8 nuggets of angst mined from RIAs at Schwab IMPACT

“First, income strategies need a serious makeover.” That’s basically what Sally Krawcheck has been arguing as well. Just as you stated, clients want to know that their adviser “has their back”. These days it seems to be more about the relationship, especially long term, not stock picking prowess.

One big change that Krawcheck likes to hit upon as partially behind this trend is the growing importance of women in the financial planning process.

The other change that I find interesting is the demographic and generational shift that Gen X and Gen Y pose. Some studies have suggested that 86 percent of these two cohorts plan to fire their parents’ advisers. Couple that with that fact that when it comes to relationships and communication, these two segments seem to also think very differently than their parents.

While this represents opportunity, it’s also just more to keep advisers awake at night. Still, I find the change exciting and much needed in the industry — of course, I’m not an adviser!.

I look forward to reading your future columns on MPT, and specifically on its implementation through mean-variance optimization, and how advisors have found that useful in choosing a portfolio.

Fantastic article! I feel more advisors need to give themselves a checkup annually.

I work with Rob Isbitts. Based on the high readership, attached is a free 15 Point Investment Check Up. Completing the survey should only take you a few minutes. The goal of the Investment Checkup inspection is for you to conduct a critical self-evaluation of the process you use to research, invest for clients, and communicate progress to them. The purpose is to make you think introspectively about a vital yet frequently overlooked area of practice management. When you submit your results to us, we will respond back to you with a grade based on your responses. We will also identify which, if any, of our investment practice management upgrade strategies may potentially benefit you and your clients.

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