Wealthmanagement.com Advisor Innovations with David Armstrong, Editor in Chief

David Armstrong, Editor in Chief
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In this podcast series from Wealthmanagement.com, Editor in Chief, David Armstrong takes a deeper look at the RIA space. Topics that will be covered include how advisors are leaving full-service firms and becoming more entrepreneurial, what is driving the flood of money coming into the RIA space, brand new tech solutions that will hopefully benefit independent advisors and how ESG investing becomes part of client portfolios. There will be a lot more covered in these discussions so be sure to mark this series for the future. Enjoy!

  1. 2023-10-27

    Advisor Innovations: Schwab’s Bernie Clark and Rick Wurster on the “Unprecedented” Migration of Assets From TD Ameritrade, and What Advisors Can Expect From the Dominant Custodian Going Forward

    After a summer break, the Advisor Innovations podcast is back. In the new season’s inaugural episode, David Armstrong, director of editorial strategies at Informa Connect’s Wealth Management group, is joined by Rick Wurster, the president of the Charles Schwab Corporation, along with Bernie Clark, managing director and head of advisor services. The conversation was held on the eve of the firm’s Impact conference, and weeks after the final Labor Day marker which concluded the conversion of $1.3 trillion in TD Ameritrade assets, including those from some 7,000 advisory firms, into Charles Schwab, making the firm the dominant custodian to independent advisors.   Rick and Bernie talk about how they viewed the integration as a challenge to bring together the “best of both worlds,” including adding the prized trading features of TDAI’s trading technology into Schwab’s Advisor Services platform, while integrating Schwab’s larger breadth of advisor services in banking and support for HNW clients, a growing focus of the firm’s advisor support services.  Specifically, Rick and Bernie discuss: How the competitive landscape has evolved since Schwab made its announcement four years ago, including the arrival of Goldman Sachs and Envestnet as custodial competitors. How M&A in the RIA industry may be down, but “joins,” or advisors joining an independent advisory firm under different employment models, are on the rise.  What advisors need to understand about Schwab’s cash-sweep accounts. How more sophisticated banking services, like its recently unveiled digital securities-based lending platform, are helping its advisor clients keep more assets inside the firm.  What motivated Schwab’s significant investment in Dynasty Financial Partners, and how they are open to making more investments in firms or platforms that help grow the RIA channel – including possible opportunities in financing next-generation advisors.  Resources: RIA Edge Podcast Connect With David Armstrong: WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: WealthManagment.com LinkedIn: David Armstrong  Twitter: @djamesarmstrong LinkedIn: Informa Connect With Rick Wurster & Bernie Clark: LinkedIn: Rick Wurster LinkedIn: Bernie Clark Company Website: Charles Schwab Advisor Services About Our Guests: Rick Wurster Rick Wurster was appointed President of The Charles Schwab Corporation in October 2021. In his role, Wurster oversees Investor Services, Advisor Services, Workplace Financial Services, Digital Services, Schwab Asset Management, Third-Party Platforms, and Investor Advice Solutions.   Wurster joined Schwab in early 2016. He was most recently head of Schwab Asset Management Solutions which provided money management and portfolio advice solutions, wealth management services, financial research, and market insights. He previously served as CEO of Charles Schwab Investment Advisory, Inc. (CSIA), as well as CEO of ThomasPartners, Inc. and Windhaven Investment Management, Inc. prior to their integration into CSIA. Before joining Schwab, Wurster was employed at Wellington Management and McKinsey & Company where he was a leader of the asset management practice and an Associate Principal. Bernie Clark Bernard “Bernie” J. Clark is Managing Director, Head of Advisor Services and a member of Charles Schwab’s Executive Committee. He oversees the business that provides custodial, operational, and trading support to nearly 15,000 independent investment advisory firms with $3.67 trillion in assets under management. In addition to custody services, Schwab Advisor Services provides practice management and consultative support to help independent advisors start, build, and grow their firms. A recognized industry leader, Clark has been named as one of the “IA 25” by Investment Advisormagazine, which annually ranks the 25 most influential people in the industry. Clark has more than 30 years of financial industry experience serving individual and institutional investors. He began his career at Schwab in 1998 as Senior Vice President of Trading and Operations for Schwab Institutional. He later worked on the retail business as leader of the client services organization before returning to the advisor business to lead the sales and relationship management organization. He took on his current role as head of Schwab Advisor Services in 2010. Prior to joining Schwab, Clark was with the London office of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. There he held the position of managing director in charge of global sales support, hedge fund operations, and technology, including managing client service support in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. He also spent 13 years with Salomon Brothers as a member of the executive committee responsible for North American operations.

    41 min

  2. 2023-05-25

    Advisor Innovations Podcast: Tim Maurer on Personal Finance is More Personal Than Finance

    Tim Maurer is a financial advisor and author who most recently took on the role of Chief Advisory Officer at SignatureFD. In this episode of the Advisor Innovations podcast, Maurer talks with David Armstrong about what, exactly, a Chief Advisory Officer does, and how he sees the lessons of life planning and qualitative financial advice being tactically implemented in advisor-client relationships.  Tim  discusses: Why he made the move to fast-growing RIA Signature FD after years at the larger Buckingham Wealth Management. How he sees his role as a Chief Advisory Officer, and what it means to sit at the nexus between advisor development and the client experience.  How he’s attempting to embed the lessons from behavioral finance and psychology into the relationship between clients and advisors.  Why advisors who focus more on the qualitative side of financial planning, as opposed to the quantitative, are more successful. How he makes a distinction between advisors as financial therapists, and financial coaches: Most advisors should follow the coaching model.  What he’s learned from pioneers in the “life planning” field like Kinder Institute’s George Kinder and Money Quotient’s Carol Anderson Most importantly, how the sometimes softer side of financial planning is being coded into advisory firm’s workflows and processes in a scalable, efficient way.  Resources: Listen to the latest episodes of Advisor Innovations Tim’s book: Simple Money: No Nonsense Personal Finance Connect With Tim Maurer: LinkedIn: Tim Maurer Tim Maurer’s Website Follow Tim on Twitter Connect With David Armstrong: Email: david.armstrong@informa.com Website: WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: Informa LinkedIn: David Armstrong About Our Guest: Tim Maurer is a speaker, blogger, author, and financial advisor. As Chief Advisory Officer at SignatureFD he serves as an industry leader to the media and an educator to both consumers and financial advisors. He is a regular contributor to CNBC, Forbes, Time/Money.

    34 min

  3. 2023-05-04

    Advisor Innovations Podcast: Dumb indexes, “Smart” Beta and Intelligent Design—How Larry Swedroe Helps Advisors Make Sense of Investments

    For many advisors, Larry Swedroe needs no introduction; He’s the author of numerous books on investing, a frequent columnist in advisor publications, including Wealthmanagement.com, and the Head of Financial and Economic Research at Buckingham Strategic Wealth, one of the largest RIAs in the country. He’s also active on social media where he can be found in sometimes heated debates with other industry luminaries on the merits of different compensation models for financial advisors, the dire prospects for most active stock managers, and what the latest academic research on investment management and the markets tells advisors about how to build better portfolios. In this edition of the Advisor Innovations podcast, Swedroe describes how he views his work, why it is getting harder for active managers to generate alpha in the publicly traded markets, and where he sees opportunities for income in the increasingly accessible private markets.  Swedroe discusses: Why, in the face of growing evidence of subpar long-term returns, retail investors and active stock managers are proliferating. How a three-year track record tells investors almost nothing about a manager’s long-term prospects. Why “dumb indexes” don’t solve the investors’ problem, and why “smart beta” is an oxymoron and how investors are best served by “intelligently designed” portfolios.  How some research shows stock turnover and management fees are the two variables that can determine active managers’ outcomes.  Why easier access to private markets for investors, including interval funds, are a good option for some investors—himself included. Where he is placing some of his investments now. Connect With Larry Swedroe: LinkedIn: Larry Swedroe Buckingham Strategic Wealth Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: Informa LinkedIn: David Armstrong About Our Guest: Larry Swedroe is a principal and the director of research of Buckingham Asset Management[1] and BAM Advisor Services. Previously, Larry was Vice-Chairman of Prudential Home Mortgage, the nation’s second largest home mortgage lender. He has held positions at Citicorp as Senior Vice-President and Regional Treasurer, responsible for treasury, foreign exchange and investment banking activities, including risk management strategies. Larry has an MBA in Finance and Investment from NYU, and a BA in Finance from Baruch College. He is the author of 17 books.

    51 min

  4. 2023-04-20

    Julie Littlechild on Client Feedback and the Engagement Engine

    Advisors have long been aware that the better they know the client, the better client experience they can provide. Advisory boards and feedback surveys have been around forever to give the advisor some guidance over how to better engage with clients and prospects.   In this episode, David Armstrong speaks with Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, on taking client engagement feedback to the next level. Littlechild recently launched the Engagement Engine, a digital platform that brings client feedback into real-time, ongoing metrics for the advisor. The idea is that through a series of questions and prompts, tucked unobtrusively alongside the standard client touch points and communications, advisors can instantly gauge a client’s confidence and fears, preferences and aversions, and plot some of that data over time to track and measure impact. It’s a game-changer in client engagement.  Julie discusses: Why client feedback is essential to creating preferred services. How technology has changed the way feedback is collected and used. The balance between personalized planning and managing an entire business worth of clients. The development of the Engagement Engine, and the possibilities for using real-time client feedback across the advisor’s techstack, including the CRM.  Thoughts on evolving from a consultant to a “tech entrepreneur”, putting together a killer board of advisors and what comes next for her company.  Connect With Julie Littlechild: LinkedIn: Julie Littlechild Absolute Engagement Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: Informa LinkedIn: David Armstrong About Our Guest: Julie is a recognized expert on the drivers and evolution of client experience, client engagement. and referral growth. She is responsible for: designing the firm’s strategic vision and product roadmap, conducting on-going investor and advisor research, driving firm growth and representing the company on conference stages around the world.   Products are issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz). Variable products are distributed by its affiliate, Allianz Life Financial Services, LLC, member FINRA, 5701 Golden Hills Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55416-1297. 800.542.5427 www.allianzlife.com. This notice does not apply in the state of New York. Allianz is not affiliated with WealthManagement or the featured guest.

    30 min

  5. 2023-02-16

    Advisor Innovations Podcast: Mark Miller on Rebooting a Retirement Plan

    Mark Miller is a career journalist who digs deep into the world of retirement planning, social security, medicare and the state of retirement “readiness” among people nearing the goal line. Miller has written regularly for The New York Times, Reuters, Morningstar and has been a long-standing columnist for Wealth Management magazine and WealthManagement.com. He is the author of the recently published Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. In this episode, Wealth Management editor David Armstrong speaks with Miller about the challenges of retirement planning from both an advisor’s and client’s perspective.  Mark discusses: Why for many, but certainly not all, clients, social security should be considered longevity insurance, and delayed for as long as possible. What advisors get wrong about advising clients on Medicare choices, and where to go for unbiased, objective advice.  Helping clients do the math around long-term care insurance and LTC riders.  How new research models suggest a higher allocation to equities does not help a retirement portfolio in draw-down mode. What many get wrong in the debate around the financial sustainability of Social Security and Medicare.  Resources: “Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track” by Mark Miller Listen to the latest episodes of Advisor Innovations Connect With Mark Miller: LinkedIn: Mark Miller Retirement Revised Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: David Armstrong LinkedIn: Informa About Our Guest: Mark Miller is a journalist, author and podcaster specializing in coverage of retirement and aging. He contributes regularly on retirement to The New York Times, and writes columns for Reuters, Morningstar.com and WealthManagement.com. He is the author of Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation (Post Hill Press) and The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security (Wiley).

    46 min

  6. 2022-07-28

    Advisor Innovations: Asset Management Pioneer Bruce Bond on the Story Behind Innovator ETFs

    In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Bruce Bond, CEO and co-founder of Innovator Capital Management, a pioneer in the ETF industry and three-time WealthManagment.com Industry Award winner, to discuss pushing boundaries within the ETF market, diving into where the ETF business is going and how advisors are using ETFs in their client portfolios.  Bond discusses: The problem Bond and co-founder John Southard were looking to solve with Innovator’s Buffer ETFs, which limit the upside potential on market gains while setting a floor on the downside, and how advisors are using them. Why the ETF is a better wrapper for the investment strategy that typically was found in a structured product offering from the largest investment houses.  Bruce’s outlook for the markets, and how the volatile turn in equities is accelerating asset flows this year into the Buffer ETFs. How the Buffer ETFs prompted a number of imitators to launch their own versions of defined-outcome ETFs.  Which asset classes are on the white board at Innovator headquarters for the next ETFs.  The story of how Innovator’s hometown of Wheaton, Ill., became the hotbed of ETF innovation, starting with Unit Investment Trust managers from Nuveen and Nike Securities, now First Trust.  Connect With Bruce Bond: Bruce Bond Innovator ETFs Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com LinkedIn: Informa LinkedIn: David Armstrong About Our Guest: Bruce is co-founder and CEO of Innovator Capital Management. Having cofounded PowerShares Capital Management in 2003, he is recognized as one of the pioneers of the ETF industry. His leadership, creativity and entrepreneurial vision challenged the conventional thinking about ETFs and blazed a trail that made way for the massive growth of what is known today as smart or strategic beta. In addition to being recognized for best-in- class products, Bruce has been named the ETF industry’s most influential person on multiple occasions. He is a thought leader and has been quoted in financial publications around the globe.

    37 min

  7. 2022-07-14

    Advisor Innovations: Live Oak’s James Hughes on Underwriting RIA Growth

    In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by James Hughes. head of investment advisory at Live Oak Bank, to discuss how and why Live Oak became one of the earliest lenders to RIAs, helping facilitate succession plans and the rise of mergers and acquisitions. Hughes has a bird’s eye view on the RIA industry, peering into the details of the businesses his bank works with and shares insights into what makes a firm valuable in the eyes of the market.  Hughes discusses: How SBA loans work within succession planning and M&A markets What type of loans Live Oak Bank offers to investment advisors How has the increase in competition changed the advisor landscape The future of M&A in a down market and possible recession How Live Oak responded to the flood of PPP loans it administered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Connect With James Hughes: James Hughes Live Oak Bank Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com About Our Guest: James Hughes joined Live Oak Bank in 2013. Live Oak Bank specializes in lending to investment advisors for acquisitions, succession, working capital, refinance, breakaway or tuck-in and commercial real estate purchases.

    36 min

  8. 2022-06-27

    Advisor Innovations: Shirl Penney on The Modern Independent Advisor

    In this episode, David Armstrong is joined by Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, diving into the history and ecosystem of the independent financial advisor movement.  Shirl discusses: The problem Penney and his co-founder were looking to solve when they launched Dynasty. How technology was the great enabler fueling Dynasty’s growth Replicating wirehouse capabilities and financial products outside the wirehouse’s walls.  What are advisors looking for as independent advisors, and how that has changed over time. How newer investors in the independent channel of financial advice are changing the market, and what an economic downturn might mean for advisors. Where the business of wealth management is going, and the role Penney sees Dynasty playing in the future. Connect With Shirl Penney: Shirl Penney Dynasty Financial Partners Connect With David Armstrong: david.armstrong@informa.com WealthManagement.com About Our Guest: Shirl Penney is the founder of Dynasty Financial Partners. He currently serves as President and CEO of Dynasty and is a member of the Board of Directors. Shirl is a frequent speaker at industry events, often quoted in various financial publications, and was named to Investment News’ 2015 list of 40 most influential people in wealth management under the age of 40. Shirl was also named to the 2016 inaugural list of Icons and Innovators in wealth management by Investment News.

    34 min
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In this podcast series from Wealthmanagement.com, Editor in Chief, David Armstrong takes a deeper look at the RIA space. Topics that will be covered include how advisors are leaving full-service firms and becoming more entrepreneurial, what is driving the flood of money coming into the RIA space, brand new tech solutions that will hopefully benefit independent advisors and how ESG investing becomes part of client portfolios. There will be a lot more covered in these discussions so be sure to mark this series for the future. Enjoy!

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