Episode 86: Becoming More Referable - A Conversation with Julie Littlechild

Advisors are often asked to help solve financial problems, and some of the most difficult pertain to taxes. Our guest, Hubert Johnson, has built a business around understanding how to successfully negotiate with the IRS, and he also has some great insights on how to avoid getting to that point. 

Tim Mitrovich, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ten Capital, has built a winning event strategy by focusing on client experience. It's a unique approach that combines thematic consistency with creating events that run the gamut from great speakers to fun activities - and everything in between. Tim has seen huge growth by keeping the focus on the client - not the advisor. 

We welcome H. Adam Holt, CEO and Founder of Asset-Map. Adam needed a better way to help clients visualize their money, and his original hand-drawn prototype has become a tool that facilitates client engagement and can help advisors see where the opportunity is. Our conversation is a fascinating look at how deliberate design can create a feedback loop that helps advisors and their clients meet their goals. 

We welcome John Prendergast, co-founder and CEO of BlueLeaf. John created BlueLeaf with the vision of making an environment that allows the advisor to be fully appreciated by their clients. The best ideas are simple in articulation and complex in execution, and John gets into how they solved for that. We dive into what this means now - and in an AI-driven future. 

We welcome Mary Ann Bartels, Chief Investment Strategist of Sanctuary Wealth, to give us an outlook on what 2024 has in store. Mary Ann brings all the data, and wraps it into a narrative that resonates. Across markets, economics, asset classes and the historical comparisons, Mary Ann makes some great points.

We welcome Nick Rose and Emily Biehler, founders of NovaTrak, a SaaS financial planning tool they created that also helps motivate clients and demonstrates the value of the flexible financial planning fee model. It's unique, and we get into the details. 

Becky Swansburg, CEO of Stonewood Financial, has trained advisors across the country on incorporating tax-efficient retirement strategies into their practices. Becky focuses on the new reality that taxes in retirement likely won't be lower, and the tax risk to a plan is as significant as investment risk. She has some surprising insights, and a point of view on ways to introduce a conversation that has prospects and clients "all ears."

We welcome Tim Gerend, Chief Distribution Officer of Northwestern Mutual. There's a growing recognition among investors that their financial planning needs work, and that financial advisors are the most trusted resource for financial advice. Northwestern Mutual's recent study has the data, and Tim has an interesting and detailed perspective on how Advisors can harness the trends to build their practice. 

We welcome John DeVincent, Chief Growth Officer of Intention.ly, a financial services-focused marketing consultancy. John has been at the forefront of financial services marketing, leading teams at SaaS platforms that have revolutionized the industry, including eMoney Advisor. Advisors have more tech and tools than ever before to market their practices, but sorting through them and selecting the right ones is a challenge. John breaks down the fundamentals of a digital strategy, and along the way offers a lot of insight into the future of the industry. 

We welcome Greg Margolies, Partner, Ares Management for a deep dive on private credit. This alternative asset class has seen tremendous demand from retail and HNW investors, and we take a close look. Ares is a leader in the space, and Greg has spent a 35-year career in credit. He gets into the mechanics of the deals, what to look for, and how private credit can help diversify a portfolio through all stages of the economic cycle.