Managing Your Practice

Mark Johnsen, CEO of Wealth Architects, and Rob Greenman, Chief Growth Officer of Vista Capital, both live, breathe, and bear the responsibility in their respective firms for managing growth, and with it, creating a culture and sales cycle that fosters a business development mindset. They talk through their leadership styles and some of the ways their firms are driving behaviors on their team, inc...

Art Markman, PhD, is vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of more than 150 scholarly works on cognitive science and related topics. In this podcast episode, he shares his expertise on "smart" thinking and decision-making. With tens of thousands of decisions to make every day, what allows us to move from basic functions to strategic thinking and, as...

With more options than ever, how do advisors decide on a custodial partner? Ben Harrison of BNY Mellon Pershing, Gabe Garcia of SEI, and Thomas Moore of Betterment for Advisors join us in a roundtable discussion on how their custodial firms are going beyond asset security to offer services in other major operational and strategic capacities. They each offer internal perspective on what advisors sh...

Jennifer Climo, CEO of Milestone Financial Planning, and Martine Lellis, chief talent officer at Mercer Advisors, work in advisory firms that are vastly different in size   but have the common goal of creating an environment that fosters growth in both revenue and talent. They share their experience in bringing on new employees, how their firms continue to develop internal opportunities for progre...

David DeVoe, founder of DeVoe & Co., appropriately nicknamed the "RIA M&A Guru," has spent 15 years helping advisors buy, sell, and merge their firms. With so much to consider in a deal, how are advisors avoiding analysis paralysis when preparing for a transition? Hear from the expert on why you should get purposeful and have a succession plan in place today, what might affect a firm's value in th...

Dr. Moira Somers, founder of Money, Mind and Meaning, is a financial psychologist, family wealth consultant, executive coach, and author, specializing in areas like neuroscience and behavioral economics. Her body of work helps financial advisors facilitate follow-through on recommendations and advice to clients. She poses important questions to identify true client priorities, mitigate procrastina...

Daron Roberts, founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership & Innovation at the University of Texas, is a Harvard Law School graduate turned NFL coach who now guides students, athletes, and business leaders on stepping outside their comfort zone, practicing discipline, and hiring and managing teams. In this special live episode, hear insights honed on the gridiron that translate to how ad...

Arabella Macpherson, director of Resonate Communications, turned a passion for acting into a career coaching, mentoring, and training leaders and teams to overcome communication obstacles. She shares her experience in influencing, negotiation, and conflict resolution; ways that advisors can manage difficult conversations with clients and employees; and the impact that communication styles can have...

Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®, has found data-driven ways to connect the dots between human-centered leaders and good business. He shares how a focus on trust in the workplace correlates with business performance, what leaders can do to enhance the employee experience, and insights from his own 30-year career that have had a lasting impact on how he's approached new roles and leader...

Lisa Salvi, Managing Director of Advisor Services at Schwab, manages advisor benchmarking studies that have collected data for over a decade on key business metrics for financial advisory practices. Listen as she shares focus areas for firms to measure and what actually matters for performance. She also discusses how firms differentiate when it comes to those areas with the greatest impact, such a...

Ben Slater of Buckingham Strategic Partners works closely with advisory firms that are near critical growth points and considering outsourcing or partnering to manage the expansion. As you approach the next level of growth, you may ask questions around when to hire, what functions to outsource, and how you can thrive as you grow. Hear how to evaluate cost vs. time, determine where you can relinqui...

Shandel Sutherland and Liv Olson share more than four decades of combined experience helping build highly effective teams. In this episode, they define key characteristics of those teams, ways to identify gaps in your own firm, and actionable steps to enhance performance. Learn why they believe investing in employee and team development is an essential aspect of achieving long-term success and cre...

Robin Wigglesworth, editor of FT Alphaville and author of Trillions, describes his career as "geeking out" on all things finance, writing to great depths on investing and markets. Hear how he connected with some of the greatest minds in finance to tell the origin story of index funds, his take on integrating corporate cultures through M&A, and what's next in the evolution of financial advice and i...

Nirav Batavia, co–managing partner and chief technology officer of Forum Financial has used technology to build systems and processes that increase efficiency, enhance the employee and client experience, and scale the business, all while maintaining a focus on profitability. He shares his expertise on how advisors can combine technology with human interaction to support growth goals, determine are...

Michael Goodman, president of Wealthstream Advisors, founded a lifestyle practice that evolved into a $1 billion ensemble practice after combining the skills of multiple professions and taking on partners to facilitate the firm's growth over the past three decades. Hear the pros and cons of running an ensemble practice; how hiring, team structure, and business processes transform through the progr...

Peter Lazaroff, CIO at Plancorp, knew from a young age that he would have a career in investments and wealth management. Now, he helps deliver financial planning advice to clients in various life stages and offers his perspective on how advisors can engage with clients in ways that foster a long-term investment mindset and referability. Hear how he approaches these conversations with clients, soli...

Joe Stephan of Stephan Independent Advisory experienced a familial succession firsthand when his father passed his advisory firm on to him. The transition left him with a desire to help other advisors in strategically planning for succession, either within the family or externally. He shares key considerations for advisors preparing for succession, the nuances of a transition within a family, and...

Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, has spent over 25 years finding ways to measure the client experience in financial advisory firms. She shares how advisors can analyze feedback from clients around engagement and satisfaction to anticipate needs and wants, and ultimately help clients drive business growth through referrals. 

Allen Darby of Alaris Acquisitions and Jason Carver of Pure Financial Advisors have sat on both sides of the M&A table and experienced some of the recent, record-breaking years of deals done across the wealth management industry. They share their thoughts on when and how to start planning for a deal and searching for a partner, what each side considers deal breakers, and why you should always be p...

Louis Diamond, of Diamond Consultants, guides advisors through major career transitions like launching RIA firms, scaling independent businesses, and succession planning. He joins Dimensional's Catherine Williams to discuss how advisors can prepare for movement across the industry, best practices for building a successful advisory firm, and what strategic moves they should consider today. 

Emily Binder of Beetle Moment Marketing and Taylor Schulte of Define Financial have both built successful businesses by leveraging digital marketing and technology. Schulte's advisory firm focuses on attracting their ideal clients through curated digital strategies while Binder's agency helps advisors grow their practices with new tools and technology like voice marketing. In this podcast, they di...

Senator Bill Bradley is a former professional basketball player, Olympic gold medalist, three-term US Senator, and author of seven books. He shares personal and professional stories on the driving factors and experiences that led him to success. Dimensional's Catherine Williams leads the discussion on the values Bradley has emphasized throughout his career and how financial advisors can implement...

Chip Roame, founder and managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, joins Dimensional's Catherine Williams to discuss the shift in wealth from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials. They will cover steps advisory practices can take today to meet the needs of younger investors and win them as long-term clients. 

Carrie Delgott, Kate Juelfs, and Robert Bowers, three chief operating officers (COOs) from thriving advisory firms, join Catherine Williams to discuss the impact that clarity and flexibility in career pathing and recruiting can have on the employee experience, and why it matters to your business. (Recorded April 22, 2022.)

We welcome our very own Lisa Dallmer, COO, and David Jones, Former Head of UK and Ireland Advisor Group, to share their favorite reads, provide personal and professional-development book recommendations, and discuss the impact that reading has had on their careers in financial services and their personal lives. See these books and more on Dimensional's full 2022 summer reading list  here.