Regardless of the energy of the RIA sector, there are some things that advisors ought to be doing now that lots of them should not, in line with Bob Oros, CEO and chairman of Hightower Advisors.
Some advisors and companies are solely targeted on the current and are setting themselves up for 2 potential main challenges down the highway: serving new generations of traders and, later, passing their companies on to new management, he says.
Oros joined Hightower 4 years in the past and, throughout that point, he has “remodeled its enterprise and tradition, accelerated acquisitions, expanded providers for advisors and achieved persistently sturdy natural progress,” in line with the agency.
What has helped him is his greater than 25 years of strategic and operational expertise, with a observe document of efficiently recruiting, retaining and supporting advisors. He beforehand served as CEO of HD Vest, was government vice chairman and head of the RIA phase at Constancy Clearing and Custody, and held management roles at LPL Monetary and Charles Schwab.
By way of electronic mail, we requested Oros a couple of questions on what advisors ought to be doing at this time that they aren’t, what trade pattern or aggressive problem is most affecting his agency and its advisors, and extra.
What are advisors at your agency not doing at this time that they need to be doing (and wish to do) for purchasers?
Bob Oros: Every of the 132 advisory companies in Hightower’s group have completely different specialties, serve several types of purchasers from high-net-worth to ultra-high-net price or area of interest and fall into varied AUM ranges.
Regardless of these variations, these companies and their advisors share a standard aspiration: To develop and construct sturdy consumer relationships. To assist them succeed, Hightower creates and develops providers they’ll select to make use of on behalf of purchasers. There’s no one-size-fits-all method.
For instance, value-added providers such because the Hightower Nationwide Belief Firm allows companies to construct stronger ties with purchasers by providing company and administrative private belief providers in-house. For companies in search of portfolio administration help, they’ll entry professional recommendation and fund choices via our Funding Options Group.
And our Effectively-th and Effectively-being initiative helps present assets for advisors to share with purchasers coping with getting old dad and mom, psychological well being points and extra.
As for what all advisors ought to be doing extra of at this time, there are two areas all companies should be contemplating: How they serve the following technology of wealth and succession planning.
What trade pattern/aggressive problem is most affecting your agency and its advisors? What about your agency’s enterprise progress/enterprise constructing is working and what’s not?
Between an getting old advisor inhabitants and the truth that one in 4 advisors who’re anticipated to transition their enterprise inside the subsequent 10 years are not sure of their succession plan, the trade actually faces a problem right here.
There are proactive steps a agency can take to help the longevity of a enterprise and guarantee purchasers will proceed to be served after the associate or founder retires. First, prioritize figuring out and coaching successors. Second, play a task in your communities to ignite curiosity within the subject. How is your agency addressing this pattern?
