Because it’s directly correlated to revenue, total AUM is the most common gauge for RIA growth. But AUM fluctuates based on market cycles, meaning it isn’t always indicative of the overhead required to operate the RIA.
In down markets, a firm’s total number of clients and accounts serves as a more...
If you’ve had any kind of onboarding experience before, with either a TAMP or traditional advisor technology provider, it was probably accompanied by several of these popular buzzwords: Flexible. Comprehensive training. Personalized. White glove. Onboarding should include all of those things – but...
It’s a widely accepted rule that human beings can’t do, or recall, more than three things at a time (at least not very well).This applies to low-stakes situations, like not being able to remember what you need at the grocery store without a list or where your car is in the parking garage, and at...
The industry at large spends a lot of time focusing on the “P” in TAMP—that is, the Platform’s technology features and capabilities. And we aren’t denying the critical importance of cutting-edge technology to help advisory firms streamline operations, relieve back-office burdens, and deliver a...
If you’re an advisor using a legacy TAMP to run your business, you’ve probably thought this to yourself several times a day:I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.But it’s far more likely that everything is not fine, and trying to convince yourself otherwise is only going to delay the...
TAMPs get a bad rap.They’re viewed as rigid and inflexible, forcing advisors to adjust their businesses to accommodate the TAMP platform instead of offering the flexibility and control to construct portfolios based on their own investment expertise and research.They’re built on cumbersome, outdated...
If you want to create and sustain a great experience for your clients, you first need to understand what they want and expect from you. In a recent and fairly exhaustive study on what clients expect from their investment advisors, Jeremiah Desmarais, one of the leading voices for...
Whether you are considering using a Turnkey Asset Management Platform (TAMP) or are currently using a TAMP’s services, it is worth highlighting three essential areas of your practice where the right partner can ease a lot of your stress and anxiety.
We often hear from clients that one of the allures of becoming an independent investment advisor is the freedom to build your business the way you want to, without fighting through the bureaucracy one would encounter with a broker-dealer.
John was a 50-year-old advisor who had been at 3 different wirehouses over his 25-year career in financial services. Before becoming a financial advisor, John had been an institutional trader for 10 years. John was managing about $100m in AUM with 80% in fee-based accounts and 20% in traditional...
Breaking away from a broker-dealer is never an easy decision, but the momentum towards independence is accelerating, as more advisors than ever consider the move. There is nothing quite as rewarding as building and owning your own truly independent practice.
Why did you become an independent advisor? There are likely several reasons, including a deep desire to help people fulfill their dreams of building a secure and prosperous financial future. The notion of service and personal commitment runs deep in your veins. You get to know your clients like...
Many advisors recognize the value of partnering with a TAMP to provide clients with superior investment management services. But what you may not fully realize is how a TAMP's back office services can ease the daily burden of managing your practice and free you up to spend more time with clients...
Count yourself in the select group of investment advisor representatives whose RIAs are growing. Well done. However, your success comes with challenges, and one you are likely facing is how to scale your business by adding new staff.
Investment Advisors choose to practice their crafts under the RIA structure for a wide variety of reasons. Whether it's the desire to support clients as a true fiduciary, the ability to provide superior service, or simply the dream of operating as an entrepreneur, the motivations are compelling.
In retrospect, it’s amazing how far the independent investment advisory business has advanced over the past three decades and there is no doubt that technology has played a key role in that progress. In fact, the benefit to independent advisors from the last 30 years of technological advancement...
Growing your firm doesn’t happen by accident. The most successful RIAs will tell you that it requires a concerted effort, through both prospecting and marketing. But not everyone realizes that these are two distinctly different functions with unique tactics.
$500 million AUM is a notable achievement for an RIA firm, and Krieger Advisors had every right to celebrate when they hit that milestone in late 2019. Stephen Krieger and his partner, Carol Raimes, both advisors who formerly worked for an independent broker-dealer, started their RIA only two...
What’s in a brand? Might seem simple at first. But, your brand itself speaks volumes about YOU, and yet, when was the last time you thought about your company’s name, your logo, or even your overall identity?
At its core, a brand is defined as an identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word, or...
The executive leadership team at Acme Wealth Management knew they had a problem. More like several problems. Since launching its RIA as a single small office in 2012, the firm had enjoyed a remarkable run of success and now boasted a lofty $1 billion in AUM, multiple offices throughout the...
