Practice

Options for acquisition growth

Frequently, when a person looks to sell a business, the first person he or she asks for tips is an insurance or financial advisor. The problem is, these professionals usually aren’t equipped to provide this kind of advice or service because they most simply don’t know enough about the state of the private equity market. […]

By Mark Borkowski |November 1, 2009

4 min read

Planning and Advice

Product allocation is more important than ever

Advisors looking to demonstrate the value of advice to clients can now point to retirement income planning. Groundbreaking work, done by Canadian personal finance expert Moshe Milevsky, is changing the way portfolio creators are conceptualizing boomer retirement and creating a lucrative new income stream for competent advisors. Milevsky, professor of finance at York University, in […]

By Mark Noble |November 1, 2009

6 min read

Planning and Advice

Maximizing client meetings

I’ve been in the financial industry in some shape or form for close to 20 years. I’ve won customer service awards, but some days, I still have to ask myself this question: What do clients really want? There are lots of gurus telling us how to run our businesses; giving us strategies to help it […]

By Janine Purves |November 1, 2009

5 min read

Planning and Advice

Explore retirement income generation options

As the baby boomer generation has aged, the ever-shifting forces of demographics have begun to push the financial industry from one focused on wealth building and accumulation to one that will concentrate on distribution and income generation. The signs of this are inescapable to anyone who has been paying attention. While 10 years ago, the […]

By Jason M. Pereira |November 1, 2009

6 min read

Fact-finds determine client needs

The questions typically include: What’s your annual income (for both spouses if applicable)? : Our ability to earn income is our most valuable asset. Without income, there would be no home, car, or investments. Do you own your own home and do you have a mortgage? If so, what’s the amount left owing on your […]

By John Jordan |November 1, 2009

2 min read

Network your way to a bigger practice

I hear the phrase, “your network is your net worth,” everywhere I go. I must admit, the best investment I ever made in my own business was to start my fifth networking group. Yes, the fifth time is the charm. I’m not sure about the rest of the country, but from the time I started […]

4 min read

Justifying your fees

One of the questions advisors will be asking themselves more and more as they move towards complete transparency of fees is…How do I justify my fees to clients? The answer is simple. Below are six easy tips you can use when this sometimes uncomfortable but necessary conversation arises. Show them the money – Full, upfront […]

By Robert Abboud |October 27, 2009

5 min read

An opportunity for stock pickers?

Recently, I came across a marketing pitch that described the current equity environment as being full of opportunity for good stock pickers. This is not the first time I have heard this claim, nor do I suspect it will be the last. Perhaps the people making the claim even believe it to be true. The […]

By John De Goey |October 23, 2009

3 min read

Great teams need great players

In our coaching work, we always do an assessment of the roles that each team member plays within a financial advisory firm. After looking at the strengths and weaknesses of a team member, we are able to evaluate how well suited that individual is for their respective role. To illustrate this more clearly, let’s use […]

3 min read