First Trust ROI Podcast
On the ROI podcast, we discuss some of the most important questions facing investment professionals today, ranging from macroeconomic views, to perspectives on the equity and fixed income markets, to insights on practice management. We aim to cut through the noise, examine the data, and provide fresh insights to investment professionals as they help their clients find better ways to invest…seeking to generate attractive returns on their investments.
First Trust ROI Podcast
Ep 10 - Jackie Wilke - How Are Elite Teams Serving the Next Generation of Investors? - ROI Podcast
In this episode, Ryan talks to Jackie Wilke from the Advisor Consulting Group at First Trust about serving female investors, the need to build multi-generational relationships, and the importance of uncovering what’s truly important to investors.
đź“š Jackie's Book Recommendation: Wealth 3.0: The Future of Wealth Advising
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00:00:00:00 - 00:00:38:03
Ryan
I am Ryan Issakainen, an ETF strategist at First Trust. In this episode of the First Trust ROI podcast, I'm joined by Jacquie Wilke of the Advisor Consulting Group. In this episode, we're going to discuss how financial professionals can really focus on meeting the needs of female investors. We're going to talk about the next generation of wealth transfer and how financial professionals can help their clients with that process.
00:00:38:03-00:00:53:08
Ryan
And we're going to talk about how Jackie's team works with financial professionals to make their business more efficient and effective in helping clients. Thanks for joining us on the First Trust ROI podcast. Jackie, thank you for joining us today on the ROI Podcast.
00:00:53:13-00:00:55:12
Jackie
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
00:00:55:12-00:01:05:09
Ryan
Okay, so this is going to air as our final podcast of 2023. We're heading into the new year. Do you have any New Year's resolutions that you've thought about?
00:01:05:11-00:01:13:12
Jackie
So working out the New Year's resolutions, I actually don't do resolutions as much as I try to pick like one word. That's my intention for year one.
00:01:13:15-00:01:14:10
Ryan
Explain that.
00:01:14:12-00:01:27:16
Jackie
So picking one word that you want for your intention, whether it's consistency, personal growth, or gratitude, So far, I haven't chosen my word yet, but I am planning to pick one thing to focus on and practice consistently throughout the entire year.
00:01:27:16-00:01:37:11
Ryan
And that's what you focus on, which is kind of your mission. You reach the end of the year, and if you've done this, you've been successful in what was your 2020 word of the year.
00:01:37:13-00:01:40:00
Jackie
2023? What would be 20?
00:01:40:00-00:01:41:13
Ryan
23 words of the year.
00:01:41:15-00:01:49:12
Jackie
The 2023 word of the year was balance. So having a good balance between work and life is all that good stuff.
00:01:49:14-00:01:52:02
Ryan
Okay. And have you succeeded, do you think?
00:01:52:07-00:01:55:06
Jackie
It wasn't perfect, but I'd say overall it's good.
00:01:55:08-00:02:05:21
Ryan
Yeah, I think that's interesting. You focus on something, and then, you know, you just, I think, probably tend to do it more. So even if you don't hit the mark, Exactly. You're going in that direction.
00:02:05:23-00:02:07:09
Jackie
Yeah. I find it works better for me.
00:02:07:10-00:02:35:19
Ryan
That's a great idea. Okay. So you do quite a bit of traveling as you try to balance out your, you know, busy life. You and I have spoken at the same conferences many times, not just this year but in years past. And you work with the advisory consulting group. When I think of what your group is responsible for, what you do at first trust, you work a lot with financial professionals, helping them become more efficient and productive.
00:02:35:20-00:02:40:23
Ryan
That's how I think of it when I think of your group. How would you describe what your group does?
00:02:41:00-00:03:01:06
Jackie
Yeah. So the advisor consulting group is for anyone listening who doesn't know about me or our team. We are six folks in-house at First Trust who are focused on helping advisors work on the business as they work in this business. My team is absolutely fantastic. Chris Jefferson's ahead of our team, and everyone has different areas of specialties and different areas of focus.
00:03:01:06-00:03:18:08
Jackie
So if someone's looking for some help, maybe it's navigating an obstacle, they want to go after an opportunity, or they feel like they don't know what they don't know, they want to know what's working. Our team's a great resource for that. So we do a ton of speaking, we do coaching and consulting, and then we have a ton of resources too.
00:03:18:09-00:03:28:01
Jackie
So first, just the website. Always go through your wholesaler to see what our team has. But yeah, write a blog for financial advisors too. So a little bit of everything.
00:03:28:04-00:03:28:21
Ryan
How long have you been doing it?
00:03:28:21-00:03:46:07
Jackie
The blog's been going on for about five years. Insights and innovations. Yeah, a quick idea every single week for financial professionals who want to know what's working for someone else comes out pretty much every week. But yeah, anybody listening wants to get access to that. We have it on the website, or your wholesaler can sign you up for it.
00:03:46:09-00:03:57:06
Ryan
I have done, you know, a newsletter and blog and all this, all these different writing projects, and I don't know how you do a new blog entry every week. Where do you get your ideas from?
00:03:57:07-00:04:15:09
Jackie
From the conversations we have with advisors. So we're fortunate that we get to talk to elite professionals all day, every day. I like to say that we study success. That's really what my job is. So through those conversations, we get to just hear it. We get insight and access to those ideas that we just get to share.
00:04:15:11-00:04:25:06
Ryan
You mentioned there's six of you each. Each member of the team has a different sort of specialty team. And so, what is your specialty on that team?
00:04:25:10-00:04:54:06
Jackie
The areas that I focus on the most are where advisors act today and where they need to be. It's kind of that analogy of skating to where the puck is going. So how do they think about the future and what they need to be focusing on? So three demographics that I spend a lot of time working on, whether it's through client experience, marketing, or communication, are women investors, new generations of rising wealth holders and clients, and multi-generational families.
00:04:54:11-00:05:17:01
Ryan
I want to dig into a lot of those, and I know some of your expertise probably won't have time to get through all of them. But so what are some of the nuances that women investors, you know, as you're talking to financial professionals and helping to serve women investors, what are some of the nuances or some of the specifics that, you know, are important topics to talk about?
00:05:17:03-00:05:41:01
Jackie
So the McKinsey Company estimates that by 2030, women will influence over $30 trillion. And I say, if you look at the numbers that came off this summer from Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Barbie, that influence is already here. And in the same study, they also found that women investors value financial professionals so much that they're willing to pay a premium.
00:05:41:03-00:06:05:19
Jackie
So one of the questions that I get often is: do women have a gender preference for their advisor? Well, women are half the population, so when you have that big demographic, Yeah, when you have that big of a group, it's going to be very individual as far as their preferences go. And whenever we are on the road presenting, I always ask the audience to raise their hand if they can think of one female client who is an advocate for them.
00:06:05:21-00:06:16:11
Jackie
Referrals, introductions. They have all of her assets. Evan raises his hand. So it's more about the relationship, the connection, the needs that they have, and their priorities and preferences.
00:06:16:13-00:06:31:02
Ryan
So do you think that women tend to be better natural advocates for the advisor that they have a relationship with? Is that that? I mean, obviously it doesn't carry across, but is that a tendency that you see?
00:06:31:04-00:06:51:01
Jackie
Women and younger generations have a higher propensity for sharing something that worked for them that they think would help someone else, whether that article, a piece of clothing, or a workout that they really liked. They have a higher propensity for sharing that information. So the same goes for financial professionals.
00:06:51:03-00:07:05:18
Ryan
That's interesting. Okay. So the other thing, the other area that you mentioned or one of the other areas was really that next generation of investors, you know, at a high level. What sort of can you define who that group is at?
00:07:05:18-00:07:35:09
Jackie
A high level? No, there's some specifics and layers to what we've labeled as the next generation. Initially, the next generation was synonymous with millennials, but that's also a very huge population. So for financial professionals, it's really two groups that they're focusing on their clients next generation: those who will inherit wealth and those who are building wealth, and those that they want to keep in the business so that they don't have that high risk of asset attrition that comes with the wealth transfer.
00:07:35:11-00:08:00:11
Jackie
And that kid that next generation could be 65 years old, clients that are 70 or 80, 90, the next generation Z, a 20-year-old. So it could be defined by the clients rising generations or younger investors who are building wealth and inheriting wealth that financial professionals frankly need in their businesses.If they're thinking about succession, you are not going to get great value if you have a book of 80-year-old clients.
00:08:00:13-00:08:19:08
Jackie
But even if your clients aren't quite that young, they might be in the armed phases. So they're spending less. So backfilling with younger generations of affluent individuals not only benefits their business today with new client acquisition, but also has many benefits in the future of their business.
00:08:19:12-00:08:41:05
Ryan
So when you think about the different financial professionals and teams you are working with, are there some, I don't know, common misunderstandings or assumptions that people have when it comes to the next generation of investors? I mean, I think you mentioned one that, you know, I was thinking of the next generation as a 30-year-old, you said a 60-year-old.
00:08:41:05-00:08:43:14
Ryan
And yeah, that's what makes sense. So what are some of those?
00:08:43:17-00:09:04:06
Jackie
One that we often hear is that everyone has these clients who don't want the kids to know about the money. They're worried about them being spoiled and entitled. Maybe they saw something bad happen to other families like theirs. So in those situations, one of the misconceptions is, well, the clients don't want to talk to the kids, so we're not going to try.
00:09:04:08-00:09:25:08
Jackie
So that's where we go wrong. You need to know that next generation ahead of a wealth transfer, because if someone is in their sixties, they receive an inheritance on top of that; they're dealing with loss estate, maybe some complicated family dynamics, and that's when you're calling them to say, Hey, we were your parents, financial professionals; this is who we are, what we do, and how we do it.
00:09:25:10-00:09:42:18
Jackie
Well, one that kind of feels like, Hey, we care about you now, now that you have the money. And the other risk is that they could already have a financial professional that they work with. Actually, the third risk is that they're the ones who are going to cash a check and go buy a boat the minute that that inheritance comes through, which isn't a good fit for the financial professional.
00:09:42:19-00:10:08:21
Jackie
Sure. Most cases. So that's one of the misconceptions. The other is that young people don't have money. So it's really interesting in today's environment how young people are building wealth in different ways. So you have these younger individuals who worked in tech. They were founders and sold their company, or they are just high-earners now. And so, looking at that younger generation, don't assume that they don't have any money.
00:10:08:23-00:10:36:16
Jackie
There's a lot of, like, there is a finance professional recently I asked, who's one of your higher net worth clients that you brought on under 40 years old? He said he brought in two clients over the last couple of months, both under 40 years old, with seven-figure plus accounts that they brought on. So don't assume that younger generations don't have wealth because they do, and understand what they value and how it's different from previous generations to make sure what you do is going to be relevant for that.
00:10:36:18-00:10:58:00
Ryan
You talked a little bit about sort of the next-generation transfer of wealth. What are some of the pieces of advice that I don't know—some of the pieces of advice that you give that tend to be most helpful—that resonate the most? What are some ways that people can think about tailoring their practices to those groups?
00:10:58:01-00:11:20:15
Jackie
So to engage with not just the family capital but the human capital within the individuals. The more personal you can get, the better. And it doesn't have to be personal from the standpoint of, you know, every intimate detail about them. But let's say, being from the Chicago Bears, our team here, we did win. But, you know, it's not always great.
00:11:20:17-00:11:39:05
Jackie
But even knowing what their favorite sports team is and sending them a message, hey, I was thinking of you. Congrats on the win! I hope everything's going well. So that kind of unexpected touchpoint where you show them how well you know them, that's going to create a bond where you don't necessarily look like you're just my parents financial professionals.
00:11:39:07-00:11:58:04
Jackie
You're actually someone that I have a connection with, too. So that's one of the things that we highly recommend. Find out as much as you can about them. Collect the data and then use it to build those relationships; connect with them early and often again ahead of any risk of wealth transfer. And the third thing is to be a resource.
00:11:58:07-00:12:20:21
Jackie
So one of the processes that we have that I do the most coaching on here is called the family phone call. So this process was designed by a team in California, and the goal of it is for the financial professional to meet the people important to clients. And we use that language specifically for those important to clients, because that could be nieces and nephews or best friends.
00:12:21:01-00:12:40:19
Jackie
And then you have the opportunity to grow horizontally in the family tree and up the family tree. So in your email, your client says, Hey, we have this new resource. It's called the family phone call. A lot of clients are finding value in it. We want you to know that you and your family, you and those most important, have access to this that you could prompt them, like if they are that 40-year-old client.
00:12:40:19-00:13:00:01
Jackie
Well, what about your siblings, your in-laws, maybe even your parents? That's who should be on this call. And in the process, when you position and assist clients, you're really giving them a resource. So you're not reaching out to them, saying, Hey, we want to meet the people important to you. You're saying, gosh, a lot of clients are finding value in it.
00:13:00:02-00:13:22:00
Jackie
This is a way for us to get to know them. So if they need anything, they have access to expertise instead of the Internet or their friends, who don't know anything, which clients would like to avoid. Not the best places to build good stewardship of wealth and financial literacy. So the third part of it is that you introduce it to clients; you have the family phone call, which is 10 minutes, by the way.
00:13:22:02-00:13:41:00
Jackie
So this is scalable, short, and sweet. It's an introduction. Finance professionals share their story, and then the follow-on is the next step. So what a lot of professionals will offer is, Hey, if you ever need us, you want a second opinion, a sounding board, you don't know, you don't know. We're always happy to set up a 20-minute ask-anything session.
00:13:41:02-00:14:02:16
Ryan
So you gave three different examples there, and with the family phone call, you know that maybe some investment advice enters into that. Maybe there's a question from the family about something to do with investments. But the other parts don't really seem to be transferable to other, I don't know, professions or jobs. It's just building relationships with people.
00:14:02:20-00:14:22:10
Jackie
And that's a big evolution in our industry. Is it the relationship side of things? It's more important than ever because investors have options, especially younger investors. They don't need a financial professional to give them access to the market. They can get that on their phone. Yeah, so what else do you do? So a lot of it is expanding to financial planning.
00:14:22:12-00:14:40:00
Jackie
Other areas of management, like tax estate, bring in the behavioral side of things. So behavioral finance, whether that's coaching education, means layering in to expand your value by putting more resources and services behind what you offer.
00:14:40:02-00:15:12:03
Ryan
I want to circle back to the family phone call because I think that's a topic that, if just again, listening to it resonates with me, and that's something that would be really a helpful way to build relationships throughout, not just between the parents and the child, but maybe even horizontally in generations as well. So is there a sort of best practice way to set that up, or what's the language that people would use in sort of recommending or offering that as a service?
00:15:12:05-00:15:33:06
Jackie
Great question. The good news is that we have it all in script, so perfect. So it's a very comprehensive process. We have the intro email script, and we've got a timeline for setting up the call. We've got an interest or a sample script for the call itself, and then the finance professional decides what the next step is. A 20-minute ask-anything session, or maybe it's a free financial plan.
00:15:33:06-00:15:46:10
Jackie
If the loved one is a sibling who lives in Chicago and has a business, you're going to want to go a little deeper with them right off the bat, but be very comprehensive. So for anyone listening, if you want to check that out, just talk to your first-choice wholesaler.
00:15:46:12-00:16:08:13
Ryan
I don't know, as you think about stories and people that you've worked with in the last year, are there any stories that you'd be willing to share with us of, you know, kind of how you've worked with a team and maybe some of the results that have come through the problems that you've helped them work through and any stories you could share with us?
00:16:08:15-00:16:33:08
Jackie
Sure. So I always joke that the best idea that I'm going to give you is the one you actually implement. So a lot of it is what action comes behind a coaching call or a great idea that is shared. Gosh, there's so many great stories of success that come out of the work that we do as financial professionals, not because we're great, but because they're great and they are constant learners who love to grow.
00:16:33:10-00:16:53:07
Jackie
So I'll share a story about the family phone call since we were on that topic. Sure. Around this time last year, one of the teams that we work with in Connecticut sent out that sample email template, copied and pasted their complaints, and sent it to their top ten clients. One of the clients reached out and said, Hey, I really want to set this up with my daughter and son-in-law.
00:16:53:09-00:17:15:11
Jackie
My son-in-law is going to inherit an inheritance from his grandparents. I don't know how much. And my 40-something daughter and son-in-law, it's not my place to tell them what to do with their money. But yeah, I want to make sure that they're talking to the experts. So the team in Connecticut has been wise. The client's daughter and son-in-law, they get on the ten-minute family phone call, which goes great too in Connecticut; they just introduce themselves.
00:17:15:11-00:17:36:01
Jackie
Say, Hey, we know you might be experiencing a wealth event if you ever want to talk. We're happy to set up a 20-minute ask-anything session. So fast forward. Daughter and son-in-law took them up on that one-on-one 120-minute session, which turned into our robust conversation and discovery, and they onboarded a seven-figure account from the inheritance of the son-in-law.
00:17:36:03-00:17:56:17
Jackie
So what they did there was acquire new clients. Awesome. Now they've also locked in one of their biggest clients, their daughter and son-in-law. So they're going to work with those kids for a very long time before wealth is transferred, and they don't have to worry about the risk of them going anywhere because they don't want them to be interesting.
00:17:56:19-00:18:16:22
Ryan
Another topic that I'm not sure if it's misunderstood or not, but one of the things is that when I talk to financial professionals, I'll sometimes hear them refer to sort of the next generation of investors as having a whole different set of values in comparison to maybe the current biggest wealth holders. Do you find that to be the case?
00:18:16:22-00:18:31:12
Ryan
Is there really a big, I don't know, demographic shift in values from an investor standpoint? Obviously, ESG has been something that people have talked a lot about. But what's your take on that?
00:18:31:14-00:19:01:16
Jackie
So these statistics and studies are helpful. But again, we're trying to get perspective on a generation. So that's going to be very individual once you actually get down to meeting a prospect or working with the client. So the biggest thing that we can do is have deep discovery and then deliver as much personalization as possible. But one of the misconceptions is that often they don't have any money, or all they're going to do is try to get me to play stock trades.
00:19:01:16-00:19:26:02
Jackie
We know a lot of them value having a relationship. The Fidelity study found that of the genuine Gen Z that they surveyed, 85% would prefer some sort of behavioral coaching compared to 25% of baby boomers. So what does that look like? That's a conversation that we can have with an individual or a team. But just knowing that—that's interesting, right?
00:19:26:02-00:19:47:13
Jackie
That's good data. As you build out your client experience, as you build out your marketing, education, events, whatever you're working on, knowing that, gosh, maybe they do value more of that hand-holding where they're the hero, And as a finance professional, you're the guide, you're the co-creator, you're the advisor—you're not just one thing to them. You're so much more, if not all things, to them.
00:19:47:19-00:20:06:09
Ryan
Okay, that makes sense. And you find that to be a little bit more true, at least in the statistics that you referenced for the generation coming up. So it is the older generation, I guess, whose business model is more focused on making recommendations. And then there is the younger model. Yeah.
00:20:06:09-00:20:29:10
Jackie
If you think about older generations and how they engage with an advisor, So they probably started with the stockbroker. Then it evolved into having an investment manager. So that was product-oriented, and now we're in this new wave of financial planning. You're bringing in more of their loved ones. It's more of a holistic approach. So in this next phase, that's why you see younger generations valuing it.
00:20:29:10-00:20:34:12
Jackie
And the reason that it's evolved that way is because everything's become commoditized and democratized. That makes.
00:20:34:12-00:20:34:18
Ryan
Sense.
00:20:34:19-00:20:43:20
Jackie
On the things that used to be a value add from a financial professional. Now anyone can get access to that, so we have to evolve along with that. Okay.
00:20:43:20-00:21:02:01
Ryan
I want to ask you a little bit more about speaking of values, sort of the ESG side of values. Is it true that the younger generation cares more about those sorts of issues, at least in the year of interaction with that demographic or studies that you've read?
00:21:02:03-00:21:23:14
Jackie
So statistically, younger generations would have a preference for ESG. That's what studies were saying a couple of years ago: they had a very strong preference for it, but now I don't know if that's as strong. So what a lot of financial professionals will do is they'll just ask their clients, Hey, for some of our younger clients, ESG is important.
00:21:23:14-00:21:35:19
Jackie
Where we align impact with the portfolio is something that's important to you, and let them answer because they might have heard of this term ESG and they've no idea what it actually means. Yeah, so a lot.
00:21:35:19-00:21:36:22
Ryan
Of a lot of people for that.
00:21:36:22-00:21:54:13
Jackie
Yeah, that's focusing more on aligning what's important to you and aligning your values with how we're allocating your assets. That's what you want to get to. So not labeling it ESG, because I've had so many advisors ask a client, is the issue important to you? And they're like, No. So you don't want to assume that it is.
00:21:54:13-00:22:20:07
Jackie
If it's not, and if it is, you should know that. But positioning it more as aligning values with how we're allocating those assets, that's going to give you more information. Are there values tied to something that's religious-based? Is it something that's just important to them? Are there things they don't want to be invested in? I know that you've talked about some of our new resources and products, which make it a lot easier for financial professionals to do that.
00:22:20:09-00:22:26:03
Jackie
The ESG is not something that is as big of a conversation as it was several years ago.
00:22:26:09-00:22:51:23
Ryan
Part of what I heard you say, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, is that maybe some of these values that you're putting into investments are more relevant for the younger generation, but they're not all the same. Right. And as you know, I think the assumption is that a younger generation is going to have this set of values, but they can be different.
00:22:52:02-00:23:07:15
Ryan
I mean, yeah, people are different. And so you can customize portfolios by asking and finding out, doing that discovery, and understanding what somebody's value orientation is inside of their portfolio.
00:23:07:16-00:23:36:14
Jackie
Yeah. And part of asking that values question could even be, Okay, I want to retire at 65. And then there was the follow-up question as well. Why can't you tell me a little more about what that looks like? And you might find out that it's because they want to spend half the year traveling and they want to spend the other half of the year with the grandkids, which can also build deeper relationships by knowing what's really important to them and using it not just in what you're doing behind the scenes but in how you communicate with them, the content that you're sharing, the education you're delivering, and what you're talking about.
00:23:36:14-00:23:38:12
Jackie
To deliver more of that personalization.
00:23:38:14-00:23:52:23
Ryan
You've been at first trusted for some time now, and you've had opportunities to work in different areas. You've ended up working for the Advisor Consulting Group. So, I guess what drew you to that side of the business at first was trust.
00:23:53:01-00:24:16:10
Jackie
So it's kind of a funny story about how, you know, life happens and you look back and you're like, I usually always work out the way it's supposed to. So growing up, both my parents worked in the financial services industry, and my mom, for a little bit, practiced management. So I always knew what this role was, and when I started wholesaling, that was fantastic.
00:24:16:10-00:24:34:19
Jackie
I did that for four years, but I kept finding myself drawn to this side of the business, talking about client engagement, communication growth, and marketing. What innovations do they need to be thinking about? I just found myself drawn to it. So about ten years ago, Chris Jepson gave me the opportunity to join his team, and the rest is history.
00:24:34:19-00:24:38:15
Jackie
Yeah, yeah. I love these conversations and the work we get to do with our advisors.
00:24:38:17-00:24:55:22
Ryan
Yeah, that's great. And you've done quite a bit of travel, giving speeches in different places. Any favorite places that you like to go? I don't want to; you know, people listening are going to be like, Wait, she didn't say my wife's name, but what's maybe in the last year or so? Any favorites?
00:24:56:01-00:25:15:07
Jackie
I get asked this a lot. One that was really cool. I went down to Mexico City with our LatAm team. I love Mexico City. That's a really cool place. US I'm a little partial to New York because one of my sisters lives there, and I get to see her during my work trip. That's always a plus. Okay.
00:25:15:08-00:25:21:02
Ryan
All right. Let me go back to Mexico City, because I've been there and I think it's fantastic. It's awesome. What did you like about Mexico City?
00:25:21:04-00:25:33:15
Jackie
I love the culture. Yeah. The food is amazing. The history is so interesting. The architecture is beautiful. These little nooks, like the little neighborhoods, are fantastic. I love Mexico City.
00:25:33:15-00:25:47:04
Ryan
This was the first time I went to Mexico City. I was surprised at how good the food was. I knew, you know, I liked food in general, but I mean, just really good foodie food. Yeah, elevated cuisine. It was just that.
00:25:47:06-00:25:48:13
Jackie
Michelin stars down there.
00:25:48:13-00:26:10:07
Ryan
My goodness. It's so fantastic. And obviously, I guess based on that comment, you understand what I like about going places. They have good food and work. I mean, there are fantastic restaurants there as well. Okay. So as you kind of, you know, travel around, I don't know if you're like me. I kind of spend time sometimes reading books, but I listen to a lot of audio books and kind of go back and forth.
00:26:10:07-00:26:25:11
Ryan
But as long as you spend a lot of time on planes, you probably have some time to read. Are there any books that are on the Jackie Wilkie reading list or anything that you've read recently that you'd recommend our audience check out?
00:26:25:12-00:26:55:01
Jackie
Yes. So the book that I'm reading right now is called Wealth 3.0. They don't have an audio, which is unfortunate because I'm an audio book fan. But this book is so interesting. It's about helping financial professionals survey families differently. Okay. So not just serving the family capital of the money, but also serving more of the dynamics, the people, the things that are important to them, and helping families build more sustainability.
00:26:55:03-00:27:08:05
Jackie
You've probably heard the phrase shirt sleeves" in three generations. So what are ways that financial professionals can be involved—be involved in not just making that less of a risk but really helping a family thrive together?
00:27:08:07-00:27:09:17
Ryan
What's the 3.0 indicator?
00:27:09:17-00:27:11:11
Jackie
So they break down.
00:27:11:12-00:27:12:13
Ryan
Generations is that.
00:27:12:14-00:27:25:01
Jackie
There are three evolutions of wealth management, so they start with wealth. 1.0. Explain what that is. Wealth 2.0. And now this new evolution or turning point is going into wealth 3.0.
00:27:25:03-00:27:47:08
Ryan
So this is the next level. Yeah. Okay. Okay. My final question is for you. As you think about it, as you travel around and talk to people, there's a lot to be negative about. Sometimes people fall into a kind of pessimism. And I want to know what makes you optimistic as you think about—you know, 2024 is just around the corner.
00:27:47:10-00:28:09:07
Jackie
What makes me optimistic is the power of humans in our industry, specifically. So with AI and technology, things are evolving and changing. But if someone values a financial professional, it's because they want their person—the person they like, the person they trust, the person who will respond to their emails—and they know it's a real person, not a robot behind them.
00:28:09:09-00:28:32:21
Jackie
I heard this analogy that you go to the doctor and I might analyze everything and give a diagnosis or prognosis, but who do you want to tell you what that is and what the next steps look like? Do you want a human, or do you want an iPad, and people will still want a human? So I'm really optimistic about the opportunity in the human-to-human side of our industry powered by technology.
00:28:32:21-00:28:35:07
Jackie
So leverage the benefits of both.
00:28:35:09-00:28:45:19
Ryan
So it's not some sort of either or like all the financial advisor jobs you're going to be displaced by an AI or, you know, an interesting algorithm.
00:28:45:19-00:28:46:12
Jackie
Something like that.
00:28:46:12-00:28:56:03
Ryan
But some might. But there's an opportunity to thrive if you've got that human contact and that human relationship that can help you meet the needs of your clients. Yes.
00:28:56:03-00:29:17:07
Jackie
Ultimately, the elite teams that we're working with have this down. All of them lead with financial planning. They're consistently communicating with their clients. They have those experiences built into them. We sometimes call it surprise and delight. They know their loved ones. They know who's important to them. They're bridging into those relationships. So a lot of that has to do with more.
00:29:17:08-00:29:32:13
Jackie
The human side does the things that power them to get there. I always joke with advisors, like you have some clients you do, but how many of your clients really care how the watch is made? Probably not too many. They trust you to do it, but they want to know that it was custom-built for them.
00:29:32:18-00:29:54:22
Ryan
And when you think about some of the elite teams that you mentioned and you know, maybe I am asking for a guess on your part, but if you think about the pie of their success, what percentage do you think comes from maybe the right investment product versus the solutions that you're talking about and the relationships they have, the client, the services part of it?
00:29:55:00-00:30:15:14
Jackie
So it's both, because if someone gives you money and you lose it all, they're not coming back. They can't go back. So it's more about what's the client facing communication or the prospect facing communication versus what's going to be working behind the scenes. So you have to have both. The formula that we usually follow is who and why.
00:30:15:15-00:30:30:01
Jackie
Powered by what and how. So let's say you want to talk about a new solution for your clients. When you bring it to them, you're not just going to say, Hey, I think this is good for you. You're going to say, I think this is good for you because I know market volatility is something that's keeping you up at night right now.
00:30:30:03-00:30:34:04
Jackie
This is going to be a solution for that because of the ABC reason.
00:30:34:06-00:31:01:03
Ryan
Well, Jackie, thank you. Once again, thanks for joining us on the podcast. I will have to have you back again sometime, maybe next year. It's great. It's a great conversation. Thanks to all of you for joining us on the podcast as well. We will see you next time.
