1. Redtail CRM: Latest Version Of Popular CRM For Advisors Fixes Many Useability Problems
(Matching tags: technology,cloud,managing,practice management,productivity,CRM)

With 43,000 users in 9,000 offices, Redtail Technology is one of the most widely used CRMs targeted to financial advisors. It’s latest update includes a long list of improvements that make the product ...

2. From Roshomon to Rosebud: I'll Tell You My Story About Building A $500 Million AUM RIA; Please Tell Us Your Story
(Matching tags: ensemble firm,business strategy,Advisor businesses,management,RIAs,investment advisors,asset management,managing,business planning,advisor industry people)

I'm happy to be writing for Advisor4Advisors. This maiden entry details the intent of the blog, which aims to provide shared experiences to a community of like-minded advisors who can benefit from our ...

3. For Advisors, Business Success Requires Recognizing An Opportunity, Seizing The Moment, And Taking A Risk; An Introduction Of Lisa Gray To A4A Readers
(Matching tags: leadership,Wealth Management,RIAs,managing,family offices,practice management,business owners,advisor industry people)

At dinner last night here at the FPA Business Solutions in San Francisco, an advisor who manages a successful practice told a story about how he came to buy his practice from its former owner. It’s ...

4. Loving What You Do, How You Do It, Who You Do It For: A Way For Financial Advisors To Achieve Real Success
(Matching tags: leadership,managing,productivity,business planning)

Inspiration often comes from the strangest places. As I sat at my computer and tried to come up with a topic for today’s post, I noticed Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It? ...

5. RIAs Are More Optimistic And Less Worried About Reducing Operating Expenses
(Matching tags: custodians,RIAs,investment advisors,managing,niche management,practice management,business planning)

RIAs are more optimistic, less concerned with technology, and less focused on returning operating expenses, according to a results of survey of 350 RIAs.   The survey, which was sponsored by ...

6. Monitored An Employee Phone Call With An Advisor This Morning And Felt Compelled To Interrupt: VOIP For RIA Owners And OSJs
(Matching tags: leadership,client satisfaction,VOIP,phones,managing,client communications,business owners)

My company’s VOIP phone system gives me the ability to monitor employee calls without their knowledge. I was monitoring a sales call with a financial advisor this morning, when I felt compelled to ...

7. What Do You Want To Be In 2012? A Business Or A Practice? How To Create A Successful And Enduring Investment Advisory Business
(Matching tags: valuation,strategic planning,RIAs,managing,profitability,CRM,business planning)

You can’t build an investment advisory business unless you define your firm’s processes and embed them in CRM software shared by a team. So the first thing you need to do right now is to decide ...

8. Focus Financial Partners In Acquisition Deal With Wirehouse Team That Broke Away Just Last Year
(Matching tags: exit planning,managing)

Sapient Private Wealth Management, an independent, fee-based Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), is being acquired by Focus Financial Partners. Sapient, which manages more than $500 ...

9. Using Facebook For Staffing
(Matching tags: Social Media,managing,staff)

Though LinkedIn is more popular with advisors now, Facebook is in the long run going to also be a valuable network for connecting to professionals. Five tips on how employers can use Facebook to find new ...

10. Survey Shows The Most Successful Advisory Firms Are Investing In Talent
(Matching tags: enterprise value,financial advisor,infrastructure,managing,practice management,staff)

Firms that focus on "human capital" typically generate almost twice the revenue and pay their owners 58% more than their peers, a new industry survey reveals.

11. Treasure Trove Of RIA Benchmarks Released This Morning By Schwab; RIAs More Productive In 2010 And Profit Margins Improved
(Matching tags: client loyalty,client satisfaction,investment advisors,KPI,managing,practice management,Schwab)

RIAs are drawing less revenue per client but increased efficiency is enabling overall sales to grow. Those are the results of a survey by Schwab Advisors Services of 820 RIAs. Total sales are up strongly ...

12. Former Morgan Philadelphia Boss Subject Of FINRA Probe
(Matching tags: Morgan Stanley,managing)

The mystery of why Morgan Stanley suddenly parted ways with its newly anointed Philadelphia complex chief awhile back now has a few more clues on the table.

13. W.T.F. It's All About Accountability
(Matching tags: managing)

A friend of mine knows that I am writing a new book on weight control. In fact, he is creating the cover. He sent me an article titled, "MSG, a Slow Poison" which is about MSG causing obesity ...

14. 5 Social Media Recruiting Tools For Small Business
(Matching tags: recruiting,Social Media,staff,managing)

Tools and apps that can address the labor-intensive process of finding and hiring great people.

15. Geier Financial Group: A Profile Of An Advisor Products Client That Seems Poised For Success
(Matching tags: asset management,marketing,managing,family offices,niche management,practice management,niches,advisor industry people)

I look at all the new websites my company, Advisor Products, builds. Geier Financial Group’s site intrigued me. So I called Tom Geier. I don't make a habit of writing about clients, but this firm ...

16. No More Exceptions!
(Matching tags: asset management,portfolio construction,managing,standardization,productivity)

An advisor can be as organized and as streamlined as possible, but if every client is an exception, all efficiency is lost.

17. About A4A's Chat App And How We Can Use It In The Next Market Meltdown
(Matching tags: advisor technology,volatility,managing,practice management,business planning,world economy,investor behavior,Social Media)

With the A4A digital community growing, it might be helpful to explain our chat app, which you may have noticed in the lower right hand corner of the home page.

18. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Many Advisors Probably Are Not
(Matching tags: portfolio construction,marketing,managing,niche management,profitability,Offbeat,business planning)

I spent about three hours yesterday learning an application for doing research on the Web. It made me realize that entrepreneurs must have an attention span.

19. Conducting Real Due Diligence In Choosing Investment Managers: Part 5
(Matching tags: managing)

Regulators have proposed ending the fiduciary exclusion for advisors who select investment managers. This is the last of five posts on conducting real due diligence in choosing investment managers, which ...

20. Conducting Real Due Diligence In Choosing Investment Managers: Part 4
(Matching tags: managing)

Regulators have proposed ending the fiduciary exclusion for advisors who select investment managers. This is the fourth of five posts on conducting real due diligence in choosing investment managers, which ...