The Evolving Advisor Podcast

In this episode, Jeff and Ken discuss: 

• The systems and practices that separate the good from the great.  
• The role of technology in building a great business. 
• Client satisfaction. 
• Meaningful conversations and educating your clients. 

Key Takeaways: 

• You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you rise to the level of your systems. 
• The best business strategy is a satisfied client. Technology can’t replace traditional human touch. 
• The words you say are very powerful. Communicate clearly, communicate meaningfully, communicate powerfully, communicate collaboratively. 
• The best firms are made up of competent, motivated people. 

"When you start off a relationship, even in a discovery meeting with a new prospect, you want to set an expectation that you can meet, and then you want to back that up with meaningful communication." —  Ken Unger

Connect with Ken Unger: 

Website: https://preferredadvisoracademy.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-unger-34754788/  

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Gil discuss: 

• Succession planning and partnering. 
• Transitioning your business at the right time. 
• Building your business and referring the work that doesn’t fit your model. 
• Running your own business versus working in a larger brokerage firm. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Doing what’s right morally for the right reasons will often work out in the end. 
• The evolution of technology has changed the game for the financial world. 
• Leverage your staff in a way that allows you to show up and perform in the role that you feel is your greatest strength. 
• Brokers who are comfortable in their cocoons at the wirehouses have no idea of how big the numbers are when it comes to going out on their own. 

"I really never appreciated the relief that I would have, from meeting a prospect and caring less about how I was gonna get paid. It is such a relief to me to not have to figure out how I'm going to fit a square peg into a round hole, and I think the clients receive it better, because they understand that they are not the square peg in my round hole." —  Gil Baumgarten

Connect with Gil Baumgarten: 

Website: https://gilbaumgarten.com/ 

Website: https://segmentwm.com/

Book: https://gilbaumgarten.com/book/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Mark discuss: 

• Transitioning away from a large firm.
• Flexibility and collaboration in a financial advising firm.
• Misconceptions about moving into the RIA space.
• Key attributes of successful teams.

Key Takeaways: 

• The more firms can evolve, the more they are likely to retain advisors throughout their career.
• Collaboration is key in a good, supportive firm.
• If you’re going out on your own, make sure you understand what it means and that you do understand what it means to own your own business.
• Advisors need to be coachable, open, and be willing to analyze their practice to best succeed.

"I would really encourage every advisor who is open to evaluating where they're at, for their clients and for their career, I would ask you to close your eyes and imagine you had a clean slate. Would you want to be at your existing firm serving clients? Or would you potentially be interested in looking at other alternatives?" —  Rob Samson

Connect with Rob Samson: 

Website: https://www.joinstratos.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-samson-059a3a23/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Mark discuss: 

• Mark’s journey through the early years of his career in the wire house to being the Managing Partner at Veritas. 
• Attributes to early success and attributes have been the key to his long career. 
• The progression of business development. 
• The important things to look for with mergers and acquisitions of other advisory firms. 

Key Takeaways: 

• The number one ingredient to success in whatever you do is hard work. 
• In order for you to evolve and best serve your clients, you can’t do it alone. 
• You have to grow and change as technologies grow and change to keep up with the market and what the clients are looking for and where they are looking. 
• Put asking for the referral on the agenda. Make sure the customer feels good, and you feel good, but make the ask every time. 

"When you start thinking about and incorporating their interests, goals, and objectives, just like a client, and if you can cater to that and create a vision, a strategy, that can execute on their personal professional goals, their skill sets, and their work ethic, it's impossible to not be successful." —  Mark Roman

Connect with Mark Roman:

Website: https://veritasboston.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-roman-5a51b8b/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

 In this episode, Jeff and Bobbie discuss: 

• Caring with no agenda is an advantage. 
• Treating people with sincerity (both customers and employees)
• Having men and women in leadership positions in your firm. 
• The power in process and communication. 

Key Takeaways: 

• People can recognize if you care or not. Spend time listening to people and their stories. 
• Having empathy for everyone in your firm will help you develop your employees in every spot to be the best they can be. 
• Adding diversity to your firm will allow your firm to be better stewards for your community. 
• Going independent gives you freedom and flexibility to better serve your clients and utilize your knowledge to focus on your practice. 

"What's very unique and has helped me to be more empathetic to everyone within the branch is that I've literally sat in every seat…I am empathetic to those that I surround myself with." —  Bobbie Meola

Connect with Bobbie Meola: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbie-meola-36634776/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

  In this episode, Jeff and Jeff discuss: 

• Having a plan and a strategy in all your financial endeavors.

• Creating space for those things that your clients are highly passionate about (even if they don’t recognize it at first).

• Passing on your values of charity, not just your financials.

• Having meaningful dialogue with your clients.

Key Takeaways: 

• A lot of people need to be given permission to utilize money in ways that aren’t just accumulation.

• There are more types of capital than just financial - social, spiritual, intellectual, etc. What kind of legacy are you leaving in those other areas as well?

• Deeper conversations lead to deeper relationships. You need to understand what matters to your clients in all aspects of their lives, not just their financial lives.

• Pick one niche and dominate in that space. People are not going to be offended if they are not part of your niche. Know what you do, and do it well.

"Not only is there not enough charitable giving done at death, but if you're going to give it a death, why not have fun giving it while you're alive." —  Jeff Thomas

Connect with Jeff Thomas: 

Website: https://www.archetypewealth.com/

Book: Trading-Up: https://www.archetypewealth.com/trading-up?hsLang=en

Podcast: The Generous Business Owner - coming soon!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-thomas-952848/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Mike discuss: 

• Business development trends from 2021.
• Why people move jobs (and job models). 
• Components necessary to build an enduring firm. 
• Establishing your vision and strategy. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Take the opportunity and time that we have now to ask the right questions about what you want for your life and career. 
• Flexibility, autonomy, and control tend to be the heart of the reasons why people in financial services move jobs. Culture and building wealth are also critical reasons. 
• Communication is critical to being a CEO. 
• Vision and strategy incorporate what you do, but also who you do it for. 

"The future of our business is a multi-gender, multi-ethnic, multi-generational team that has a strong technology adoption and is able to really mirror the marketplace and be resources to all types of clients, and all types of communities." —  Mike O'Brien

Connect with Mike O'Brien:

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michgerob

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Lou discuss: 

• M&A trends from 2021. 
• Underutilized segments of the market. 
• Bringing in strategic, minority partners. 
• Finding, recruiting, retaining, and developing talent. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Firms are going to have to be smarter than they ever have before, not only in terms of the types of deals, but also what you're willing to pay for those transactions.
• Any and all folks who touch M&A, whether it's valuation firms, law firms, or the banks that finance these types of transactions, people are frenzied, and they're buried right now. 
• Align yourself with someone who's going to help you become a better version of what you already are.
• There are a lot of individuals that want a greater sense of autonomy and ownership in their practice than they're going to get at the large wirehouses, banks, or wherever they are coming from. 
• When you find good people, figure out how to integrate them into the organization and where they can add value versus simply backfilling Role X or Role Y.

"Unless you have a dedicated effort to recruit and onboard people, it's not going to happen. Unless you're really dedicating concerted efforts towards an M&A pipeline, it is probably not going to happen. " —  Jeff Concepcion

Connect with Lou Camacho:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/loucamachoswa

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/loucamacho

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

In this episode, Jeff and Linda discuss: 

• M&As in the wealth management space.

• The evolution of the wealth management space and the rapid acceleration over the last few years.

• Questions asked by the M&A lawyer when you are looking to sell your firm.

• Having flexibility in your transactions (especially as different generations are tending to want different things).

Key Takeaways: 

• You need to understand the regulatory schemes that your client is under, as an M&A attorney, to avoid missteps in the transaction.

• It is easier to come up with creative solutions if you understand the industry.

• Both the buyer and the seller should do their due diligence in an M&A transaction to understand what it will be like post-closing.

• Understanding what you want is necessary, but you also need to understand when to walk away from a transaction.

"When you are selecting your buyer, think ahead of time about what kind of buyer you're looking for...Really sit back and think about what you want from the transaction. Do you want to exit? Do you want to cash out? Do you want to stay? Will you be working 10 more years? There's all those things that you need to think about." —  Linda Paullin-Hebden

Connect with Linda Paullin-Hebden:

Website: https://www.wnj.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-paullin-hebden-71456a9/

Connect with Jeffrey Concepcion: 

Website: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com

Contact: https://www.stratoswealthpartners.com/contact

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stratos_Wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratoswealthpartners

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffconcepcion1/

Today’s conversation is with Amy Parvaneh, Founder & CEO of Select Advisors Institute. In 2014, Amy launched Select Advisors Institute to motivate, train, and partner with service providers who are looking to grow at the same pace and trajectory she has grown her career and businesses.