The 10 biggest threats to the RIA business heading into 2014

Wishing all the staff @ RIABiz the very best in the new year! Thank you for your continued advocacy of our profession.

As long as we remember what we are and why we are here, the independents will thrive. We do not offer better portfolio management than others, although we like to think we charge a bit less, and are a bit better on the science side of things.

What we offer, and people are willing to pay for, is a person answering the phone who knows the caller and is familiar with his or her specific issues. In short, as long as we sincerely care about and know each of our clients we will thrive. A long, long time ago as I was entering the world of finance, my mentor repeated to me an old saw, “People don’t care what you know unless they know that you care about them.”

The only real danger is if someone creates a USAA of investment management where each representative has a computer system that allows them to instantly “know” the caller and the caller’s family and history. Even USAA is starting to lose that now. As long as we care more about the people we serve than we do about a corporate bottom line we are safe.

To Brooke and all at RIA Biz: You’re still putting out the most incisive and cogent writing in the biz from our perspective and we really appreciate your consistent stream of what we call 'useful information’.

No other source keeps us as well informed and as enlightened about those we consider our true peers. It’s always spot on and that is encouraging even when there is so much out there to discourage. Where we live – with our clients, we draw great satisfactions and it’s very good to know we are very much not alone in this. Happy New Year to all of you and keep it up!

Wise and witty…the best combination to offer insight and new perspectives.

Best wishes to everyone at RIABiz!

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!

Precisely!