Displaying items by tag: advisors

In an article for InsuranceNews, Ayo Mseka shares some tips on what advisors should do during the summer when existing clients are hard to reach, and prospecting for new clients is even tougher. 

According to Brian Haney, advisors should embrace the downtime and use it as an opportunity to reassess your practice and client relationships. It’s also a time for longer-term planning and thinking about the firm’s future. It can also be used to refine processes and ensure that daily tasks are aligned with the long-term vision.

Another recommendation is to use the summer months to invest in building new relationships and deepen relationships with existing clients. This can include activities that involve the client and their family and even induce them to invite other potential prospects. 

The final recommendation is to embrace the downtime and ‘bank’ some rest and leisure time especially given that the pace and intensity of work will increase once summer ends. But, the summer also does offer some unique opportunities for client relationships or prospecting efforts given the abundance of sponsorship opportunities during the summer months for events, concerts, or festivals. 

Finsum: The summer months are typically slow for financial advisors. Here are some recommendations to best take advantage of this period.

A tricky path when it comes to attracting – and hanging onto talent – in the financial sector?

Oh, sure, if you insist.

In the aftermath of surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors in the name of its 2023 Hiring Report, goodtime.io recently released the report’s financial services edition, shining the spotlight on how they’re performing those initiatives despite the challenges.

A few need to know takeaways within the prism of this year’s obstacles in financial services hiring:

• Hiring Goal Attainment Fell Short
• Top Previous Change: Recruitment Team Turnover
• Layoffs Hit Financial Services
• Top Expected Challenge: Limiting Hiring Technology
• Competitive or Uncompetitive Landscape? You Decide

Oh, and here’s an idea: with an eye on top producers, make a deal they can scarcely refuse, according to linkedin.com.

Ah huh; now you’re listening. With both ears.With younger advisors turning up the heat on their demands, the importance of an up to date technology stack in order to lure potential talent is hardly lost on firms.

“Good technology is a game changer and committing to the tech of the future will be very attractive to those being recruited,” said Jim Frawley, CEO and founder of Bellwether.

In an article for SmartAsset, Rebecca Lake CEFP shares some tips on successful retirement planning for financial advisors. While advisors spend so much time and thought into their clients’ financial goals, they don’t do the same for themselves especially given the complications of succession planning. Additionally, advisors can maximize the value of their practice by taking some proactive steps.

The first step is to figure out your ideal outcome and then create a plan to achieve the goal. The earlier that you can start taking steps towards this goal, the higher your chances of success. This could mean thinking of how to transition the business whether that means selling to employees, the highest bidder, or passing the business on to your heirs, and how it will impact clients and employees.

The second step is to figure out the value of your business and to consider getting a professional appraisal. This will help you make better decisions so that you can ensure a successful transition. 

Finally, advisors have to consider their own personal financial situation that is independent of their business to ensure a comfortable retirement. This includes all the major components of planning such as retirement contributions, insurance, life insurance for family, budgeting during retirement, etc.

Finsum: Many advisors don’t spend enough time on their own retirement and succession planning. However, this is an increasingly important issue given the aging of the wealth management industry.

In a piece for FutureVault, Kristian Borghesan covers some important items that financial advisors need to consider for succession planning. This type of thinking is increasingly important given the boom of M&A in the space in addition to the aging of advisors in the industry.

Advisors want to ensure a smooth transition in their business to the next generation of advisors while ensuring that client satisfaction is not sacrificed. Additionally, both parties need to be aware of regulatory requirements as well as potential impacts on other employees at the firm.

The goal of succession planning is to ensure continuity of the business, retain clients, preserve the value of the practice, and transfer skills and expertise. Advisors and acquirers have a variety of options to choose from when it comes to structuring the transaction. Increasingly, many advisors are choosing to stay on as employees in a limited capacity to ensure a smooth transition. 

So much of the value of a financial advisor practice is due to the clients. Therefore, there needs to be a plan and transition period to ensure that relationships are successfully transferred to the new team. Some recommendations include joint meetings and a slow transition of responsibilities while maintaining active communication with clients during the transition process. 

Finsum: Succession planning is essential for advisors to ensure a smooth transition of their business and maximizing the value of their firm. Here are some important considerations.

In an article for InvestmentWeek, Jeffrey A. Johnson, the head of Fixed Income at Vanguard,  discusses why there is opportunity for investors in active fixed income funds. He sees attractive valuations coupled with elevated yields. However, he warns that more volatility is likely given that central banks aren’t yet finished raising rates. 

According to Johnson, periods of volatility are when active fixed income really shines. Further, he believes investors can increase their odds of success with active investing by selecting funds with qualified and capable management teams in addition to low costs. 

Over the long-term, most active funds fail to beat their benchmarks. The story isn’t so simple in fixed income given that active managers can take advantage of different durations and credit quality that aren’t available to passive funds. 

Given the challenges of active management, Vanguard recommends a blend of active and passive funds. Although, it favors active management during periods of volatility and uncertainty. In contrast, passive funds offer predictability and lower costs, while active funds offer a higher degree of risk and reward. 

Finsum: According to Vanguard, the outlook for active fixed income funds is improving. The asset class tends to outperform during periods of volatility and economic and monetary uncertainty.