After operating a successful advisory practice for 3 decades, I learned first-hand the “Pain Points” that advisory firms experience. The top advisory practices are constantly exploring methods to reduce or eliminate these pain points.
With that in mind, I have a critical question for you . . .
When are advisors operating at their peak effectiveness? It’s typically not when they are in front of a computer screen doing their own investment research. Advisors are the most effective when face-to-face with clients or prospects.
My experience is that advisors tend to have better people skills than analytical research skills. While some advisors have both sets of skills, it’s not that common. That’s why your clients trust “Their Advisor” and not a Robo. It’s clearly your integrity and relationship skills as a trusted advisor they depend on.
Let me share a personal story about my practice to support this.
Fifteen years ago, I hired Brian, an experienced younger advisor, to be my future “Exit Plan.” He is one of the rare advisors with both analytical and people skills, and he quickly became our portfolio designer and manager.
In 2017 we were planning the business succession, or as I called it, “My “Exit Plan” when we realized that we couldn’t implement it. Most of Brian’s time was allocated to his responsibilities as portfolio manager, He did not the available time to assume all of the face-to-face client meetings. We needed a solution that would relieve him of the investment research responsibilities.
To find the solution, I asked my most trusted wholesalers for their help. They were in the top advisory practices and knew which practices were effective at “In-Sourcing” investment research. My friend Greg introduced me to the founder and CEO of one of the nation’s fastest-growing research providers. In less that 6 years, they influence now over $30 billion in advisor managed assets.
This firm created an institutionally based “Fiduciary-Level” investment research capability that they provide to retail advisors. By delivering an “In-Sourced” rather than “Out-Sourced” capability, they significantly reduce the cost of research, often by over half.
When we deployed this capability the value of the practice increased by almost 15%. After my Exit Plan was completed, I was so impressed, that I aligned with this firm to share this bespoke research capability with advisors. In effect, I Retired and Un-Retired at the same time. That’s why I founded Advisors Solution, Inc.
Today, over a thousand of the nation’s top financial advisors are utilizing this “In-Sourced CIO” capability to grow their practices and greatly reduce their Pain Points.
We welcome the opportunity to share this capability with you.
Pain Points that Advisors Experience
By: Ray Harrison (Advisory Transformer | Entrepreneur | Speaker |
Media Contributor| Thought Leader)
October 2021