Best of: Joe Duran

07/27/20 • 51 min

Building one advisory firm with billions in AUM is hard enough. Joe Duran has done it twice, most recently selling United Capital to Goldman Sachs and becoming Head of Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management.

We had an insightful conversation about how he did it and what he sees for the future of financial advisors and for the advice they deliver.

We had an insightful conversation about how he did it and what he sees for the future of financial advisors and for the advice they deliver.

Previous Episode

3 Insights and 1 Warning from Peter Mallouk on Driving Growth Under Any Circumstances

In March 2020, Covid-19 lockdowns were starting, businesses were scrambling, and the markets were in a state of shock.

Despite all that, Creative Planning, Inc. had one of its best months ever.

According to President and CEO Peter Mallouk, his firm brought in $500 million in net new assets. Instead of panicking and trying to get their money out of the markets, Peter says many of his clients were giving him more money to manage – and sending more referrals as well.

The seeds that Peter’s firm planted many years ago led to his clients turning to the firm during a moment of unprecedented uncertainty. While great marketing will get you noticed, it’s the total client experience package that will get and keep clients as Peter’s firm has amply demonstrated.

Some advisors lament the chaos caused by Covid-19, but others realize there’s a tremendous opportunity to go on offense and see this as a time to reach out to people who need you now more than ever.

Covid-19 is teaching investors that there’s a big difference between auto depositing into a robo account and working with a professional who is sensitive to your unique life needs.

And, increasingly, people are willing to pay for that difference, if you can deliver it.

On a recent virtual event, Peter and I talked about how advisors at any level can develop the kind of five-star experience that underscores your value to existing clients, drives referrals, and protects your business from fee compression.

Next Episode

Stand Out by Producing Content That’s Authentic, Entertaining, Interesting, and Human with Brooke Southall

In a Nutshell: To stand out from all the fake news and clickbait cluttering your audience's inboxes, you have to produce content that's authentic, entertaining, interesting, and above all, human.

Guest: Brooke Southall, the founder of RIABiz. Back in 2009, Brooke built his online-only news publication on traditional journalistic values like using multiple sources and editorial analysis. Brooke and his team captured the rise of new models for providing client-first financial advice against the backdrop of Wall Street's decline during the Great Recession. Today, RIABiz is one of the go-to sources for deep, sophisticated analysis of the most important issues affecting the RIA business.

My Key Takeaways: To create engaging, authentic content:

Don't be boring. Before you even start writing, ask yourself, "Is this an article I would click on or swipe past?"
Slow down. Brooke believes that the race to be first has really hurt online journalism. Working important news into your regular communication rhythm will result in better content than a rushed newsletter.
Keep your eyes open. Brooke says the key to writing good articles isn't great writing ability, it's curiosity about the world and other people.

Also Learn:

Why hiking with his dogs is an integral part of Brooke's writing process.
How to use other people's stories as a jumping-off point for your next blog or newsletter.
What separates a compelling headline from pure clickbait.
Why Brooke believes showing weakness is more important to good writing than demonstrating success.