As part of our 2015 IMPACT series, we got to spend a few minutes with Bernie Clark , head of Schwab Advisor Services and a member of Charles Schwab’s Executive Committee. This year IMPACT celebrates its 25th year in Boston from November 10th through the 13th. For more information, follow @Schwab4RIAS or #SchwabIMPACT, or visit impact.schwab.com . Enjoy.
Q.How has the advisor evolved in the past 20 years — “Practices are now “Firms”?Firms have evolved, for sure. What used to be considered a cottage industry, is now a growing, sophisticated profession. Advisors have taken their work from professionally managed offices with great teams to full-blown enterprises with incredible momentum.Firms are incredibly strategic today. They’re creating visions and are focused on delivering the client experience of the future, and not just by investing in new technologies and infrastructure, but by recruiting and developing top talent. Most importantly, their clients are still the heart of their businesses – and always will be.
Q.What does their evolution mean for their clients? How does a more professional firm benefit the end client?Clients of independent firms today probably have easier access to their information; they may see more sophisticated reports and experience similar benefits that come along with maturing industry. But the advisors themselves – what they do, and how they go about it - that hasn’t changed.The relationships the advisors have established are the heart of their business model, and I don’t see that changing. Advisors place the interests of their clients first – just like they always have. In turn, clients trust their advisors with their most important assets – their life’s savings and the financial well-being of their families.The evolution that has taken place actually makes it possible for advisors to serve an even bigger role in doing work that matters in the lives of their clients. Values-based practices are what made this industry a success, and that is timeless.
Q.You and your competitors offer Advisor Firms so much in terms of Business Consulting, Succession Planning, Leadership Development and so much more. What seems left out from this current narrative is the real blocking and tackling — or trading and client service. Are these things still an important part of your existence?We’re proud to offer value-added services that help our advisors differentiate and grow, including offerings like Institutional Intelligent Portfolios™, allowing advisors to participate in one of the newest growth areas in investing.But for us, job number one will always be custody and trading. It is the foundation of our business, and at the core of our relationships with each of our advisors.Delivering a custodial experience second to none is, in fact, what gives us permission to increase the scope of what we offer, going beyond the confines of what is expected to deliver on what’s next, if you will.
Q.Give us some insight into the growth of Advisor Services, not in terms of the number of people or Advisor managed client assets — talk about the people involved in the area — what’s been the evolution of that person and how a collection of those people impacted the business as a whole?What has been great about the growth of Advisor Services at Schwab is this – we see top talent building complete careers within our group, and not just those who have grown up serving advisors. We recruit from across the company, and I’m proud to see Advisor Services drawing interest from retail, from other parts of our business, and even from different industries altogether. It’s exciting.While I’m biased, I have to say, we have some of the best leaders working in Advisor Services – it has become a destination for many. And I’m not just talking about Schwab – we have some of the best leaders in the entire Financial Services industry. They’re growing great teams, which is a lot of fun to watch.When you put together a terrific team of people in a growing and dynamic part of the business, it’s magic.
Q.With so much technology being used today — is there going to come a time when custody is a commodity?Custody is job number one. It is fundamental – greens fees, really. And with our businesses based on trust and transparency, I don’t see that changing.Will there be more advances in the custodial experience to make it easier, simpler for people? Sure. But I’d argue that alone doesn’t make it a commodity.There’s nothing more important to advisors than the experience their clients have. Custody and trading play a huge role there; we work hard every day to be the best solution – because that’s what our advisors, and their clients, deserve.
Q.Your competitors’ businesses are also seeming to mature — what are the things that set Advisors Services apart today from them?Two things – it’s our experience and our people. We have logged nearly three decades working side by side with advisors. They’ve taught us what works best, and we’ve been able to share our experience and the firm’s collective knowledge to help them grow.
Our relationships with advisors – both the ones we’ve worked with for years and the ones new to our platform - they’re the inspiration for what we do, and the reason we work every day to do what we do best – serve RIAs.
We also follow a “Through Clients’ Eyes” strategy at Schwab. That means we make decisions based on our advisors and their clients’ interests, experience and their future. Seeing the world this way matters, and it’s just what we do. Of course, this is only made possible by the great people at Schwab, they’re our best asset.
Q.Being on a call with Nick (Georgis) today, and talking about what he does — the main thing that came across to us was the care he puts into what he does and how Schwab treasures each and every relationship. I think it was 'no advisor is the same, we have no baseline advisor.' We hear that over and over again. How have you been able to create that feeling in all of your employees?
Our employees take so much pride in serving our clients, and that is honestly one of my favorite things about my job.
Truthfully, it happens naturally. Anyone who works with advisors gets the fever, so to speak! It is fun to work alongside independent business owners, and there is something incredibly special and rewarding about helping entrepreneurs do what they do best.We serve more than 7,000 independent advisors on our platform today, each one with a unique story and a vision for their future that we’re lucky enough to get to help them realize.Interestingly, before Walt Bettinger joined Schwab, he was a client of Schwab’s, and so no one understands how important it is that we stay true to serving our advisors’ individual needs more than our own CEO.When your purposes are aligned, as ours is with our advisors around putting clients first – it makes doing what we do easy.
