Category Archives: IRIS Media Works

Episode 100 – Achieving an Effective Marketing Strategy for Your Firm – With Susan Theder and Samantha Russell

Advisorpedia, Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

At FMG Suite, Susan Theder acts as the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer and Samantha Russell acts as the Chief Evangelist. FMG Suite currently provides over 40,000 financial advisors and insurance agents with award-winning content and digital marketing tools to help them build their businesses, expand their influence, and strengthen relationships with customers.

Doug, Susan and Samantha addressed a grab bag of questions and scenarios Susan & Samantha are seeing in the marketplace today, and how they would recommend developing different marketing strategies for each. They provided their expert advice to three firms that hold widely common concerns.

Advice was aimed at:

  • A small advisory firm that wants to create content but lacks strategic digital marketing 
  • A firm focused on gaining creativity in their newsletters and articles
  • A solo advisor looking to capitalize on their video skills and thrive on social media channels

They also discussed:

  • Statistics on organic growth through digital marketing
  • The likelihood that wealthy individuals will share their advisor’s newsletters with others
  • The optimal length of videos to gain the most traction
  • Emergences in social media channels used by advisors

Resources: FMG Suite



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Episode 25 – Financial Advisors Can Find Freedom to Focus Through Outsourcing – with Barrett Ayers, Matt Sonnen and Rich DeSalvo

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

The ups and downs of 2020 gave many advisors pause and forced them to really think about the core of their businesses: Who are our ideal clients? What services should we be offering to them? What should we be charging for those services? And what is the most profitable way we can deliver those services to our ideal clients? 

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Adhesion Wealth President, Barrett Ayers, discusses the ins and outs of outsourcing with Matt Sonnen of PFI Advisors and Rich DeSalvo of f3Logic, LLC.  These experts provide their insights on the trends that are driving financial advisors to outsource and how outsourcing can free up advisors to focus on those services that differentiate them.

  • How COVID-19 accelerated advisor acceptance of outsourcing
  • What types of outsourced solutions are gaining popularity 
  • Tips for determining if/when an outsourced provider is a good fit with your firm
  • How outsourcing can benefit your bottom line

Resources:  Adhesion Wealth | PFI Advisors | f3Logic, LLC

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Episode 24 – Success Begins With Listening Deeply to Your Clients – with Michael Scaplen

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Michael Scaplen is the senior vice president of sales and relationship management at Axos Clearing, a full-service clearing firm and custodian serving introducing broker-dealer and registered investment advisors.

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Doug Heikkinen and Michael talk about the importance of being technologically nimble and delivering seamless, outstanding customer service in today’s environment. They also discuss the pillars of Axos’ business model and how it can empower advisors to better serve their clients.

You will also learn:

  • Why the pillars of Axos’ business are unique in the financial services industry.
  • Why Axos is committed to being light and nimble in its approach to technology, and how that benefits advisors.
  • How Axos puts the advisor first in everything they do, and how that, in turn, helps advisors deliver a better experience to their clients.

Resources: Axos Clearing

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Episode 23 – Sustainable and Impact Investing is Not a Charity – With Peter Krull

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Peter Krull is the Founder, CEO and Director of Investments at Earth Equity Advisors. He focuses on creating and managing Earth Equity’s sustainable, responsible and impact investment portfolios as well as writing thought leadership pieces and sharing the responsible investing story.

In today’s episode of Power Your Advice, Pete and Doug Heikkinen discuss the state of sustainable, responsible and impact investing in the financial services community today. Is everyone who says they do it really doing it? How can you tell the difference? They also discuss:

  • The screening process for a green stage portfolio
  • How sustainable portfolio returns compare to portfolios that don’t take sustainable or impact investing into account
  • How divesting from fossil fuel holdings can help with risk management inside a portfolio
  • Why Pete believes that you can trace breadcrumbs from an investment to saving the world for our kids
  • Why Pete thinks advisors should be on the green wave for their clients

RESOURCES: Earth Equity Advisors

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Episode 22 – Hedging Against Volatility With Precious Metals- with Christopher Blasi

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Chris Blasi is the President of Neptune Global Holdings, LLC, a precious metals dealer and creator of the PMC Ounce, a precious metals composite which combines the four major metals into one investment product that offers the properties of an ETF, but with one key differentiator – the investor actually owns the metals, and at any time, can convert the PMC Ounces they own to take physical delivery of the metals.

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Mike and Doug Heikkinen discuss precious metals – what they are and how they can help diversify client portfolios. 

  • Overview of the precious metals asset class, how it works, and the precious metals within it
  • Overview of the PMC Ounce – how it works, and how advisors can take advantage of it
  • How can advisors talk about the PMC Ounce, and precious metals in general, with their clients
  • How and why Neptune Global has grown and thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic

Resources:  Neptune Global Holdings, LLC | PMC Ounce

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Episode 21 – What Financial Advisors Should Know About Mergers & Acquisitions Today – with Barrett Ayers, Stan Gregor and David DeVoe

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,

After a couple of months of slowdown, Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A”) are happening at record levels across the industry. As financial advisors think about ways to grow their business, they may want to consider M&A as one way to achieve benefits of scale, new levels of efficiency within their business, and unlock access to the power of a broader platform. 

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Adhesion Wealth President, Barrett Ayers, once again takes the reins and leads a fascinating discussion with M&A gurus Stan Gregor of Summit Financial and David DeVoe of DeVoe & Company about how this year has affected Mergers & Acquisitions across the industry.  They also provide insight for advisors on both sides of the equation – how sellers can make their firms attractive for acquisition, and what buyers should take into consideration when evaluating target companies.

  • What factors are driving M&A activity this year?
  • What are some of the most important valuation factors?
  • Beyond the financials, what else should an aggregator look for when evaluating companies?
  • When should an RIA look internally vs. externally?
  • Insight as to what RIA M&A may look like in 2021 and beyond.

Resources:  Adhesion Wealth | Summit Financial | DeVoe & Company

 

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Episode 20 – Investment Banking Can Enhance Financial Advisors’ Value Propositions- with Michael Nessim

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Michael Nessim is the President of Kingswood U.S. and the CEO of Benchmark Advisory Services, LLC. He has been in the financial services industry for more than 24 years and had been involved with investment banking for the last 20 years.

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Mike and Doug Heikkinen discuss investment banking – what it is and why financial advisors should consider including it in their client portfolios. They also talk about how Kingswood can help advisors provide access to this important and differentiating solution for their clients.

  • What does ‘investment banking” mean to advisors and their clients
  • How does Mike feel investment banking drives the economy
  • How can adding investment banking help strengthen advisors’ value propositions
  • The types of risks associated with investment banking and how can they be offset

Resources:  Kingswood U.S.

 

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Episode 19 – Financial Advisors Can Find the Right Version of Independence – with Barrett Ayers, Louis Diamond and Jim Dickson

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Adhesion Wealth, Diamond Consultants, and Sanctuary Wealth are all well-known for their laser focus on providing customized solutions to support the widely varied business models and challenges faced by advisors who are looking to go or already have gone independent. 

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Adhesion Wealth President, Barrett Ayers, takes the reins and leads a fascinating discussion with Louis Diamond, Executive Vice President and Head Consultant at Diamond Consultants, and Jim Dickson, CEO of Sanctuary Wealth, about what’s going on in the breakaway and independent channels. They also provide insight and practical options for advisors who are considering going independent:

  • The acceleration of advisor movement during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Why are advisors deciding to go independent today? What challenges does that decision bring? 
  • How has the growth of the independent channel allowed more people to find their right version of independence?
  • What should advisory firms be doing to make themselves more attractive for new advisors looking for an affiliation model?
  • What are some challenges advisors face when going independent? And what solutions are available to address them?

Resources:  Adhesion Wealth | Diamond Consultants | Sanctuary Wealth

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Episode 18 – The Best Advisors Adopt a CEO Mindset to Scale their Business- with Barrett Ayers & Clint Sorenson

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

Barrett Ayers from Adhesion Wealth and Clint Sorenson from WealthShield have both focused their businesses on providing outsource support and solutions that help financial advisors scale and do more for their clients while continuing to focus on what matters most when running their business.

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Doug Heikkinen, Barrett & Clint discuss how the game has changed for financial advisors, why their landscape is more complex than ever, and the importance of advisors adopting a CEO mindset in managing their business

  • What are the three main challenges financial advisors continue to face
  • What is the highest & best use of an advisor’s time
  • How to evaluate your business to identify core vs. non-core activities
  • What is the best way to talk to your clients about the elements of your business you do decide to outsource

Resources:  Adhesion Wealth | WealthShield

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Episode 17 – Entering the Third Wave of Financial Advice – with Tony Stich

Finance, Industry Innovators, IRIS Media Works, Power Your Advice, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

Tony Stich is the chief operating officer at Advicent (you may know him as “Mr. Purple”). After seeing a drastic increase in clients making updates to their financial plans during the COVID-19 pandemic, his company took the unprecedented step of making NaviPlan available for free.

In this episode of Power Your Advice, Doug Heikkinen and Tony discuss the driving forces behind Advicent’s decision to give NaviPlan away, their latest research on technology and advice in the COVID-19 era, and what they think the future holds for both.

  • How COVID-19 upended the industry and forced us to deliver advice differently
  • How clients are interacting with and involving their advisors as a result
  • We are entering the third wave of financial advice – what does that mean?
  • How clients’ expectations of technology and digital interaction with their advisor are changing
  • Why it is important for advisors take both their company’s and their technology providers’ long-term visions into account when upgrading or buying new technology 

Resources: NaviPlan by Advicent 

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