Compassionately Capitalist: Fidant Wealth Partners
With hearts of social workers and the minds of capitalists, Doug Kisker describes the unique, growth focused culture of his team at Fidant Wealth Partners. They provide their financial advisors the tools and culture to cultivate their business, without the high sales pressure and rigidity of many of their counterparts, offering an ideal environment for growth minded Advisors who want to plug into a growth machine to accelerate their growth.
If you are an Advisor exploring your options and would like to chat about Doug and his team, feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Garrett’s Calendar Link
Action is the Language of Reality: Featuring Adrienne Grace
Adrienne Grace joins Garrett to discuss how she helps her clients focus their energy and efforts on the controllables of their business, and helps them to work with a clearer mind to better execute their business vision. To learn more about how Adrienne can help you further develop your practice, reach out to her or explore the resources below:
Adrienne Grace, CFA | LinkedIn
Adrienne Grace (@gracefully_adrienne) • Instagram photos and videos
To learn more or connect with Garrett, feel free to use this Calendar Link to schedule a call at your convenience, or reach out directly to 919-561-2436.
Decision Tree of Independence
Veteran industry consultant Scott Steele joins Garrett to discuss the options facing Advisors once they make a decision to go independent. What are some of the questions they face and what are the results of each decision and how they impact your practice? Garrett and Scott walk through the decision-making process to help Advisors better understand the questions they should be asking to get to the outcome they are looking for as simply as possible.
If you would like to discuss this process or explore your options, feel free to reach out at 919-561-2436, or email Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com. You may also use Garrett’s Calendar Link to schedule a call at your convenience. And to contribute to organizations aiding the relief efforts in the North Carolina mountains, please visit the Hurricane Helene Support Resource page.
Modern Marketing: Practice What You Preach
Developing a sound marketing strategy to build a sustainable growth engine for your business follows a lot of the same principles you advocate for your clients. Investing in a long-term plan, staying patient and consistent, can pay huge dividends for your practice.
Feel free to reach out at 919-561-2436, or email Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com. You may also use Garrett’s Calendar Link to schedule a call at your convenience.
Picture Perfect Sunset Plans
Each Advisor envisions their retirement and legacy plan in their own unique way, just like their clients. Garrett Layell breaks down the seemingly endless list of options Advisors have for succession planning, and how the top Advisors approach this process to create the best outcome for their practice.
If you would like to discuss this process or explore your options, feel free to reach out at 919-561-2436, or email Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com. You may also use Garrett’s Calendar Link to schedule a call at your convenience.
People are Becoming the Key Differentiator
As technology continues to advance and evolve, computers are able to perform objective processes more cost effectively than humans in a variety of ways. But the extension of this puts a premium on the human element of the Advisor/Client relationship. While many Advisors may struggle to keep up with computers, those with a true empathy and compassion for their clients may be able to not only survive a battle with the robots but be able to thrive thanks to reduced competition.
If Advisor Advocates can help you explore the best ways to position your practice for the next phase of your business, feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Garrett’s Calendar Link
Minimum Size to Go Independent
How big does an Advisor's business have to be to survive as an Independent? Even 10 years ago, the answers to this question were all over the map, and often misunderstood by Advisors. Technology enhancements, competition, and COVID, have drastically reshaped the industry in a short period of time, making it easier and more confusing than ever to take your practice independent.
The average Independent Advisor will net around twice as much income as an average Employee Advisor. But sometimes Advisors forget the reciprocal of this truth: An Independent Advisor needs half as much AUM to make the same amount of money as an Employee Advisor.
There are a lot of sound reasons for an Advisor to stay in an employee relationship, and Advisor Advocates fully supports Firms who offer stability to Advisors who thrive in a team environment. But far too many Advisors stay in difficult situations because they overestimate the challenge of being independent, both economically and practically. In this episode, former Independent Advisor Garrett Layell unpacks the decision to start a small independent practice and helps Advisors outline the decision tree to help them determine if their practice is large enough to survive as an Independent.
If you are an Advisor exploring your options or a Firm hoping to better position yourself to grow your team, feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Focus of the Firm: Part Three
As more Firms evolve and grow into more comprehensive practices, Advisors have more choices than ever when deciding how to best achieve their professional goals and provide the best service for their clients. Competitive salaries, all-star teams, and growth super-engines have emerged and created terrific opportunities for Advisors who knows what they are looking for and how to spot the best fit for their skillset and for their practice.
Garrett Layell completes the Focus of the Firm trilogy by discussing Employee Advisor roles and how the culture of a Firm may cultivate and focus on success at the individual Advisor level, on building successful teams, or leveraging the power and scale of the brand, and which types of Advisors might find appeal in each model.
If you are an Advisor exploring your options or a Firm hoping to better position yourself to grow your team, feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Garrett’s Calendar Link
Focus of the Firm: Part Two
Independent no longer means alone for Financial Advisors who want to own their book of business. In the second episode of the three-part series, Garrett Layell breaks down the variety of ways Independent Financial Advisors can operate in environments focusing on individual achievement, team collaboration, or brand powered success.
If you are an Advisor exploring your options or a Firm hoping to better position yourself to grow your team, feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Garrett’s Calendar Link
Focus of the Firm: Part One
Technological innovation and the rise of the Fiduciary Standard has evolved the wealth management industry in a variety of ways, leading to a new way Financial Advisors and Firms define the roles Advisors have in a practice. Advisors are no longer simply salespeople, at least not in all environments. In addition to determining if they want to be employees or independent, Advisors now have to ask themselves if they want to be a part of a culture that focuses on the success of the Advisor, a team of Advisors, or the Firm itself.
In the first episode of a three-part series, Garrett Layell discusses the implications of these decisions and the options available to Advisors and Firms seeking to optimize the effectiveness of their team members. Feel free to give Garrett a call at 919-561-2436 or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
Garrett’s Calendar Link
Advisor Compensation Trends
How much should Financial Advisors expect to earn for various roles in today’s industry? As the industry continues to evolve (and consolidate), Advisor compensation has never been more dynamic. In this episode, Garrett breaks down the landscape to help Advisors and Firms better understand what Firms are offering and which model is best for each type of Advisor.
Check out the new Advisor Compensation Tool to see how much your practice should be earning, and give Garrett a call Garrett at 919-561-2436, or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com if you’d like to chat about any questions you may have.
M&A Valuations and Deal Terms
How much is an Advisory practice worth? This is a loaded question that always gets the starting answer of: it depends. On this episode, we dive into what it depends on, more specifically, and what to expect for both sides of the transaction. Most of all, how can you maximize the economic value of the sale of a practice.
The value will ultimately be determined by the following:
Revenue Profile
Client Relationships
Risk sharing between buyer and seller
Resulting Partnership
To learn more and find out how to maximize the value of your practice, visit advisoradvocates.com or call Garrett at 919-561-2436 (text first), or send an email to Garrett@theadvisoradvocates.com.
So, You Want to Start an RIA?!
Financial Advisors debating total independence typically include the option of starting their own RIA. It is an appealing option giving the Advisor total control over every aspect of their business, most critically, their revenue.
Veteran former Advisor Garrett Layell discusses the process and the decisions aspiring RIA owners must make about compliance, technology, custody, business strategy and marketing, as well as how Advisor Advocates offers a unique way to co-pilot the launch of a new Firm.
Turnkey RIAs: Your Invisible Partner
Financial Advisors are entrepreneurial by nature. Many begin their careers as Advisors under someone else’s flag, enjoying the unlimited opportunities the industry offers, before eventually settling on the decision that it is time to start their own Firm. However, that decision brings with it many more decisions to be made, starting with the decision to form your own Registered Investment Advisor or affiliating with an Independent Firm.
Independent Tuck-Ins: The Sweet Spot for Advisors
One of the best kept secrets in the financial services industry is the Tuck-In model. One of the best descriptions I’ve ever heard for this is a “hotel for independent financial advisors.” When I left the employee advisor world for independence in 2013, I was unknowingly at the time being introduced to my first tuck-in firm. A collection of Independent Financial Advisors operating under one roof sharing one brand.
Sophisticated Simplicity: Edge Financial Advisors
By enabling each team member to focus on their specific strengths and focus areas, Edge positions Advisors to deliver the most sophisticated planning and investment strategies for their clients without over-stepping their capabilities, and working together to achieve greater things together than they could separately.