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Reese Harper, CEO of Elements, joins Mike Langford to discuss how financial advisors can use vital signs to improve client conversations and increase their comfort level around financial advice.


Reese explains that vital signs are objective scores that measure various aspects of a client's financial health, such as liquidity, debt-to-income ratio, and savings rate. By using vital signs, advisors can provide personalized advice and help clients make informed decisions about their finances.


Resources Mentioned In This Episode:


Elementality Podcast - With Reese Harper and Carl RichardsDentist Advisors - This is Reese's RIA which influenced his founding of Elements

Chapters


00:00 Introduction and Overview


02:56 The Concept of Vital Signs


10:05 Improving Financial Behaviors with Vital Signs


28:31 Using Vital Signs in a Niche Market


35:23 The Birth of Elements and the Importance of Vital Signs


41:06 Accelerating Client Onboarding with Elements

What if you could expand your client roster by 300% without having to spend a fortune on marketing? This week's guest Beatriz Acevedo and her team at SUMA Wealth discovered a hidden growth gem by serving the Latinx community.


It turns out, people in the community tend to bring other clients with them. And as you'll hear Beatriz discuss with Mike Langford, this growth concept is present in many communities.


Resources Mentioned In This Episode:


How I Built This - Beatriz was a guest on HIBT Lab! with Guy Raz in which she shared more about her journey that led her to starting SUMA Wealth.Is Your Credit Guacaready? - This is a great example of the culturally relevant marketing that the SUMA Wealth team is using to build a community of over a million people.

Chapters


00:00 Introduction and Background


03:23 Summa Wealth's Community-First Approach


06:09 The Aha Moment for Summa Wealth


10:18 Understanding the Target Audience


13:40 Learning from Mistakes and Adjusting


22:01 Adapting to Changing Consumer Behavior


25:22 Learning from Younger Generations


26:10 The Value of Different Perspectives


27:06 The Importance of Embracing Change and Learning from Younger Generations


29:03 Transition from TV Producer to FinTech Founder


31:16 Recognizing the Lack of Financial Education in Latino Communities


33:01 The Role of Culture and Community in Fintech


36:00 The Power of Life Experience in Decision-Making


37:26 The Opportunity of Connecting with Younger Generations


43:25 Attracting Non-Latinx Users to Summa Wealth


48:39 Future Plans for Summa Wealth

The lack of robust organic growth for financial advisors' businesses has been a key concern for industry leaders for years. On this episode of the podcast Tom Rieman, CEO and Founding Partner of PracticeI ntel shares what he believes is the key to cracking the code on organic growth for financial advisors.


Resources Mentioned In This Episode:


Bridging The Gap Podcast - Tom joined Matt Reiner on this podcast recently and we hit on one of the points from that episode to tip off our conversation.Data from PriceMetrix by McKinsey - Mike mentioned the study and an MFA Podcast episode with Kieran Bol.The Augmented Advisor Podcast - James Lee, the former President of the FPA discussed his conviction that "Financial Planner" is the 4th Great Profession.Fidelity Investments 2023 RIA Benchmarking StudySkyView Partners - Their focus on organic growth as a key driver for business valuation.

There are financial advisors working today who are members of the first generation of people to ever call themselves financial advisors. Think about that!


On this episode of the show, Matt Reiner returns to nerd out with Mike Langford about some of the exciting innovations that are creating new opportunities for modern financial advisors.


Resources Mentioned In This Episode:


The Circle - Matt and his team have created a vibrant community to share actionable strategies, weekly, to enhance your life, elevate your business and enrich your client experience."Your Future Self" by Hal Hershfield - Matt recommended this book in the context of understanding our decision making process.Harry Markowitz - The father of modern portfolio theory passed away in 2023. The guy who created the foundation for the models that financial advisors use for managing their clients' assets only recently passed away!When Ideas Have Sex - A TED Talk by Matt Ridley that inspired a fun conversation in this episode.

Andrew Crowell, Vice Chairman of Wealth Management at D.A. Davidson returns to the show to share some eye popping facts about the prevalence of financial fraud. Andrew and Mike Langford also explore what financial advisors can do to protect their clients for becoming victims of fraud and how to help clients recover if they are victimized.


Toward the end of the episode Andrew and Mike dive into the mechanisms financial advisors can use to protect their firm from fraudsters. Because like the famous bank robber Willie Sutton said when asked why he robs banks, financial advisors are "where the money is."


Resources Mentioned In This Episode:


Americans Are Not Adequately Prepared To Detect Or Prevent Financial Fraud - Scroll down about 3/4 of the way down on this page to see the results of the fraud study.Fraud Prevention: A Guide for Senior Investors - This is a helpful guide created by the team at D.A. DavidsonWilly Sutton Rule - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/willie-sutton-rule.asp