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1. Prospecting Is Dead
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when your referrals have slowed down and you need new clients? Most likely, a voice enters your mind from your old mentor that said to you: “If you need new clients, get out there, ‘shake the trees’, and start prospecting!”. — Ari Galper
2. Why Is Home Ownership Unattainable for So Many Young Americans?
Following the pandemic, median home prices surged by double digits until peaking at the end of 2022. While prices are down roughly 12% since then, home affordability still sits at multi-decade lows. With home prices at nearly six times the median household income, the dream of homeownership is increasingly out of reach. Many are wondering why. — Jack Manley and Sahil Gauba
3. Is Buffett’s Cash Hoard a Market Warning?
Every year, investors anxiously await the release of Warren Buffett’s annual letter to see what the “Oracle of Omaha” says about the markets, the economy, and where he is placing his money. — Lance Roberts
4. A New Approach to Indian Equities
India-focused ETFs had inflows of $6.7 billion over the last 12 months. To put those flows into context, China-focused ETFs had net outflows of $2.6 billion over this same period. One of the many reasons for this divergence in flows has to do with India’s superior economic growth and stock market performance. — Alejandro Saltiel
5. Tech Is Democratizing Advisories: Benefiting Clients, Society and Firms
Technology is revolutionizing the financial advisory industry, democratizing access to services that were once exclusive to wealthy individuals and institutions. By leveraging advances in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, and digital platforms, financial advisories are becoming more accessible, affordable, and personalized for a broader audience. This democratization is transforming the way we help clients manage their finances, invest, and plan for their futures. — Beverley Yeomans
6. Net Zero and the Law of Horse Manure
Catastrophic predictions that spell dark days for humanity are nothing new. The Times predicted in 1894 that in 50 years time, every street in London would be buried under nine feet of horse manure. It was the crisis of all crises. There was, to be fair, some evidence for this. As urban populations rapidly increased and cities grew, the demand for transportation also soared. Horses were the primary means of transportation in cities, pulling carriages, cabs and carts. The sheer number of horses led to a significant and growing issue – the accumulation of horse manure in the streets. — Paul Taylor
7. Bad Referrals? Almost an Oxymoron
Oxymoron: An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two contradictory or opposite terms. It is a phrase that contains words that seem to negate or contradict each other, creating a paradoxical expression. Quick Answer: Bad referrals are a product of (a) lack of a system and (b) lack of proactive referral marketing. — Mike Garrison
8. Build More Efficient Portfolios With Growth in Up, Down and Flat Markets
The 60/40 portfolio has been a classic investing approach since the 1950s. The basic idea was to diversify across assets that weren't correlated. It has long been a simple and effective solution. In 2022 we saw the 60/40 strategy hit a pretty significant speed bump. With $36 trillion lost across key global bond and equity indexes, the traditional 60/40 portfolio experienced one of its worst years on record. What shocked investors — and called into question the dependability of this time-tested strategy — was the fact that stocks and bonds fell in unison. — David Wood
9. Expanding Your Prospect List: 3 Effective Strategies
Early in my career, I realized that to succeed you had to master lead generation and that requires that you are consistently growing your prospect list with new qualified affluent prospects who you want to become your clients. When done correctly, the results are a game changer in your business and life. In a survey of over 5,000 financial advisors and money coaches, the number one challenge was lack of leads. As the saying goes, the graveyard of failed advisors is filled with technical geniuses who failed in their lead generation efforts. — Annette Bau
10. How Artificial Intelligence Can Overhaul Client Profiling for Wealth Managers
For the financial services sector, when it comes to marketing and attracting new clients, a scattergun approach is likely to do more harm than good. If a bank or building society decided to commit the cardinal sin of lumping all their customers into one category, including all ages, backgrounds, ambitions, and lifestyles, and send them all the same marketing email offering the opportunity to sign up to the same product, the chances are that the response rate will be low. Moreover, the conversion rate will be even lower. — Rami Cassis
11. Stand Out or Fade Away: Making Yourself Unique
In today’s hyper-competitive world, blending in is a recipe for obscurity. Whether you’re in business, an artist, or an individual, the mantra “BE DiFFERENT or be dead” rings truer than ever before. Here’s why embracing and leveraging your uniqueness is not just a choice but a necessity if you want to win in today’s world ... — Roy Osing