Gurus.
“(Market) Predictions Are Difficult…Especially When They Are About The Future” – Niels Bohr. Okay, I took a little poetic license, but the point is that while we try, predictions of the future are difficult at best and impossible at worst. If we could accurately predict the future, fortune tellers would win all the lotteries, psychics would be richer than Elon Musk, and portfolio managers would always beat the index. — Lance Roberts
5. Can You Turn Down a Client Referral That Doesn’t Fit Your Business?
As you become more referable and even ask for referrals, if you’re not careful, your referral marketing efforts might start to generate prospects who don’t fit your business. What do you do if you receive a client referral that just isn’t a match? — Bill Cates
6. 4 Questions To Determine Your Unique Marketing Position
In the vast world of financial advising, how do you stand out? It’s a question that plagues many professionals in the industry. With countless advisors offering similar services, it’s crucial for professionals to develop a unique marketing position (UMP) that sets them apart and resonates with their target audience. — Maribeth Kuzmeski
7. The Cash Resurgence: Advisors’ Secret Weapon With Frank Bonanno
In this podcast, Frank Bonanno, Managing Director at StoneCastle Partners, LLC, provides insight into the importance of cash management for advisors and the unique advantages offered by StoneCastle’s solutions. — Power Your Advice
8. The Selling Authority Spectrum: Where Are You Now + Where Do You Want To Be?
Here’s what I’m calling the Selling Authority Spectrum: imagine a line going from left to right. On the far left, is the highest touch sale: you discover and pitch every buyer, have multiple pre-sales conversations and eventually (over weeks, months or years) they buy. On the far right, your highly qualified prospects come to you: they read, listen to or watch your stuff. Then one day they press a button to buy your thing or initiate a sales conversation where they’ve already decided they want YOU. — Rochelle Moulton
9. There’s Still a Case for Investing in Innovation
Disruptive growth or innovative investing took its lumps in 2022 amid rampant interest rate tightening by the Federal Reserve, but led by the artificial intelligence(AI) investing renaissance, that narrative is changing for the better this year. — Todd Shriber
10. Toys for Billionaires: Sports Franchises as Trophy Assets!
I have always loved sports, playing tennis and cricket when I was growing up, before transitioning to fan status, cheering for my favored teams from the sidelines. I also like finance, perhaps not as much as sports, but there are winners and losers in the investment game as well. Thus, it should come as no surprise that when the two connect, as is the case when teams are bought and sold, or players are signed, I am doubly interested. The time is ripe now to talk about how professional sports ... — Aswath Damodaran
11. The Biggest Opportunity in Customer Service
I was asked the same question three times in the last week: “What is the biggest opportunity in customer service?” If you had asked me this question a month ago – or asked it a month from now – there could be a different answer. But today’s answer is not just timely, but also timeless. — Shep Hyken