Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast with guest Phil Palumbo, CEO/CIO of Palumbo Wealth Management and host of the Palumbo Pulse, to discuss aging demographics and implications for retirement planning and advisors. Palumbo describes leaving UBS to go independent for fiduciary alignment, better economics, and broader investment access, and explains his firm’s focus on helping founders prepare for and execute business exits, then manage taxes, planning, investing, and wealth transfer. He contrasts “retirement” with “make work optional,” emphasizing saving discipline, compounding, and long-term exposure to risk assets (stocks, real estate, private equity) to combat inflation and longevity risk. They stress the need for written financial plans, tax-aware investing, appropriate risk during distribution, bucket-based income planning, diversification, and client education to avoid panic selling during market volatility.

Learn more about Palumbo Wealth Management here.

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00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

01:13 Meet Phil Palumbo

02:59 Going Independent RIA

04:54 Make Work Optional

07:50 Saving and Compounding

10:26 Spending and Longevity

12:14 Inflation and Risk Assets

15:39 Why Plans Matter

17:38 Tax Smart Investing

19:28 Exit Planning Playbook

24:14 Retirement Spending Strategy

29:14 Ignore Market Noise

32:05 Emotions and Marathon Mindset

34:13 Wrap Up and Where to Find

From Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast, Ryan Nauman interviews Jim Jessup, income strategist at Virtus ETF Solutions, about ETF innovation and today’s fixed income environment. Jessup explains Virtus’s product-development approach: focus on commercially viable ETFs where managers can add alpha rather than chasing trends, and notes some highly specific ETFs may close or the industry may consolidate. On fixed income, he says despite macro and geopolitical noise and a new Fed chair (Warsh), market conditions look relatively normal: prices near par, default rates below but moving toward historical averages, and strong demand shown by oversubscribed new issues. He argues this is a “bond picker’s market” favoring active management, discusses private credit as a growing but varied space with both risks and liquidity benefits, and highlights the surge in AI-related investment-grade issuance as hyperscaler capex increasingly financed by debt.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Virtus Investment Partners here.

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

01:14 Meet Jim Jessup

03:12 ETF Boom Explained

04:05 Product Innovation Filter

06:52 Will ETFs Consolidate

08:22 Fixed Income Snapshot

10:36 Fed Chair And Signals

15:12 Defaults And Debt Wall

19:37 Private Credit Debate

25:14 Cash Yields And Risk

28:11 AI Driven Debt Wave

30:07 Where To Learn More

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Recording on location at the Steward Symposium, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Scott Danner (Chief Growth Officer) and Valerie Rivera (Chief Operating Officer) of Steward Partners to discuss growth in wealth management, where organic expansion has become harder and M&A has become a major driver. Danner shares his background building Freedom Street Partners and joining Steward in 2023, noting Steward’s growth from about $30B to over $50B in AUM largely through acquisitions. They explain why Steward frames the function as “strategic growth” rather than recruiting, emphasizing attraction, culture, and relationship over transaction. Rivera highlights advisors’ priorities beyond payout—clients, employees, legacy, and transition support—while outlining due diligence, integration, communication, and repeatable operational processes. Danner addresses misconceptions, the importance of scalable, team-based practices, and Steward’s long-term goal of becoming a $100B firm.

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Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome and Disclosures

00:41 Symposium Setup and Growth Theme

01:30 Meet Scott and Val

01:54 Scott Career and Steward Growth

03:26 Val Background and Partnership

04:24 Why Steward Calls It Growth

06:32 North Star Relationship First

08:34 Val Perspective on Transitions

12:18 When Advisors Truly Fit

15:35 Due Diligence Beyond Numbers

16:46 Scaling Operations for Growth

18:28 Cutting Through M&A Noise

20:56 Misconceptions and Practice Value

25:35 How Scott and Val Complement

26:53 Future Vision and Closing

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast and speaks with Eden Ovadia, co-founder and CEO of Finny AI, about why organic growth is a major challenge for financial advisors and why reliance on M&A has made firms complacent and increasingly capital-inefficient as multiples rise. Ovadia explains that referrals still drive most industry growth but are largely passive, pushing ambitious firms to adopt more proactive prospecting and marketing strategies. They discuss how AI raises the bar for standing out, making niche specialization and sharp messaging more important, and why personalization matters from the first prospect interaction in a trust-based business. Ovadia describes how AI can automate prospect identification, segmentation, outreach, and content to book meetings, letting advisors focus on client relationships, and shares FINNY’s approach and her experience working with Josh Brown.

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Learn more about FINNY: https://finny.com/

00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

01:14 Meet Eden and FINNY

04:01 Josh Brown Story

05:56 M&A vs Organic Growth

08:03 Referrals and Limits

09:37 Why Prospecting Is Hard

11:18 AI and Niche Targeting

14:40 Personalization Builds Trust

16:45 Scaling and Automation

22:30 Future of Growth Tech

24:32 Where to Learn More

25:11 Closing and Subscribe

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast from Lake Tahoe and welcomes Zach Conway, CEO of Seeds, to discuss how evolving investor expectations are reshaping wealth management. Conway explains he founded Seeds after seeing a disconnect between advisors’ strong client discovery and the shallow, product-centered approach often used in investment management, alongside inefficient, fragmented portfolio operations. They discuss rising demands for personalization, transparency, values-based investing, and broader solution sets such as direct indexing and alternatives, plus the need to deliver these in unified, scalable UMAs. Conway argues the industry’s biggest threat is its own reputational and process failures more than AI, while noting technology must help advisors provide a better human-led experience. He outlines how Seeds supports deeper investor understanding, proposal creation, and automated implementation, trading, tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing, and cash management.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Seeds here.

00:00 Podcast Kickoff

01:09 Meet Zach Conway

01:40 What Seeds Does

03:18 Why Zach Started Seeds

08:21 Industry DNA Shift

10:55 SpaceX Expectations Example

13:51 Modern Investor Experience

18:13 Human Advisor vs Apps

20:53 Meeting Expectations Today

27:19 AI Balance and Risks

32:34 Scaling New Products

37:08 Biggest Threat Is Us

40:21 How Seeds Helps Advisors

42:45 Where to Learn More

43:02 Final Thanks and Outro

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In this episode of Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk, host Ryan Nauman speaks with Joe DaGrosa, CEO and founder of Axxes Capital and co-author of The Financial Advisor’s Guide to Private Investments, about the growing access retail investors have to private markets and the unique risks involved. DaGrosa explains how regulations have historically limited non-qualified purchasers, why registered vehicles are changing that, and what’s driving demand for private equity and private credit, including longevity and the need for higher returns. He argues interval funds can address key drawbacks of traditional drawdown funds by improving fee alignment, transparency, and offering limited liquidity, while emphasizing that advisor education and matching time horizon to illiquidity are critical. The conversation also covers diversification as public markets shrink, the importance of top-quartile manager selection, and how interval funds plan for redemptions.

Zephyr can help financial advisors locate the best interval fund strategy for their clients. Learn more here.

Learn more about Axxes Capital here.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

01:15 Meet Joe DaGrosa

02:49 Why Axxes Capital

06:15 Democratizing Private Markets

08:17 What Drives the Shift

10:46 Illiquidity and Education

13:11 Choosing Access Vehicles

15:13 Interval Funds Explained

19:09 Diversification Case

20:58 Manager Selection Matters

24:45 Who Interval Funds Fit

27:09 Handling Redemptions

28:38 Wrap Up and Resources

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast with Robert Cohen, Director of Global Developed Credit at DoubleLine, to discuss why bonds face bearish sentiment amid elevated Treasury yields and how advisors should think about fixed income today. Cohen frames the macro backdrop as “war and AI,” citing Middle East conflict-driven oil constraints that could push core CPI above 4% and keep inflation above 3%, while massive AI capex supports earnings but raises valuation and concentration risks. He explains how DoubleLine limits AI exposure in credit, argues corporate credit fundamentals remain strong with upgrades outpacing downgrades despite tight spreads, and flags weakness in lower-quality loans/private credit. The conversation covers securitized credit opportunities by underlying assets, emphasizes active, multi-sector management, and recommends lower duration given inflation and deficit risks, while suggesting many investors may be underweight fixed income.

Zephyr can help financial advisors create modern diversified portfolios here.

Learn more about DoubleLine here.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

01:51 Meet Robert Cohen

03:32 Macro War and AI

06:25 Managing AI Exposure

10:00 AI ROI and Bubble Risks

16:19 Markets vs Macro Signals

19:48 Corporate Credit Health

26:32 Securitized Credit Picks

30:52 Duration Strategy Now

33:12 Multi Sector Approach

34:53 Rebalancing to Fixed Income

36:06 Wrap Up and Resources

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Recorded on location at the Steward Symposium, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Jim Gold, CEO of Steward Partners, to discuss the rapid evolution of wealth management and how Steward is positioning itself to lead. Gold shares his background from Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and explains Steward’s execution-focused growth, describing “unstoppable” momentum and a culture built on respect, responsiveness, partner voice, and broad equity ownership. He outlines Steward’s differentiated M&A approach centered on “sell and stay,” multi-generational teams, and preserving advisor identity rather than forcing short contracts or major changes. Gold describes the advisor of the future as more planning- and relationship-focused, highlights AI as both the biggest opportunity and key competitive risk, and reiterates the value of independence and fiduciary alignment for clients. He closes with Steward’s ambition to reach $100B in assets and notes significant recent asset growth.

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Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome and Disclosures

00:40 Steward Symposium Setup

01:32 Meet Jim Gold

01:57 Steward Origin Story

02:53 Building Something Different

04:01 Unstoppable Culture

06:03 Scaling Without Losing Culture

07:25 Staying Competitive With M&A

10:06 Protecting Culture as You Grow

12:30 Advisor of the Future

15:15 AI Risks and Opportunities

17:58 Recruiting Top Talent

20:08 Why Independence Matters

22:12 Lessons and Five Year Vision

24:11 Closing Thanks and Where to Listen

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In this episode of Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast, host Ryan Nauman welcomes Mohan Gurupackiam, CIO at Steward Partners, to discuss how wealth management’s view of AI has shifted from curiosity and pilots to operationalization with governance and safe scaling. Mohan explains how firms are using AI as part of an advisor’s daily operating system—supporting meeting prep and automation, opportunity identification, communications, and eliminating non-value work—while noting investment research adoption remains limited due to trust. They cover key obstacles including data foundations, regulatory uncertainty, behavioral resistance and change management, legacy architecture, and talent gaps. Mohan emphasizes keeping humans in the loop, starting small with clear ROI, and combating advisor tech fatigue. He closes with three strategic advantages: unified data and context, productivity economics, and end-to-end automation.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Steward Partners here.

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast

01:11 Meet Mohan Gurupackiam

02:05 Steward Partners Overview

04:30 AI Mindset Shift

07:03 AI in Advisor Workflows

09:57 Human First AI Strategy

13:44 Implementation Roadblocks

19:17 Where AI Delivers Impact

24:53 Getting Started with AI

27:47 Tech Stack Fatigue

30:54 Winning in a Commoditized World

32:57 Wrap Up and Resources

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Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast with Dana D’Auria, Group President of Solutions and Co-CIO at Envestnet, discussing the growing role of private markets in wealth management. D’Auria explains how Envestnet combines asset management and wealth tech, then outlines key trends: companies staying private longer, increased demand from the wealth channel, and expanded use of vehicles like interval funds, tender offers, private BDCs, and private REITs. They emphasize that “semi-liquid” vehicles can become illiquid during dislocations, and highlight major risks including illiquidity, return dispersion across managers, and valuation/marking differences versus public markets that can overstate diversification metrics like correlation. D’Auria advises using specialist due diligence, evaluating tail-risk metrics, and leveraging available education from asset managers and resources such as Tony Davidow’s book.

Zephyr can help financial advisors create modern diversified portfolios learn more here.

To learn more about Envestnet here.

00:00 Podcast kickoff

01:18 Meet Dana D'Auria

03:41 Wealth tech meets investing

05:52 Why private markets boom

09:09 Diversification reality check

13:00 IPOs and index impact

16:11 Access vehicles expand

18:00 Advisor adoption spectrum

21:21 Interval funds liquidity

26:34 Key risks and due diligence

34:21 Education and wrap-up

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