As summer starts turning into fall and I contemplate the recent volatility in financial markets, the same thought keeps going through my mind: events may come and go, but solid processes endure. At first glance, that may seem trivial but think about what a process is: a series of steps or events that lead to a result.
Listen and learn. At Advisor Group’s 2011 Distributors' Summit, Kevin Cott, CEO, Qualified Financial Services, Toronto, discussed the topic of culling advisors who offer little business and do a better job for those who write big tickets.
If you currently work alone or have a small office, you have probably decided it’s not worth the cost and time of setting up and maintaining a separate mail server and just use the email service your internet provider or website host provides.
Recently I met with an investment advisor. I could tell immediately he simply wasn’t himself. He admitted his “head hasn’t been in the game for some time now”. He was thinking of leaving the business.
We work with a lot of numbers in our role as advisors. Part of the challenge is to make numbers meaningful to our clients without having to re-invent the wheel at every review. Here are a few features of Microsoft Excel we use in our practice to save time and wow our clients.
Let’s face it, the ongoing discussion about the relative merits of differing compensation models is one of the defining issues of our generation for our industry. The four basic options include: by salary, by the hour, by assets and by commission. There’s obviously room to mix and match and to use hybrid models, as well. Any conversation about this topic requires the requisite disclaimer of ‘it’s a free country’ and ‘you can use any compensation model you want’, of course.
Listen and learn. At the Advisor Group’s 2011 Distributors' Summit, Cameron Jacox and James Hilton, Managing Partners, Jacox-Hilton Producer Consulting, discussed how MGA owners can determine the value of their operation for both succession and sales purposes.
Listen and learn. Speakers at Advisor Group’s 2011 Distributors' Summit discussed ways industry members can work together to help advisors capture the next generation of clients, better assess and respond to risk, and build a more business-friendly environment. Stephanie McManus, President, Compliance Support Services, discussed ways to get regulators to see reason about a proscriptive rule that doesn’t work with your business model, without triggering a full-scale audit.
Listen and learn. At Advisor Group’s 2011 Distributors' Summit, Jeff Hughes, GAMA International, Falls Church, Virginia, discussed independent and hybrid independent organizations that rely on industry resources to enhance their own development efforts.
How to leverage your time and partners to get ahead.