Community, Enterprise Value, and the Independence “Aha” Moment

Unknown: and going to Mike’s Point when we did meet you you know I’ll never forget the first phone call we had you know getting off that phone call I’m like oh my God like we actually have something here we have a business you know not only that had you know Enterprise Value and was actually worth something which you get called we get pinged by recruiters LinkedIn so you start getting these messages and you know we were so so happy there for so long or you don’t even entertain the phone call for a long time we’re kind of in our own bubble right just focusing on growth and clients and how do we just continue to build and then it’s at some point say hey let’s start working on our business not necessarily in it that’s when we made the big shift I wasn’t really sure what Independence meant right I’m we’re still figuring out every day but like you said you’re like wow am I we just on our own Island but no it’s literally more part of a community um because like you said everyone is willing to help and that’s been the the best piece of the whole move for us and everyone would just say like why you guys still there why are you guys still there you know what sometimes you don’t think that the grass is greener on the other side and then funny enough it was wasn’t really until we got connected with you uh through one our wholesale partners that he really opened our eyes and said I think your guys business is is growing pretty substantially where you might want to look at the true independent route and you just don’t know what you don’t know you know Mike and I looked at each other know this is the place we went to our home office visit down there in New Orleans

Client Conversations, Brand Shift, and Referral Momentum

Unknown: and it’s the day that you’re that you’re resigning like how did those conversations go with with clients you met you left this firm you know big brand name it it just things started to click for us right the marketing started to increase the referral started to increase our clients were like oh so now you own your own you know your own Financial advisory firm you know they wanted to help us they wanted to refer us and I definitely heard other people say when you actually make that move if you do it you will get more referrals you’ll get more business clients are more willing to help and again we’ve built the business off relationships and you kind of hear these things like H is that really true but it is 100% true we have gotten more referrals more introductions

The Key Question for Advisors at Insurance-Based Firms

Unknown: what questions do you think a financial adviser should be asking if if they’re listening to this to this podcast and you know thinking if you know an insurance-based firm is is is is their long-term home I think the first question they have to ask themselves is you know are they doing the best thing for their client at the end of the day because at the end of the day we all care about our clients in this business right and whether you work for an insurance broker dealer or a wirehouse or so on and so forth people care about their clients so I think our aha moment was just like let’s go see what else is out there let’s actually go through the process like we did with you and uncover like let’s truly understand because I think that’s and I’m sure you you deal with this because you dealt with us they just don’t understand really what else is out there

Podcast Opening and Episode Setup

Unknown: hey everyone thank you so much for joining the podcast today many successful financial advisers get their start in the business within a traditional insurance broker dealer inside of these firms they get some of the the best training the best support in the industry to to learn how to run a business to take care of their clients and typically on my side I start speaking with financial advisers when their mindset sort of shifts when their philosophy changes from more of an insurance or product first mentality to an asset management and comprehensive financial planning one typically when I’m having conversations when their philosophy changes to that there there’s something left to be desired in in inside of their firm and and after helping Zach and Zenda and Mike Soko get educated on the industry landscape and seeing the impact that it could have on their clients it was hard for them to look away and they launched their independent practice ameritus wealth with newedge advisors an industry leading raia just over 12 months ago today they were they were gracious enough to come on the podcast and talk about some of the specific things that that made the team want to start looking what they found throughout their journey of of looking around and also how they’re serving clients differently Now versus after they made the move from from Mass Mutual guys I I really appreciate you hopping on the podcast today yeah thanks for having us super excited yeah absolutely can’t wait

Background and Time at Mass Mutual

Unknown: so if you guys don’t mind just telling us a little bit about how you got in the business how long you were at at Mass Mutual it would be really helpful for the listeners sure yeah I’ll go first I I got into business 2013 right out of college degree in finance wasn’t really sure exactly what I wanted to do and met a recruiter at a career fair and 10 plus years later at Mass Mutual uh that that’s kind of History which brings us here today but the funny thing about Zach is that we met the same first day of our what they called boot camp training class and both likeminded you know athletes in college grew up together similar Family Values uh growth mindset and about a couple years in we we became business partners and have never really looked back but yeah just just short of 10 years uh was how long we were at Mass together

Shift From Insurance-First to Fee-Based Planning

Unknown: so I I remember in our initial conversations just kind of talking about your journey from starting at Mass Mutual I mean as you’re as you’re trained at Mass Mutual obviously insurance is is is is always one of the solutions out there for clients and kind of over time you met you met somebody inside of your organization that kind of showed you the asset management fee based route can you can you can you talk about that Journey a little bit yeah absolutely um yeah Mass speel was a great starting place for us um you know coming into the business we were both fresh out of college you know we had zero clients showed up to work every day and just learned how to build a business learned how to build clients um Insurance being one of the the main drivers that we had learned about but as we started to understand more of building a fee based practice you know building reoccurring revenue for you know our firm and kind of what we were looking looking to do to continue to grow we realized that you know we needed to have the fee based and financial planning as the core part of our practice but clients still want the insurance they still want the protection products they want everything else in between but we we realized that we needed to be able to build something that was sustainable and and reoccurring to kind of continue to to see the same growth trajectory that we wanted to makees sense

Unknown: I’ll just add that for the first six months probably to a year plus I didn’t even have all the Securities licensees so we really did lead in and you mentioned it at the top Corey but we just really LED in with insurance first then went after the assets and overall planning secondary because that’s how we you know were compensated in what we knew which is probably a good way to learn initially and then long term we both sat there and said wait you know let’s we really want to take a full financial planning wealth management you know be all things to all people at that time and we’ve narrowed it down into more Target markets but it was just yeah how we how we grew up in the business in that that world

When the Long-Term Fit Started to Feel Off

Unknown: yeah that makes that makes a ton of sense and typically the financial advisers that I speak to are the people that are making that move to Feebas Asset Management very rarely have I talked with you know insurance-based financial adviser um that’s doing mostly insurance and annuities that is unhappy at a firm like Mass Mutual or Northwestern Mutual it’s when it shifts to the asset management point where we we really start having conversations if if you guys don’t mind you could go in depth into this as you want but um when did you start realizing that you know the firm that you were at might not be the the light the long-term partner for you yeah I’ll start I don’t know if there was a specific one you know moment in time I think as I would hope most people would find as as you’re in the business a long time and we consider the decade that we’re there a long time in our world now it’s hopefully much longer to go but you get called we get pinged by recruiters is LinkedIn so you start getting these messages and you know we were so so happy there for so long or you don’t even entertain the phone call right as we continue to grow um it’s more that we talked to a lot of other people that had left either our firm or we they had left other firms in a similar world we have a lot of friends in the business now and everyone would just say like why are you guys still there why are you guys still there Mass mut’s great ml’s great you know what sometimes you don’t think that the grass is greener on the other side and then funny enough it was wasn’t really into until we got connected with you uh through one of our wholesale partners that he really opened our eyes and said I I think your guys business is is growing pretty substantially where you might want to look at the true independent route and you just don’t know what you don’t know um I’ll kick it over to Zach to add to it but it was just for a long time we’re kind of in our own bubble right just focusing on growth and clients and how do we just continue to build and then it’s at some point say hey let’s start working on our business not necessarily in it that’s when we made the big shift

Unknown: yeah no I I think we were so insulated in our bubble for so long just focused on Surviving and growing the business and you know trying to meet new people every day but as time went on and we started having success we started to realize okay to you know are there better things out there not only for us from just running the business but for our clients and you know and going to Mike’s Point when we did meet you you know I’ll never forget the first phone call we had you know getting off that phone call I’m like oh my God like we actually have something here we have a business you know not only that had you know Enterprise Value and was actually worth something which we thought it was worth nothing at that point and where we were at um you know whether that’s good or bad I don’t I don’t know but I think as we started to go through the process with you and interview all these different firms and looking at the independent route and looking at the Hybrid route and looking at the ra space and being like wow like I could see us really excelling in this in this world and not only helping you know me and Mike and our business in ameritus wealth but you know lowering fees for clients being able to do more things for clients and be able to offer them more things that you know as we started to see our client base you know High net worth grow you know we were like look we need to be able to service these people we don’t want to lose these to other advisers because we don’t have those tools um and I think that was really that that that moment where I’m like nothing wrong with MML but I think there’s just greater things that we could do for ourselves and for for our clients you know Mike and I are are two younger advisers in the business still like you know in our mid-30s and I was like Mike we’ve got 30 plus years in this business like if we keep staying here like everybody tells us that the longer you stay the harder it is to leave and uh you know listen it it was hard to leave we had good friends and good relationships and you know it was 10 years of our life I mean we ate slept and breathed everything about the business and we livt at the office we’ll joke about it you know we get in the office at 6:00 a.m. we leave at 9 10 o’clock at night for a good four five six years but we did now we have diapers to change so we don’t we’re not in there at 6 anymore but but yeah I think that was the moment where it was just like you know there there you know listen there’s I don’t want to say the grass is always greener on the other side you’re always going to have different issues that you’ve got to deal with but you know we’ve been able to handle those issues and it’s just a a much easier way and better way and less stressful way I would say

Independence, Flexibility, and What Stood Out in Due Diligence

Unknown: yeah no doubt and you know there’s not there’s there’s there’s nothing wrong with you know there’s nothing wrong with opening up and and seeing what else is out there Mass Mutual is a great firm but you know you just need to keep in mind when you’re looking through this process who affirms lowest common denominator is and sometimes at Mass Mutual that’s a brand new financial adviser that is you know needs the guard rails on them to make sure that they don’t get in trouble to make sure they could be laser focused on on growing their business and sometimes as financial advisers get more sophisticated those guard rails don’t go off inside of sometime some organizations where on the independent side everyone’s already a successful financial adviser you know they’ve already built their book of business they don’t need to worry about brand new financial advisor so that lower Comm lowest common denominator is just a more you know sophisticated financial advisor sometimes which leads to a lot more flexibility and different technology options um because you can make those decisions for yourself but I guess I’m just curious throughout the due diligence standpoint you guys looked at you know a few different firms when you started taking a look what were some of the things that that really excited you guys about the potential future yeah I’ll start I think the first piece and I I really have to thank you right and I know it’s about ameritus but this is Corey being the one that every other person that ever called us or we spoke to was at one specific company we met you you said I’m an independent recruiter I can work with every company so when we started exploring the landscape we just didn’t know what we didn’t know so it was really focused on technology I think outs outsourced uh investment management and a CIO was huge and just again a partner that we could go to for Outsource marketing it was just how do we find a group that’s going to help us with all the things that as advisers we want to spend all of our days with our clients you know all day that’s all I want to do I spend time with our clients so how do we find a home that can help us just provide as much of that and free up our time so was a lot of those things but I I think it was I think it was the education piece like we didn’t know what we didn’t know and as we started understanding and learning the ra space and you know the independent space I think we started to realize how lucrative the ra space could be for us and for what we were growing and building um what excited us was truly the the partnership that some of these independent firms wanted to create with us like we were looking for a partnership within a firm that was going to be able to help us grow not kind of bring us back down to what they wanted

Unknown: you know and I think that’s where when we finally actually got to meet new Edge and really understand what new Edge was doing for the advisor you know Mike and I looked at each other and go th this is the place we went to our home office visit down there in New Orleans and met with the team and you know met with the two CEOs you know Alex and Neil and I I think we both knew right away we looked at each other and we’re we’re pretty much you know we have a lot of similarities a lot of different but when it comes to the stuff with the business we looked at each other like we both knew what the answer was it was yes we’re going there because of what they were building and what we were looking to build it just lined up perfectly and the one unique thing about I know you know this but on the back wall of the main conference room at new edg’s headquarters they have basically every logo of a team that’s Affiliated through their raia and we kind of sat there we weren’t facing it but every we spent the whole day there I kept looking back up and I’m looking I’m like I’m asking the CEO right what is all this I know it’s all the teams he goes yeah every team that has come on board has their logo here and he starts telling stories about this one and that one and I think it was also from like one thing that we were I want say lacking but just kind of in search of was some kind of strong study group right other people to help us grow we kind of grew to the one of the biggest teams in our prior firm pretty quickly and we’re sitting in this office and he’s telling us oh this group’s got a billion this has 500 we’re say wow like that was exciting to me to say I want to learn from other people which we already have and that’s been an amazing takeaway everyone has just so willing to help right I know people helped at a lot of firms at MML but I think the big difference now in the true independent space is that we meet um other advisors other teams other groups at these conferences and um you know study groups and and many quarterly events that they put on and every person is just so wanting to help us because they were us 5 10 15 25 years ago they made the big leap of faith into this world so that was just a huge piece and now our logo is finally up there we’re giving them some crap about it but same like we want to give back right now we’ve got other groups that are looking to join hey can they speak to ameritus about your journey and we’ve been happy to do so and it’s uh again a win-win for everybody

Independence Without Isolation and the Advisor Community

Unknown: yeah I think a lot of financial advisers when I’m helping them explore the independent Channel they hear Independence and they think that that means that they’re going to be alone but in my opinion it’s it’s it’s it’s very much the opposite as as especially if you’re willing to pick up the phone yourself and reach out to other people business owners root for other business owners you’re not competing against other people in your office anymore to get a trip or get to you know first place for the amount of business done on on a monthly basis there’s plenty of business for everyone and I’ve really just seen that time and time again whether it’s you know advisors moving from an insurance-based broker dealer or a wirehouse this they’ve been they’re Blown Away by the community that’s out there willing to help them

Unknown: yeah and you know we were a part of you know our community where we were back in the day and I think as our business morphed and changed into what it what it’s become today we slowly started to see ourselves on an island you know we weren’t even independent but we were on this own our own Island no one to talk to no one to kind of have the same like goals and objectives and like where they wanted to take their business and now coming here over to to New Edge and even with new Edge wealth and their ultra high net worth space we’ve started working with those guys where you know they’ve got books of five 600 million a billion two billion three billion dollars and you know they’re helping us you know little old ameritus and and taking you know taking us under their wing and you know doing different cases with them and stuff like that so I feel like we’ve become more a part of a team than we have been in the last probably four or five years at this point

Unknown: that’s awesome I I couldn’t agree more too Cory where you said I wasn’t really sure what Independence meant right I’m we’re still figuring out every day but like you said you’re like wow am I am we just on our own Island but no it’s literally more part of a community um because like you said everyone is willing to help and that’s been the the best piece of the whole move for us

Resignation Day and Client Reactions

Unknown: I love it so you you guys I remember you coming back from the home office visit just kind of Blown Away by by by New Edge saying Corey this is the place let’s let’s let’s fast forward a couple months and it’s it’s the day that you’re that you’re resigning like how did those conversations go with with clients you met you left this firm you know big brand name people know who Mass Mutual is and you went to a firm New Edge which is a smaller firm that your clients probably didn’t know the name of how did those conversations go was there hesitation can you walk us through that

Unknown: yeah I mean I I think first and foremost people always knew that they were doing business with Mike and Zach at the end of the day um you know they knew our ameritus wealth name they knew the Mass Mutual name you know they knew a little bit of MML but at the end of the day they knew who I was and they knew who Mike was and they knew who Sabine was and our staff and everybody that kind of was you know insulated around you know their financial plan their money their insurance and so on and so forth so the conversation I mean yeah we were we we were pretty nervous you know having those first couple conversations especially with some of our bigger clients you know you’re taking this leap of faith like these people are going to come with you and ultimately you know we brought over 95 98% of what we wanted to bring over um which was fantastic but yeah I mean you had to explain a couple things here and there of you know who New Edge was who LPL was so on and so forth but at the end of the day sometimes we they were some of our clients were like am I still gonna work with you Zach or am I gonna work with you Mike like are you still my adviser I’m like oh yeah I just want to make sure you want to come with us we’re just we’re just moving our business and they were like oh yeah just just send over what you need and I’ll sign whatever you need to get to get my accounts over I want to continue working with both of you guys and you know Sabine has been great and you know that’s we’ve always kind of valued the team the team the team and I think people you know appreciated that and you know we really had a great transition which was as nerve-wracking as can be leading up to it and even that day but we’re you know we’re a year here later and you know it feels like we’ve been here for five years at this point so yeah I love it

Unknown: only thing I would add on top of that is just the majority of the head trash and you know concerns was inter right like when we start explaining why and the story and the bigger question like Zach said the clients some of them thought we could not be their advisers anymore we’re like no no no that’s not what we’re saying yeah right um but yeah no truly it’s thankful for for you and and New Edge LPL the whole team there had helped prep us for the transition and you know how do you deliver that message to clients but yeah it was more internally us sitting there the night before the weeks before is this is this going to happen are we really going to do this are the clients going to come with and then once you get the first couple yeses hey you know we’re with you guys and and we appreciate it it became a lot easier but there there was a couple sleepless nights for sure yeah

Year-One Growth and What Drove It

Unknown: I’m sure I I think financial advisers when they’re handling the transition I just did a another video on this sometimes over complicate it I mean fin clients are hiring their financial advisor to do what’s in the best interest of them that trust is already there and sometimes financial advisers when they come to me a couple days before they leave they’ll go over this elaborate elaborate story of like why they’re leaving I’m like I’m just tell them you took a year of due diligence you know you worked as hard as you can to find the right space with a couple bullet points of why it’s a good fit and you know typically typically that’s enough and that’s what we did yeah

Unknown: so I think you guys had aund a million in assets when you transitioned brought 95 98% of your assets with you and Zach I just had a convers ation with you this morning in terms of where you guys are at now I mean 30 million and and and now at 130 million you know 30 million in growth in in just a year’s time is is is obviously very impressive I mean what do you think led to that want to answer that one first you want me to do you go first

Unknown: so I I think it was a couple things one is the first I would say probably the first three months of our transition was really more of just we didn’t focus on any new business at all um it was just getting all the accounts over kind of understanding you know the new systems and processes and then after we finally got here and we’re able to continue to explain that story and I think it also gave us a reinvigoration of inside the business and knowing like we’re at a place now that we really want to be that’s great for us and great for our clients we just it just things started to click for us right the marketing started to increase the referral started to increase our clients were like oh so now you own your own you know your own Financial advisory firm you know they wanted to help us they wanted to refer us um I think as Mike and I have gotten a little bit older in the business we’ve started to get refer to more and more of our you know younger wealthier clients parents that have more money and you know we’re continuing to see that day in and day out you know right now so I think just a combination of people seeing the successes that we’re having now within our firm and the giving back that we’re doing and you know our our client service and just kind of everything in between and people are like look you own your own business now we want to help you like we’ve owned our own business for a number of years now but we were under a bigger umbrella now we’re more on an independent you know Channel Y and you know and I continue to see the growth go significant over the next six months a year two years um you know of what we have going on right now which is which is exciting right

Unknown: so I think it was also just telling the story like you said Corey the clients understood it it also gave us Z said it the reinvigoration in the business to say hey this is where we’re at right we’re not leaving you we’ve got 20 30 40 whatever more years in this business because we eat breathe sleep it and love it and I pretty sure it was during the entire due diligence process that you mentioned I definitely had heard other people say when you actually make that move if you do it you will get more referrals you’ll get more business clients are more willing to help and again we’ve built the business off relationships and you kind of hear these things like H is that really true but it is 100% true we have gotten more referrals more introductions um another just big piece for us which I don’t know how much it matters I think it matters when we run a golf outing every year for charity it’s always in August right we left last June and there wasn’t a ton ton of time in that six week period we’re trying to move all the business and help our clients and understand or explain all this and clients uh we like are you still going to have this golf outing like you know they build it up into this big they want us to have it more than we do it’s a big event and we had it it was our biggest year ever and I think people also sat there whether they came to the event or not and they they said wait like you guys raised all this money through your transition through growing your family Zach just had a child like all this stuff’s going on it just gave them the confidence that hey they’re partners with us and again like how did they help us grow because as we grow it helps us be able to afford more staff and support and it helps them in the long term also so it’s yeah it’s truly just a big community and family in in this bigger um uh umbrella which is ameritus now so I think the golf outing was also key but yeah like you said coming up on a year um I’m happy with the numbers and where we’re at we got a lot of things in the pipeline and and really hyper focused on growth now but yeah that first two to three months there we couldn’t even think about new business so that was a little bit of a you know out of our uh daily and and weekly routines but you get back on it you know you get all the outsourced help from the new Edge and and LPL where we’re at now and it’s just helped us catapult

Marketing, Outsourcing, and Why Referrals Increased

Unknown: yeah I I I and that makes the growth that you’ve had over the last year even more impressive that you weren’t even focused on growth for the first three months and just making sure your clients were happy and bringing them over I mean it it seems like a very recruiter thing to say hey launch your own business and and the referrals are are going to come you know build it and they’re going to come but I mean I think I just think there’s something deep down that people like about people that have their their own small business they root for you they want to see that you’re successful and I I I see it time and time again I saw it in in my own business when I launched my own business versus when I was a recruiter at LPL orera prize I think it’s a a very very powerful thing for sure

Unknown: from from from a marketing standpoint have you guys done anything different um on the independent side versus you know at Mass Mutual or was it just kind of more of the same and it just started to click I think it was it was more of the same um again just we have a lot more outsourc help um through the ra for marketing which is great so it frees up our time and staff’s time to be able to do some other things but I think the biggest piece is again fees right helping clients on aot number of things but the technology the enhancements and some of the other uh Investment Management that we’re now able to Outsource and bring that into the fold on the client level it’s one thing to say what’s going to happen when you make a transition to clients when we did it and then actually followed through I think that’s another big piece because clients oh you’re giving me all these reports I’m able to get on the phone with your CIO and director of trading and all things that not every client wants that but the clients that do uh that that’s been a big big piece of them saying wow like they’re actually happy that they made their move with us right because they have to make the decision as well so I think that’s also helped them feel more confident in referring

Unknown: I was gonna say too I think even the four to six months leading into our transition the marketing kind of slowed down too because we almost were at that point we’re like when are we cutting off on new clients to MML and then transitioning them out you know a day later two weeks later two months later so I feel like there a combination of slowing down ramping up for the transition transitioning over bringing everybody over and then you know again like Mike said a little bit of you know same that we were doing before but just doing more of it and truly I think people just have seen what we’ve gone through over the last whether they’ve been with us for one month or 10 years have seen the growth and how hard we’ve worked and you know our mentality is always we want to give to everybody else before anybody gives to us um we want to help everybody before they they try to help us and I think it finally got to that point where people are like I really want to help these guys I want to get them more clients you know like more of our clients can keep saying I’m gonna get you that person I’m gonna get you that person you know and it just it’s just become a lot of fun doing it to be honest we always pretended we were in the business for 10 years but it wasn’t until last year that we actually could say we were in the business for 10 years nice

What Mass Mutual Did Well and Where the Gaps Were

Unknown: so just to be fair we’ve talked a lot about a lot of benefits about the independent side I mean is there anything at at Mass Mutual that you thought that they did you know really really well that there’s potentially gaps in that that financial advisors considering making a move maybe should know about yeah I don’t I don’t know if it’s necessarily A a mass or otherwise I think one piece um you know which was just kind of difficult for us Andor would just be a help for another advisor is it was just so easy right we logged in the same system the same way every day for 10 straight years that was just a whole big change for us I think the you know some of the aggregation of data right was obviously helpful at um MML and it’s just where we logged in so we had to make some changes on on that front but no as M like you said an amazing firm the training programs to start we’re not here without that right the way that we started in the business I think um you just have to look at probably their themselves as advisers and say like where do you want to be in the future and like you said is is this the home that you potentially would want to be long term um for us it was just a lot of those factors but yeah nothing against it I would agree

Technology One Year In and Operational Enhancements

Unknown: yeah so in the beginning of the conversation and I just remember from uh the beginning of our conversations in general technology was something that was really really important you know now that you’re a year into this I mean has there just been any like big Shockers in terms of like you know technology making a really big impact on your business or has it been comparable I mean what are your what are your thoughts there is there anything specific um I mean I would say the technology started to get pretty decent at Mass you know before we left and over the last couple years they they did invest a lot of money into technology which was probably more Forefront than most bigger Legacy insurance companies um but I think for sure a lot of our clients do like the account View 2.0 which is kind of that online login system that they could log in and view their accounts just kind of a little bit better from a tech perspective visually a little bit better can do a couple more things with it um we started utilizing right Capital we had some more um ability with within right Capital that client started to like to use as well um you know we we utilize Red Tail from a CRM perspective which we’ve had no issues with at this point right now and you know there’s a couple different logins that we had to kind of get used to especially you know logging into one one place for 10 years but it’s like anything else you adapt to it and and move forward and another big thing which we’ve incorporated into our practice is more on the fee based and financial planning and charging fees and you know utilizing something called advice pay which is a a really easy way for clients to go on and pay their financial planning or fee based Fe for whatever they’re we’re charging them for is just another game changer that’s added another you know line of Revenue to to our firm and you know just gives more transparency to clients of like here’s how we do how we do business you know so on and so forth so just kind of incorporating different new technologies you know we’ve gotten great feedback from clients across the board

Unknown: yeah only other thing not on the existing client but on the new client side um one struggle we had was a lot of the um a lot of the analysis we’d run on investments we would run in-house right we have some help we had some other partners right but we ran a lot of that their Morning Star again many softwares that people use and we would get some help you know from time to time but when we made the move all of that investment analysis is now outsourced right so we’ve been able to get on pretty in-depth conversations as we grow and mature also in the business on the client level and they can help hey here’s how we’re going to map this over they’ll get on the calls with us and we’re able to to get a report I mean the I think New Edge has a team of 20 to 25ish traders that we’re in really good relationships with so I can pick up the phone right now our main guy is Bennett so shout out my guy Bennett down in New Orleans but we’ll call Bennett he’s on it immediately he’ll drop what he needs to do hey guys you know Bennett we’re moving over these six accounts can you run me an aggregate against our custom 8020 portfolio with a tax analysis it’s back in my inbox in 15 to 20 minutes and then if there’s some confusion hey let’s hop on with the head Trader let’s hop on with the CFA CIO and they’ll help walk us through that so now when we’re meeting and bringing on new clients it’s also really helped us scale to where we did some of that but to have a full team at our Arsenal that’s doing that for us has been such such a big piece so that’s again technology that’s available but they’re you know kind of using it and helping us with it so that to me was the biggest change in addition to everything Z we kind of were doing it we got some enhancements now that you have like Enterprise level technology in those Suites as opposed to just one or two of your own subscriptions but it’s uh yeah definitely been a big push for winning new business as well that’s amazing I I appreciate the feedback

Questions Advisors Should Ask and Why Due Diligence Matters

Unknown: um what what questions do you think a financial adviser should be asking if if they’re listening to this to this podcast and you know thinking if you know in an insurance-based firm is is is is their long-term home I mean I think the first question they to ask themselves is you know are they doing the best thing for their client at the end of the day you know are there other things that are out there that they should be understanding learning you know being able to kind of provide their clients because at the end of the day we all care about our clients in this business right and whether you work for an insurance broker dealer or a wirehouse or so on and so forth people care about their clients so I think our aha moment was just like let’s go see what else is out there let’s actually go through the process like we did with you and uncover like let’s truly understand because I think that’s and I’m sure you you deal with this because you dealt with us they just don’t understand really what else is out there um you know whether it’s being insulated or you know in a bubble in your own world they just got to say like am I doing the right thing for my clients it’s it’s part of my due diligence I should go out there and see what else is out there for them and even today we got a lot of friends that are you know in different insurance broker dealers and we’re like you know just give it a you know give it a give it a thought listen to what’s out there listen to what you know what you could be doing for your clients for yourself for your business long term but again it’s you know nobody likes change it’s it’s hard to wrap your head around saying like I’ve been with this place five years 10 years 15 years 20 years you know it’s it’s it’s not easy but I think if you’re doing a disservice to your clients if you don’t go out there and just see what else is out there and if you think what you’re doing is better then you did the right thing

Unknown: I would just say call Corey that’d be my here’s Cory’s cell phone number just call no right like we gota we got to give you the plug but our partner right Joe who helped us meet you was telling us for a while yeah I don’t have the former message it’s probably six months nine months call Cory I talk to my guy I’m like dude we’re good we’re not making any moves and then finally all right whatever give me this guy’s number leave us the heck alone and even the beginning excuse me we’re unsure you don’t know like I said I didn’t really know what Independence meant but I think to your question of what should people be asking Zach’s exactly right you owe it to yourself you owe it to your clients more importantly to go through the due diligence process it was painful right there was a lot of calls a lot of zooms a lot of iners we brought it from um I want to say about nine or 10 firms down to five down to three down to the final two and finally made our decision um with new wedge and LPL on the hybrid route but it’s just it was a long process it took away from the business but I think now looking back at it a year later um like Zach said it set us up for the future of of the next 20 30 years we’re still young guys and I think that’s the other big piece is just you know you kind of you don’t know what you don’t know but you kind of have that feeling in your gut of is this right is it not and if anybody’s been in the business long enough our prior firm was built on recruiting people from other firms so you know what’s happening in the business it’s just are you willing to take the call and for a long time we really weren’t um obviously we’re thankful that we did

Unknown: yeah I get it it’s painful and it’s you know if you if if you’re if you’re looking at Plan B you don’t have 100% of your of your energy on on plan a I definitely get that but you you know you owe it to your clients you owe it to your family to at least go out there and and and see what else is out there and if it’s you know not good enough at least you could sleep at night knowing that you’re that you’re in the right place so I think that’s awesome advice

Unknown: both of our wives thought we’re a little they think we’re crazy anyway but they um they thought we’re a little crazy right like you guys have been here forever and know in the early years we went to every conference every Academy every training and then for like wait this is actually going to happen and now they’re you know happy and understood but I think it was that that long process it’s not like you just talk to Corey or talk to whoever and you make your decision tomorrow right you you truly you’re going through we have a lot of clients in technology sales right just for whatever reason that’s the pocket in in North Jersey and New York City that we’ve we’ve got a lot of clients in and a lot of these guys and girls are making moves left and right hey I want to offer a better service a better deal or we kind of looked at it the same way hey if they’re if they’re doing it right we got to owe it to ourselves and them to to do the same and again that’s the way it happen

Wrap-Up and Golf Tournament Invite

Unknown: I love it guys I’m so happy to to see the success I really really appreciate the uh the time today if anyone else wants to learn more my contact information is all over my YouTube page and my podcast page guys I’m still waiting for your golf tournament uh uh invitation in the mail by the way it must have got lost but I’m I’m waiting I hope I hope I get get to play again this year August 15th we’ll see you there see you thanks man thanks so much guys I appreciate it thanks Cory

Unknown: [Music]