...For Advisors

Episode 31: Raoul Rodriguez on an Expats Niche

“. . . the United States charges income taxes on its citizens and residents on a worldwide basis, regardless of where they live. And that is just not the way that most of the world taxes its citizens. And so you could have an American that moves abroad, and they might have to now pay income tax in their new home country and report worldwide income. But at the same time then, they also have to report worldwide income back to the United States. And so this marriage of the tax systems can make for very, very complex planning issues that have to be addressed.”

If you’ve had clients ask you “What do I have to do to chuck it all and move somewhere exotic or tropical?” this is the podcast for you! Raoul Rodriguez is one of the world’s foremost experts on cross-border financial planning, especially regarding Mexico and Latin America, working in the US today, and he’ll share some of the more quixotic and controversial cross-border planning challenges in this information-packed half hour. If Fall has got your clients thinking about the coming Winter, and want to pull the pin and fly south, you can’t miss this episode!

Raoul Rodriguez CFP®, a financial advisor and head of Pinnacle Advisory Group’s Miami office, has worked as a Wealth Manager for over 20 years, including 18 years at his own firm, Mexico Advisor. He joined Pinnacle Advisory Group in 2016, bringing with him a significant experience in planning and investment management along with expertise in the complex issues of cross-border financial planning. In addition to being a CFP®, he obtained a master's degree in financial planning. Born in Mexico City and having grown up in a bilingual and bicultural household, Raoul has traveled extensively and has lived in as an expatriate in countries as varied as Venezuela, Sudan, and the Republic of Georgia.

Episode 30: Jeff Waters on Human Capital

“And one day I was sitting at that table and the light bulb went on and I just said, you know, guys in the money business don't take care of their own money. It's the cobbler's children without shoes. And I found that as I finally just had the time to pick up the pile of papers… And I just sat there one day and the phrase that came into my head was feeling out of control about money. People in the money business don't take care of their own money. They feel out of control about money. Not that they don't have enough money, because especially that period in the late '90s and early '00s people on the street were really making a lot of money, but they knew they weren't taking care of things.”

Jeff Waters had several epiphanies that lead him to the niche practice of serving HNW and High earning Wall Street pros with a very specialized planning and investing challenge that was part and parcel of their professional lives – and dubbed it Human Capital. Don’t miss this informative and engaging half hour with one of the most specialized practices we’ve featured here on …For Advisors.

Jeff Waters founded OFC Financial Wealth Management in 2005 with the idea that busy professionals don't have time to keep track of their finances in an ever-changing financial landscape. Jeff's entire career has been in the financial services industry. And during his 17 years on Wall Street, he covered some of the top institutional investors as a research salesman at Solomon Brothers. He also managed day-to-day operations of the number one ranked equity research department.

Jeff has a BA in economics from Yale and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Jeff is chairman of the board of Let's Get Ready, a groundbreaking nonprofit organization that expands college access for low-income high school students. And he's a co-founder and board chairman of the United States Wrestling Foundation to raise funds and advanced interest of the sport. Jeff is a sought-after speaker who regularly teaches a broad range of personal finance topics to employees of major corporations, nonprofits, and governmental entities.

 

Episode 29: Bernie Kiely on Press Attention

“...skill that I just picked up was every time I would read an article about consumer finance or taxes or financial planning, I would write a snail mail letter to the author. "Dear John, I read your article. I thought you did a great job. It was a real public service. This is another way you can look at the topic or here's how I explain it to my clients." And I tell people no matter how bad the article was, you never say that you want them to love you, not to hate you. And eventually, when younger reporters get an assignment from their editor, the first thing they do is pick up the phone and call me.”

If you’re seeking growth for your practice, few things can spur some incoming calls like a positive review or mention in a newspaper or magazine article, or a guest spot on a talk show. Guest Bernie Kiely shows you that not only can you offer a wider range of skills and services, like accounting or business analysis, but you can reap some press attention for your firm with just a few simple techniques, and then put your presentation and teaching skills to use to help others, widening your referral base and building the practice even faster. This is a high-speed half-hour of nonstop insight from one of the top gurus at NAPFA and in the CPA world. Don’t miss this informative episode!

Bernie Kiely is a NAPFA registered advisor and principal of Kiely Capital Management, Inc., an RIA. He's also owner of Bernard Kiely, CPA, an accounting firm, where he specializes in individual taxation.

Bernie has been providing Fee-Only financial planning, investment advisory, and income tax services for individuals for over 30 years. He was recognized by "Worth Magazine" as one of the best financial advisors in the nation four times in a row. He was profiled in the December, 2000 issue of "Investment Advisor Magazine". "Accounting Today Magazine" has listed him twice as one of the CPAs to know in financial planning. And Bernie is three times listed as a five-star wealth manager in "New Jersey Monthly" Magazine. He's a former board member, the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region, and a member of the education committee for NAPFA National.

Bernie has been quoted in or written articles for "Money Magazine," "Investment Advisor Magazine," "New Jersey Law Journal," "Financial Planning Magazine," The Newark Star-Ledger, "The New York Times," "The Wall Street Journal," "Accounting Today. The Morris County Record, as well as "The Bergen Record" and "Worth Magazine." In September of 2006, Bernie was a guest on Maria Bartiromo's TV show, "Wall Street Journal Report."

Episode 28: Marci Bair On A Unique Approach To A Niche

“… we're still, I would say like a generalist when it comes to financial planning, because we see clients in all phases of their lives and stages and create a comprehensive financial plan for them. Where we specialize in is like the niche of who we work with as well as some of our investment philosophies, which we'll get into later about the sustainable, responsible or ESG investing.”

 

Sometimes, one niche isn’t really narrow enough to drive the kind of growth that true specialization can, so our guest in this episode chose two, both who she works with, and what she offers them, in the fascinating episode about not only selecting your client base by who you are and who you can help best, but also by how you invest their funds, as Marci Bair shows us how she serves the LBGT community ably, and does the planet some good as well with ESG portfolios available for clients across the board.

 

Marci Bair CFP®, president and founder of Bair Financial Planning and vice president with the Wealth Consulting Group is a native of San Diego and a certified financial planner. With over 28 years of experience, working with the LGBT executives, female CEOs and attorneys, as well as successful business owners to help them work towards their goals and pursue what's important to them. Marci often called upon to speak to corporations and associations on a variety of financial and retirement planning subjects. She's also well-respected in the San Diego community and has been recognized by many organizations throughout the years for her community involvement in business success.

 

Marci is a CFP® and holds securities registrations series 6, 7, 22 and 63. And those registrations are held through LPL financial and health life and disability insurance licenses.

Episode 27: Carl Noble on 5 Things Your Advisor Won't Tell You About Investing

“Market conditions can change quite abruptly, and correlations under those circumstances don’t always work – recently they were both going the same direction – straight down!”

 

Pinnacle Advisory’s Senior Investment Analyst Carl Noble will walk retail investors through five major potential stumbling blocks of investing in today’s volatile and uncertain markets. Learn how to speak with clients about these key areas of their financial plan:

 

You’ll learn how to handle questions from clients about:

• When is diversification not necessarily the best strategy
• When to Turn off The Media Circus on TV
• How to find the investment information the pros use
• When to decide you’re smarter than your fund manager
• When it’s time to call in the pros to manage your wealth

Don’t miss this informative half-hour episode with a top expert.

 

Carl Noble is a Chartered Financial Analyst® who joined Pinnacle in 2001 after graduating with honors with a B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Maryland. In his role as Senior Investment Analyst, he helped develop Pinnacle’s Tactical Asset Allocation investment strategy from its beginnings in 2002, and remains actively involved in its ongoing operations. During his tenure Pinnacle has successfully weathered three significant corrections, including the recovery from the 2000 Tech Bubble, the Financial Crisis of 2008, and more recently, smaller recessive corrections within a 10-year bull market.

 

Episode 26: Enough! I'm Ready To Go

As an advisor, you’ve lived through several of the last economic downturns, weathered the storms, calmed clients, followed regulations, and taken care of others for years. Maybe it’s time to finally retire and take it easy . . . but how do you maximize the value of your practice in order to move on to the next phase? Pinnacle has a way, and if that’s your plan, the best advice is to get started NOW.

You know better than to try and sell from the bottom, but what steps do you need to take if you’ve reached a certain age, achieved your personal and financial goals, and want to shift gears into the next phase of your life? The process takes time, and there’s some work to do to prepare your firm for the transition.

CEO John Hill will take you through the decision at its core, see if it’s the right one your for you right now, and help you work through the preparatory steps to position your firm for maximum return and minimum stress.

Episode 25: Next Steps for Needy Clients

While bear markets can be a lot of work, they also create the best opportunities to grow.  Some clients will leave their advisors due to poor communication or poor performance, and do-it-yourselfers will realize they need help.  Now may be the best time to consider right-sizing your client list.  In other words, letting go of your most difficult clients and replacing them with new, less stressful clients that appreciate your efforts. 

What’s the best approach to starting a “right-sizing” program?

Pinnacle CEO John Hill will walk you through a series of questions and answers to ask regarding your work strategy, your client acquisition approach, your retention needs and how to evaluate your own per-client profitability.

Episode 24: Secrets to Calming Nervous Clients

Right now we are all facing challenges both professionally and personally.  Clearly we are concerned for our clients and helping them navigate the crisis, but we are also personally impacted by the stress of serving clients and the reality of declining revenues and our own portfolio values.

Pinnacle Advisor Services is here to help you, the Independent RIA, to not only get through the current situation in good shape, but to set you up to thrive after the peak of the crisis has passed.

This episode addresses the most pressing concern we’ve heard from advisors – how do you kindly handle nervous clients, some of whom are keen to bail out entirely and take all their investments off the table and go to all cash.

John Hill, CEO of Pinnacle, will share some of his most impactful insights about working closely with nervous and uncertain clients and maintaining your client base.

You’ll learn:

• How to relate to clients as if you were a therapist, share their concerns and reassure them confidently
• How to read the data to show that their plans were built to bake this in, that the Monte Carlo strategy accounts for this, and that it sets them up for the coming growth curve
• How to show clients that markets have been overpriced, and that staying in is smarter than dropping out
• How to use cash set-asides to keep clients invested
• How to create a plan to help client reinvest cash more quickly later

Don’t miss this informative half hour of straightforward strategy and insight that could change the way you approach your clients for the foreseeable future.

Episode 23: What's Next In The Markets?

As an advisor, you know how important it is to have a solid financial plan, and that clients spend time and energy working with you on crafting a plan that will help them achieve results – but when the storms come, the focus shifts like lightning to those investment strategies and their subsequent results, and suddenly clients are super interested in their portfolios.

Be prepared for those often complex and difficult questions from clients, by tuning in to this hyper-focused half hour program. Pinnacle has a whole department full of highly skilled, certified analysts, researchers and traders whose job it is to dig deep into the markets and help you navigate a way through this crisis.

Now, on this program we’ll pull back the curtain on what we’re thinking, how we got here, and what’s ahead for equities and fixed income investments, and how do you explain it all to clients interested in preserving what they’ve saved? Join Founding partner and CIO Ken Solow as he offers insights into the workings of the modern markets and how these changes will affect your client’s financial future.

This is a rare opportunity to hear from the experts who are also standing in your shoes with regard to informing and handling clients. Pinnacle has been through this level of volatility before, and have answers you may not have considered.

Episode 22: From the Mailbag

Bill from Connecticut writes:  “Love your show. Particularly, I could listen to your guest Dave Grant all day long, he was really entertaining. I’d like to start a content marketing campaign like his, but I’m really not a good writer – is there a source of material  I could use to get started until I can polish up my skills?”

Advisors are busy people, in general, but these listeners took time to write and ask “For Advisors” questions about our guests and the topics we covered. In this informative episode we feature your questions and our answers to these timely and topical subjects we’ve covered on the show in the past year. Sit back and let us do the work for a change in this very special quarantine episode!

David Poulos joined Pinnacle as the Director of Marketing in 2018. He is responsible for developing strategies that drive growth and create media and industry awareness through the effective use of events, print, direct mail, radio, video, Internet, social media, and e-mail.

Dave has over thirty years of marketing experience, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing Communications from Northeastern University. Through his consulting firm, he served as a marketing and branding consultant to a host of clients, including American Airlines, Coca Cola, and MasterCard. He is also the author of the award-winning book, The Marketing Doctor’s Survival Notes, and has published over 30 articles on a variety of marketing topics in nationally-published news magazines and websites.