Ethics In Financial Services Practice Management Insights
Optimizing Your Practice’s Relationship With AI
With the growth of AI in the workplace, it may be time to consider how you can best implement AI tools to automate busywork and turn your attention to more valuable tasks that directly support your clients. Fortunately, our new practice management workbook is here to assist!
Learn more about common AI topics like the risks associated with AI, how much time you can save, and the best way to get started. We’ll also provide a closer look into more specific topics such as evaluating the prompts you provide to your AI tools and which activities in your workplace are best to delegate to AI.
Increase your knowledge on these trending topics and more as you propel your practice into the modern era of advising with help from our informative practice management workbook.
Shares: Going Deep on FIAs and RILAs
In this episode of our Shares podcast, host Michael Finke, PhD, CFP® speaks with Bobby Samuelson, an expert on annuity products, for a deep dive on their practical uses in financial planning and the ins and outs of how they can be used to benefit your clients.
Bobby Samuelson is the executive editor of The Life Product Review, one of the industry’s best sources for independent and objective life insurance product intelligence. He regularly presents at major industry events and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal. He is also the President and CEO of Life Innovators, an independent product development firm helping life insurers create and implement unique life insurance and annuity products. Previously, Samuelson was the senior vice president and head of product development and pricing for life insurance and annuities at Brighthouse Financial, formerly MetLife US Retail. Prior to joining MetLife in 2013, he published The Life Product Review and was an independent consultant to life insurers, distributors, and advisors. He is the third generation of his family to work in the life insurance industry.
Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.
Shares: What AI Knows About Retirement Income
In this episode of our Shares podcast, host Chet Bennetts, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, RICP®, CLF® speaks with Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP® about their shared experience working extensively with AI platforms such as ChatGPT. They’ll revisit key takeaways from The College’s 2023 Retirement Income Literacy Study and how it relates to AI use in financial services, as well as how the emerging science of “prompt engineering” can help.
Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP® is an accomplished retirement income planning expert, assistant professor of retirement income, and Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program director at The American College of Financial Services. As director of The College’s Center for Retirement Income, he is passionate about developing research and innovative solutions that help investors achieve financial security and personal fulfillment – two essential components of overall retirement wellbeing. Ludwig’s over 10 years of experience as CEO and wealth manager at Stockbridge Private Wealth Management bring a practical and dynamic perspective to academia. As a nationally recognized writer and researcher in behavioral finance and retirement planning, Ludwig has presented peer-reviewed research at the American Council of Consumer Interests (ACCI), AFCPE® Symposium, and CFP Board Academic Research Colloquium. He is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Financial Planning.
Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.
Kaylee Ranck and Lindsey Lewis Talk Diversity in Financial Services
In their article, Ranck and Lewis discuss the importance of building an inclusive work environment and the benefits a practice can expect to incur once they have accomplished this goal.
Ranck and Lewis list several key action items, including the process of creating a safe space within your working environment, encouraging open dialogue, and recognizing and promoting diversity within the organization.
Ranck and Lewis believe firms adhering to these methods will not only grow their practices, but also find themselves better equipped to meet the needs of modern clients. Read on to hear more about how firms can grow through inclusivity!
FinServe Ambassador Highlights the Power of Education
Winslow is a managing partner at Nabell Winslow Investments & Wealth Management, a boutique wealth management firm affiliated with IBD Cetera Advisors, LLC, and located in the Wilmington, North Carolina area. But he often talks about his humble beginnings; of growing up on a rural farm and spending a lot of time hanging around the local general store, which served as a community gathering place. That, he says, is where he got his first taste of the importance of financial planning.
“One day, when I was 10 years old, I overheard a conversation about a family losing their farm to estate taxes,” he said. “The conversation was somber, and everyone was dismayed. At the same time, the old black and white TV in the corner was showing the current stock market numbers, and there was a lot of negative comments about how capital markets were a scam. Yet I couldn’t help but notice other families seemed to avoid losing much larger farms after a death in the family. It seemed obvious to me, even at that age, that someone was helping them create a better strategy.”
Winslow says when he got in his father’s old truck after that moment in the store, he talked about how he wanted to be someone who could help people with these sorts of matters: to help them understand money, structure their income and wealth, and to have a meaningful impact on their lives.
“My father thought I was crazy and an idealist,” he said. “But I never changed, and now I’ve been an advisor for nearly 30 years.”
From Emergence to Independence
Winslow’s career in financial services began in 1996, when he was recruited directly off his college campus by a financial services firm; from there, after an extensive training program, he moved from company to company, including stints at General Electric and a large regional bank – but he eventually realized this large-firm model wasn’t for him.
“I had a lot of problems where I felt I had managers who weren’t as skilled or well-informed as me making decisions that weren’t in the best interest of me and my family, and a few other people I knew felt the same,” he said. “My now-business partner and I wanted to be independent and client-focused, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Winslow isn’t afraid to share his insights about the challenges of the RIA model, but he’s also quick to point out the benefits of being independent.
“There’s always a lot more risk in going it alone; we’re the people being held accountable, and if we’re not successful, we have no one to blame but ourselves,” he said. “On the other hand, our clients are now our bosses, so we’re able to focus on doing what’s best for them. It’s refreshing, but I know some advisors struggle with that being all on their shoulders.”
“There’s always a lot more risk in going it alone; we’re the people being held accountable, and if we’re not successful, we have no one to blame but ourselves. On the other hand, our clients are now our bosses, so we’re able to focus on doing what’s best for them.”
Because of the small nature of Nabell Winslow – five advisors and professional staff – Winslow says they didn’t even have to close during the COVID-19 pandemic like many other firms. While many of his peers found themselves running dry for business, the firm never once shut down and in fact saw some of the best years of its existence.
Powerful, Applied Knowledge
All that strength, however, is also owed to the fact that the Nabell Winslow team is highly educated – and Winslow says The College’s programs are in large part responsible for their success.
“My original firm was a big supporter of The College, and the people at the top of the production boards were always the ones with multiple designations,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be like them, so I made education my priority. Living in rural North Carolina, how else was I going to get a world-class education in specialized financial planning knowledge without a distance learning partner? The College was always there for me in that way, and with some of the top thought leaders in the world as part of their curriculum.”
“Living in rural North Carolina, how else was I going to get a world-class education in specialized financial planning knowledge without a distance learning partner? The College was always there for me in that way, and with some of the top thought leaders in the world as part of their curriculum.”
Winslow has earned multiple College designations over the years and says he values the knowledge he’s gained from all of them – but perhaps the most powerful and game-changing for his business has been the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program. In his view, the RICP® is one of the best opportunities advisors in the industry have to serve their clients better.
“A lot of advisors are set on going after the ultra-wealthy or business owners, but when you’re working on retirement planning fundamentals like long-term care, it’s doesn’t matter if someone has a few thousand or a few million to retire on – you’re going to make a difference in their lives,” he said. “The RICP® shows you how to put so many techniques and strategies together and create a process, and with the retirement crisis facing America today, it provides an enormous opportunity.”
“The RICP® shows you how to put so many techniques and strategies together and create a process, and with the retirement crisis facing America today, it provides an enormous opportunity.”
Winslow also says that despite some concern among advisors about the fatigue of “alphabet soup” designations, the education financial professionals receive will help them in one hugely important area: standing out to their clients.
“While some designations may be more recognizable than others, what your clients really want to know is that they’re in good hands and that you’ll be thinking about what’s best for them, their family, and their situation,” he said. “They want to see you’re serious about doing right, having an applied, scientific approach to planning, and maintaining down-to-earth communication. Having designations across multiple areas really rounds you out and makes you more confident so you can provide better outcomes and a better client experience.”
Raising the Bar in Financial Services
As a former president of The College’s alumni council, Winslow remains passionate about the power of The College and its community to transform the industry and society through education. He says much of this is incumbent on individual advisors to seek out greater knowledge and opportunities to contribute to benefitting society.
“We need successful advisors to up their game; we need more mentors, more contributions of time and treasure, and to be constantly building our profession through applied financial science,” he said. “Education improves ethics, and improving ethics improves our standing and perception among consumers. We can build on that trust to increase financial literacy and lift everyone up.”
For these reasons, Winslow says he sees The College as uniquely positioned and prepared to take the lead in accomplishing these goals for the industry. He cites the work of The College’s many thought leaders, its Centers of Excellence, and its academic programs to demonstrate his belief that there is “no ceiling” to what can be achieved. However, he also emphasizes that individual advisors are also responsible for helping to build change.
“The success rates of advisors who join supportive teams and are mentored are much higher than ones who don’t. I went it alone and it was very hard; most people who I started with aren’t in the business anymore,” he said. “We need advisors to take responsibility for what they create – when you start getting up in years, you should take the opportunity to have a succession plan to ensure your business continues, for the sake of your clients and employees.”
Finally, Winslow accented a point that’s at the heart of The College’s mission with the FinServe Network and its NextGen Advisory Task Force: the power of young people.
“Lots of people I know in the industry tell me investing in young people is expensive,” he said. “That may be true, but in my experience the effort is well worth the reward.”
Daralee Barbera on Succession Planning for 2024 and Beyond
In her article, Barbera, the program director of The College’s Master of Science in Management (MSM) Program, analyzes what planning for practice succession looks like in 2024, key factors that need to be considered, and how these decisions can affect a practice’s relationship with its clients.
Barbera points out the importance of a strong succession plan, noting that clients will appreciate a firm’s preparedness for the future. She also suggests firms may want to consider female clients and advisors as they plan for their futures, citing the importance of having leadership that understands diverse clients and their future goals.
Read on to learn more about how Barbera believes women can play an instrumental role as many practices pave the way for future success!
Lindsey Lewis Discusses AI in Financial Services
In the article, Lewis, who is chair of the American College Center for Women in Financial Services, discusses the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and how certain tools that leverage AI can be used by financial advisors to promote efficiency and enhance overall client experience.
Lewis also shares several specific examples of AI tools advisors can use to create video content in 2023 and beyond, as well as use cases for each tool, and benefits advisors can reap by using these programs.
Read on to learn more about this topic as Lewis educates readers with several effective tips and tricks for using AI in their workplace.
Shares: All Aboard!
Our host Alanah Phillips, MBA, co-chair of The College’s Next Gen Advisory Task Force, sits down with Libby Greiwe, ChFC®, RICP®, FIC® of The Efficient Advisor for a conversation on how to onboard new clients and introduce professionals to the financial services industry, as well as how sound practice-building steps can reduce stress, lead to better business outcomes, and ultimately benefit advisors and clients alike in this episode of the Shares podcast.
Libby Greiwe, ChFC®, RICP®, FIC® is the founder of The Efficient Advisor, LLC and the host of The Efficient Advisor Podcast as well as a speaker, advisor coach, and financial professional. Her podcast helps financial advisors and planners create systems and processes so they can work less, feel less overwhelmed, and build a business and life that they love. She prides herself on providing step-by-step guides, templates, and tools advisors can customize for themselves and help them make the next right decisions to level up their practice. She previously worked as a financial advisor and principal for 15 years at Thrivent Financial and is a graduate of Miami University.
Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.
FinServe Ambassador Champions the Power of Next-Gen Disruption
As a member of The College’s FinServe Network, co-chair of its Next Gen Advisory Task Force, and host of The College’s former podcast program for next-gen professionals, NextGen in 10, Phillips has been a highly visible and active advocate for The College’s power to change the profession – as well as its responsibilities to nurture and empower the next generation of financial services leaders and innovators.
Breaking Into a Brand-New Field
In her younger years, Phillips confesses she had no idea she’d end up in the financial services industry.
“For a long time, I thought I was going to be a retail store manager or some kind of human resources professional: working in Starbucks HR or running a Target store was the height of my ambition,” she said. “I only ended up jumping into financial services because some changes in my personal life meant I needed a more stable schedule and because managing people and working in retail can be crazy.”
Initially, Phillips was hired as a recruiter for a large financial services company, a position she saw herself as well suited for. But there was an obstacle in her continued lack of knowledge about the industry she found herself in – so she decided to ask for help.
“The first time anyone at the company mentioned annuities, stock, or bonds, I had no idea what they were talking about, but I wanted to learn,” she said. “I started by interviewing the advisors I worked with to get the basics and learn the ropes. A few of them even let me sit in on their client meetings.”
Eventually, Phillips earned several financial services licenses, and her knowledge was further broadened by her professional advancement, moving from recruitment to training and development for new professionals and assisting in buying up new practices to fit them into. While the industry sometimes gets a bad rap for its competitiveness, she says she was highly fortunate in those early years that her coworkers were so open and willing to support her.
“My managers let me experiment early on; they encouraged me to get into things like website development and to get exposure to working with different types of teams at different levels,” she said. “We had some good years together, but eventually my goals and beliefs were no longer aligned with the company; I wanted to be more of an advocate for advisors. That’s when I decided I wanted to go out on my own.”
The Power of Next-Gen Professionals
After over seven years at a major firm, going it alone was intimidating – but Phillips says she was committed to her mission to expanding the opportunities of young professionals in financial services and showing them the possibilities at their fingertips. This led to her to her current role as an educator, recruiter, and guide in helping advisors seeking new options to “break up” with their broker-dealer, as well as getting involved with student and young professional groups. The more she saw from the next-gen individuals she worked with, the more impressed she was.
“A lot of people complain about the laziness and entitlement of the younger generation, but the ones I’ve met are ambitious, intelligent, educated, and know what they want,” she said. “They’re so far ahead in a lot of ways, but they often don’t know how to communicate what they’re looking for appropriately in a professional setting or navigate complex power dynamics. They believe in setting boundaries and working smarter, not harder – the challenge for them is getting their managers and organizations to buy into that worldview.”
In fact, Phillips says, next-gen professionals – especially women and those from diverse communities – represent the future of the financial services industry with their fresh perspectives, creative energy, and innovative ideas.
“There’s so much data now on how diverse teams perform better, especially teams with people of different genders on them,” she said. “If you’re a manager in the business, the idea that you still have to have a business case to justify hiring more women, for example, is absurd. Financial professionals are all about returns on investment, and having young and diverse perspectives is the key to securing them.”
In her work with other next-gen members of the industry, Phillips was introduced to The College by a former faculty member and saw the potential in its message and mission. She joined an early incarnation of its Next Gen Advisory Task Force and took on a growing leadership and advocacy role over the ensuing years, culminating in a reimagining and relaunch of the initiative under the leadership of herself and Lindsey Lewis, MBA, CFP®, ChFC® of The College’s Center for Women in Financial Services. The two continue to collaborate on many projects, including co-hosting representation-themed episodes of The College’s Shares podcast. She says in the future, she hopes to pursue a College education program such as the CFP® Certification Education Program to enhance her knowledge of financial planning further.
“These days, I tend to gravitate toward people and places that align with what I believe, and I believe very strongly in The College’s efforts to empower next-gen professionals,” she said. “Events like the Conference of African American Financial Professionals (CAAFP) and groups like the Center for Women in Financial Services do an amazing job of spreading The College’s message and I love watching them grow.”
Overcoming Barriers to Entry
While the financial services industry has made much progress, Phillips says there are still many challenges to overcome in incorporating more diverse perspectives and people into the profession. Her favorite analogy compares the industry to a piano – an instrument originally created specifically for men’s hands.
“Since men have larger hands than women, any woman who wanted to be a concert pianist would have to either have bigger hands or be willing to injure herself in pursuit of her goal,” she said. “In financial services, all the systems and structures were built around older, whiter men because for a long time that’s who had the money. Mentalities may have shifted over time and women have much more power today, but the piano still hasn’t changed, and neither has financial services. Until we rethink these basic structures and attitudes, we’ll continue to have trouble with female representation in the industry.”
Phillips says the financial services industry needs to try something different – and she sees a lot of potential in the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and independent space, where she gets most of her clients. With the advent of new technologies like social media and artificial intelligence (AI), she’s seen many next-gen advisors adopt them to great success.
“We need to amplify their voices so the industry establishment knows these things work,” she said.
As for next-gen professionals themselves and those new to the industry, Phillips says the key to success in the business today is threefold. Advisors need to have an ideal audience for their services in mind and know what they may need help with, whether it be child care and saving for college, starting or exiting a business, insurance coverage, or another niche they can specialize in. Additionally, transparency is of paramount importance as financial professionals need to be as open and honest with their clients and with prospects as possible. Perhaps the most important piece, however, is for advisors to be authentically themselves.
“Some of the stuff I share on social media is goofy, and while some people may choose not to work with me because they think I’m silly, I probably wouldn’t match up well with them anyway,” she said. “By being yourself, you may repel some people, but the ones you’ll attract and keep will form a much higher-quality community and better relationships.”
Phillips says she often encourages professionals to share their personal opinions on social media as part of this strategy.
“Having a strong opinion in public about something can be scary, but fence-sitting is boring and your ideal clients aren’t looking for that,” she said. “You can’t differentiate yourself without opinions, and it makes you stand out from the canned content a lot of other people put out there.”
In all, Phillips says she relishes her role as a champion of disruption in the industry whether it be through a greater role for women, RIAs, next-gen professionals, or other means.
“We need to rethink why we’re doing things the way we are and ask ourselves why we do them,” she said. “If you don’t have an answer or you think there’s a better way, experiment. The best time for growth and evolution is when someone decides to shake up the status quo.”
FinServe Ambassador Champions the Power of Independent Advisors
Along with his wife (Kennah) and two other partners (Warren and Jennifer), Parham runs Innovative Wealth Building (IWB), an RIA firm headquartered in California, MD, but with a reach that spreads across the country. It’s a successful business that operates alongside many of the giants in the financial services industry – a fact that always pushes RIAs to continually seek new ways to grow and scale. The journey between these two worlds is one that Parham himself has navigated.
“When I went to college, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up,” he says. “I was lucky enough to land an internship at Northwestern Mutual when I was 20 and as those summer days just flew by, I realized this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
After his experience with a large national firm like Northwestern, Parham’s professional career started out a bit smaller as a financial advisor for First Command, a boutique firm mostly serving the military community. He was eventually promoted to district manager and associate director of training, helping to welcome many other new advisors to the field, before deciding to take a leap over to Prudential, one of the largest firms in the industry.
“Working at Prudential really opened my eyes to what was out there,” he says. “At my previous company, I hadn’t gotten much of a chance to experience life outside of the fishbowl. During my time at Prudential, I learned a lot more about the industry and the vastness of the opportunities that I wasn’t even aware of. I also began engaging in more complex planning with high-net-worth clients, something I’d never gotten to do before, and I wanted more of that.”
Independence in Practice
Once his contract with Prudential was up, Parham decided to make another leap: from the corporate world to the field of independent advising. This was the genesis of IWB.
“After almost 10 years in the industry, I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like, and I knew that I could use those ideas combined with my strengths to build a financial planning utopia for my clients,” he says.
“When you’re independent, you can do what you think and know is best for your clients. Instead of having to keep your opinions to yourself and toe the company line, you’re free to chart your own path.”
The transition to independence, as Parham describes it, broke down into three core promises to the clients he worked with: better investment services, better technology, and lower fees. The first two sprung from his newfound freedom as an independent advisor to make the decisions he felt were right for himself and those he served, and the last was made possible by the lack of overhead that larger companies have to factor into their service models. While the process of building the new firm was a multi-year endeavor, he says he noticed the difference right away – as did many of his clients.
“The first sign that we were moving in a good direction was that by the time we had finished transitioning all our clients over to IWB, many of them were already recommending us to other people,” he says. “When we first started, we didn’t even have a website. Now, we get requests through it for new client introductions multiple times a week.”
However, Parham also isn’t shy about the challenges that independence brings – including a massive amount of decision-making that can sometimes be overwhelming.
“When you’re independent, you don’t have a parent company to fall back on. If things aren’t excellent, nobody’s on the hook for that but you,” he says. “It’s a big world with a lot of choices, and if you’re not careful, you can fall victim to decision fatigue. It’s like birthday shopping for a significant other: there are so many options out there, but how do you decide on the best one?”
The Armor of Knowledge
In the midst of all these choices, however, Parham says one thing has helped keep him on course: the education he received from The American College of Financial Services.
“Being an RIA instead of working for a broker-dealer is like swimming in the ocean as opposed to a pool. It can be lonely, and there may even be sharks in the water. Working with The College has shown me there are lots of people out there just like me, and has allowed me to collaborate with others in ways that have proved to be mutually beneficial for all parties.”
Parham says that he was initially self-taught when joining the industry, but began his learning journey with The College through its CFP® Certification Education Program to earn the coveted industry-standard mark. From there, he took advantage of The College’s interconnected programming to branch out to the Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) and Wealth Management Certified Professional® (WMCP®) designations.
“The College’s education has been like body armor for me,” he says. “The WMCP® especially gave me the knowledge and confidence to work with more up-market clients and higher-net-worth individuals I’d never spoken with before, and I’ll absolutely be a lifelong learner.”
One of Parham’s more recent acquisitions is the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation, which he says has helped him focus on the critical needs of clients at or nearing retirement, including Society Security claiming, long-term care and longevity risk, asset management, and wealth transfer. However, it’s also given the tools to approach another pool of clients as well–those who may be young, but are already looking to set themselves up for the future.
“A portion of my clients are from the West Coast and the Los Angeles area–people in their 20s and 30s who may be high earners but not rich yet–and many of them don’t know that small steps today can reap big benefits for tomorrow,” he says. “Almost everyone wants to retire, and even people who don’t think they’ll be able to will usually jump at the chance if you show them it’s possible and what to do about it. The difference between having a $900,000 nest egg and having maybe more than $3 million in the bank can sometimes be as simple as a few small adjustments–and that’s the knowledge the RICP® has given me.”
Maintaining RIA Excellence in a Changing World
Building and running an independent practice is a lot of hard work, Parham admits–but when asked if he ever second-guesses his decision, his answer is a definitive no.
“Going RIA has led to an almost unbelievable improvement in my career and in my life,” he says. “If you do it right and prepare for it properly, you’re going to wonder how you lived without it. People ask me if the grass is greener on this side of the fence, and I sometimes tell them that if you go RIA, you might realize you didn’t even have any grass on the other side to begin with.”
Parham compares the business of running an independent practice with the idea of owning a home as opposed to renting one: when renting, you might not have to be as focused on all the things to do, but owning comes with a greater sense of pride along with the responsibility. He does acknowledge, though, that further change and evolution is needed both in the profession and in society.
“The RIA space is probably less diverse than the broker-dealer world, and our industry as a whole isn’t as diverse as many others,” he says. “When you look at the wealth distribution in America and the types of people who generally hold the wealth, you get a sense of why that might be, but it’s not just that; many aspects of the industry just aren’t meant to cater to certain populations who may want to get into it.”
Parham cites paid family leave as one such policy, as many companies in the financial services industry still may not offer it to their employees–especially working mothers.
“We’ve made some progress, but overall financial advising as a profession isn’t set up to accommodate many people’s lives and circumstances. As a result, the financial services industry tends to have a very high rate of attrition. We need to rewrite the rules, and that’s where the RIA space comes in. Here, I can be more flexible and do things that I believe are the best practices to attract and retain diverse talent. I can really be a part of the change.”