Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that a recent study found that at a time when the number of SEC-registered broker-dealers and their registered representatives is declining, the number of SEC-registered RIAs, their assets under management, and the number of clients they serve all grew in 2023, reflecting the attractiveness of the RIA model to both advisors and clients alike and the ability for firms across the size spectrum to profitably serve clients.
Also in industry news this week:
- How the SEC could target dually registered firms for enforcement of their duties to care for and manage conflicts of interest under Regulation Best Interest and the Investment Advisers Act to send a message to the industry and to clarify its expectations for these “dual-hatted” firms and their advisors
- Why a shift in IRS priorities away from specifically focusing on taxpayers with more than $10 million in income for audits could result in more clients with incomes above $400,000 being audited in the coming years
From there, we have several articles on investment planning:
- 5 ways advisors can ‘fix’ the portfolios of new clients, from unwinding unintentionally concentrated positions to maximizing asset location
- While concentrated investment strategies offer the promise of higher returns, the specter of unpredictable risks and, in the case of concentrated funds, misaligned incentives between fund managers and investors, can make them risky propositions
- How a “total wealth approach” for portfolio management that takes a client’s human capital and other non-investment assets could mitigate the downside risks to their wealth
We also have a number of articles on client meeting note-taking:
- Strategies for advisors to take more effective notes in client meetings, from adopting structured frameworks to leveraging software tools
- Client meeting note-taking software has emerged as one of the first AI use cases for advisors, though its use comes with compliance and security considerations
- A review of available AI-enabled client meeting note-taking software, broken down by price, accuracy, security, integrations with other AdvisorTech tools, and more
We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about productivity:
- How the “weighted shortest processing time” strategy can help advisors prioritize their to-do lists and why one of the best ways to boost productivity could be to shorten the list to only include what truly needs to be done
- Amidst a work culture that often prioritizes time spent at the computer, why stepping away from the desk for unstructured thinking could boost workers’ creativity and productivity
- Why the concept of “entrenchment” suggests that achieving a “flow state” can sometimes lead to reduced productivity and wellbeing
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
