From Clients to Legacy with Chris Jeppesen (Ep. 100)

0:00What if the greatest opportunity to grow your business isn't finding more clients but creating more value for the ones you already have? As financial advisors move further up market, success becomes less about managing investments and more about becoming indispensable. The advisors who create the greatest long-term value are those who deepen relationships, anticipate evolving client needs, and position themselves as the first call long before money goes into motion. Welcome to the Always On Podcast, I am your host Duncan McPherson. And on this podcast our objective is to enable financial advisors to always be working on their business and on themselves. On today's 100th episode, I'm joined once again by Chris Jepsen, head of advisor consulting

1:05at First Trust portfolios. Chris was our very first podcast guest, so it seemed only fitting to have him back for this milestone conversation. As one of the industry's most respected thought leaders, most in-demand speakers for substantial conferences, Chris continues to help advisors think differently about growth, client relationships, not to mention the future of the profession. Together we explore how advisors can apply the Pareto principle at a deeper level, identify and serve their ideal clients more intentionally and consistently, and build continuity for affluent families while strengthening strategic partnerships, and integrating alternative investments into the process that creates lasting value for both clients and the advisor's business.

2:07I sincerely hope you enjoy episode 100 of the Always On Podcast. Well here we are, episode 100 of the Always On Podcast. I had no idea we were going to get this degree of traction when we started off this little hobby probably four or five years ago. I did this because I couldn't travel for a while, had to keep stirring the pot, and now it's a major part of our business, and I really look forward to this. Today, to pay tribute to the 100th episode, I want to talk about something related to the Pareto principle. Most advisors understand that 80% of their business come from 20% of their clients. They understand, they respect, and they strive to act on competitor-proofing, maximizing

3:07and replicating the 20% of their clients. What's happening now is more and more advisors are realizing that yes, 80% of their business comes from 20% of their clients, but now they do 80-20 on the 20. I mean, I talked to several advisors in the last month or so who confirmed that 10 or 15 of their clients represented 30, 40, 50% of their business. I want to talk about how to build that out. We often talk about building a brand within a brand. Well, now I guess you could say building a brand within a brand within a brand. I can't think of a better person to have this conversation with. Our guest today requires no introduction. He's an incredible thought leader, probably the most in-demand speaker in the industry.

4:08He's the co-author of two books that I am very fond of. Also the co-author of two recent white papers that we'll talk about a little bit later on. He also heads up the advisor consulting group at first trust portfolio. Chris, thanks for being here. You know what, Duncan? I'm honored. You say you couldn't have imagined this getting to the 100th episode in the traction that has made. I seem to think that if you have neon every 100 episodes, you'll do really well. Just don't put me on for another 100 and I bet you get even more traction. Well, there's probably a sweet spot between scarcity and velocity, but no, it's always great. We always get a major uptick in consumption of this podcast when you're here. So Chris, I want to talk about just first of all the concept of just imagining what would it look like

5:12to replicate your top 10 to 15 clients in a financial advisor's business. Let's talk about that. What are your initial thoughts? As you were discussing in the opening there about kind of the Pareto on the Pareto, right, that compounding effect of that and continued focus on the best of your clients. Here's what's interesting is I think people hear that they're like, boy, there's some sense of safety that's found in having a broad number of clients and not be subject to that the difficulty that might arise. Should you narrow it down? I just, the perfect example I was working with a pretty substantial advisor. I'm not sure. Semisolo practitioner, but he had a good support team behind him running around 800 million in assets with 17 clients. And I'm like, boy, you'd really streamlined this thing. This is fantastic.

6:17Congratulations. Light has to be good. He says it's unbelievable. He said, unless you lose one, then it's really felt. So I appreciate those that are creating that one to many service model. And maintaining that level of business. But we're stepping into an age where it can no longer be ignored the needs of the rising affluent. And how do we prevent them from leaving competitor proof as we talk about? And the advisor playbook and the blueswear method. How do we, competitor proof then from those quasi family office type experiences? We got to go deeper in those relationships. We talk about the compounding effect. A lot, we talk about it with our clients, just the secret of compounding. There's also something within the compounding of relationships

7:21that that deep social connection and the compounding effect that that has over years. And while we can, I think a little bit of our client loyalty, right, that loyalty fatigue that we talk about if it's not properly addressed compounding can work in the other direction. But boy, it sure is great when we're delivery and experience that's consistently exceeding expectations over years. Then we get to that point of that social compounding of trust. I'm glad you went there because you're right. I mean, there are many advisors that have a fear or aversion to that concentration risk perception. But on the other side of that, there's a risk of plateauing as a person, as a professional. And you're right on the social

8:28compounding, the law of environment, these clients notwithstanding the family tree and going deeper into those relationships. But the law of environment, these people tend to hang out with live near work with and refer people pretty much like themselves. And the advisor that develops the professional contrast that speaks to the blind spots and the unmet and developing needs of those clients becomes so referable. Now, an advisor can do this without committing to say, okay, I'm just going to narrow cast here. They can create a brand within a brand. They can develop a service model for the rest of their clients. But for the advisor who's striving to say, okay, I want to grow further up market. The opportunity to narrow their

9:33focus, but widen the scope of deliverables to that audience is incredibly powerful. Now, this is where it starts in terms of the mindset is going beyond value add to something that's structured, proprietary, and amplifies your reputational equity value add. Everybody talks about value add, but it's only value added if it's something they really find to be a value. And not just because you're a good person and you care and you try hard, but because you've really thought it through. And so in the last several months, I've been talking to so many of advisors about this and they they ask me who or sorry, they ask me how, how do I do this? I agree. I want to do this. How do I do? And I said, the first thing you have to talk about is who? Let's get specific on the who? Who is specifically your ideal client? Let's professionalize that. Let's crystallize it. Let's, you know, systematize it like actually get it out of your head

10:40and define it on an ideal client profile. And one advisor I taught you, it's come down to two specific people, the millionaire next door, right? The classic self-made, 30-year-old overnight success story. There's that person. And then there's the sandwich affluence. That's obviously the second generation in the prime of their lives, but there is a matriarch, there's a patriarch and there's also a family tree that includes family members who are in the business or tied to it specifically, very active or they're outside living their own lives, what they're still part of that. So let's go there a little bit. Let's talk a little bit more about formalizing and professionalizing the who and then we'll build on the how. I love that. And I love that we're going to be tackling both of those because as if you're listening

11:41to this podcast and you're interested in, listen, I grasp what it is that that Duncan's speaking to. I want to move up market. I'd like to provide and differentiate on that next level of client. Who are those people? Well, I guess you could find out who they are by what it is that they want. So if you could, if you could boil it down to who is it, it's people that are looking for wealth and estate continuity. It's people that are business owners and are considering or at least thinking about leadership's secession. What, how do I take what it is that I've built transition this off. I was two days ago. I was just talking to an oral surgeon who was going through this exact same process. He goes, Chris, I just just sold my practice to a private equity group. He says, now I'm looking at a person that I've brought on. What my secession I have to stay

12:43on. It passed. So those are the things that are going on in his mind. He's wondering, all right, what's the next phase of continuity for my family legacy look like? So family relationships, decision making, these are the things that the people are concerned about. Air preparedness and values transfer are those that will be inheriting this like two of my kids are, or they're in the right way. But this other one, I don't know that they're prepared for the value transfer that I want the intentions of this money to take. And how do we help people through the governments of a continuity blueprint? And that's what we want at the end of this session. This podcast is be able to provide you what does a family continuity blueprint look like? Have that deliverable? What are the questions to ask? How do we discover those who are best suited for

13:46this blueprint? And then we can get into that phase two that you're talking about. I just love that we start there because identifying who your now solution set is best suited for is step one. Okay, so excellent. You and I had a conversation a few weeks ago. And we were talking about at a high level, basically a billionaire as part of a family. And I just started to imagine like what would those needs be like? And what would that be in terms of the family office and the structure and the family dynamics? Now I could be wrong in the number. I think I went on to AI and I asked like how many billionaires are there in North America? And I think the number was 1100. So not bad addressable audience, but then I started

14:50after our conversation talking to advisors and I said, you know, these are big, big teams. I said, do you have any billionaire clients? Very few. But a lot of them said, I've got some clients that could potentially track in that direction. Like, first of all, their money is making more money than they do. Beyond financially independent. And their enterprise value is growing by leaps and bounds. So who knows what that looks like in five, 10, 20 years. But in the meantime, you're right. Every advisor I talk to. Their ideal client, it's not just the number, it's the enlightenment, it's the attitudinal qualities. And part of their investment legacy aspiration is their net worth is not just valued in dollars, it's valued in values. And they want the wealth and the values and the

15:51legacy to converge before the transfer. And it's not accidental. It's not by chance. It's engineered. So I've been talking to advisors about what does it look like as part of your identity for the 20% of the 20% to formalize what it means to be the chief continuity officer for those families. And a lot of advisors saying, I've had some advisors say, well, that sounds like work. Some advisors have said, interesting. I don't know if I could monetize on that, but it's kind of maybe got potential. And others, the pause was palpable. That's what's next for us. So let's pivot from the who to talk about the how we talked about going from good intentions to something as proprietary. So your team at first trust, Jackie especially has done a great job

16:56with the family phone call positioning. So a lot of advisors do that. They offer that as a value added service. It lands gets great feedback. I want you to talk about that. And then the next step in the progression, which is creating a family meeting deliverable to prepare errors and to start building a relationship before the money goes into motion. Let's talk about that as a starting point. As an advisor listening to this, wondering whether this is a real value, something that you might want to introduce in your thinking as I know you are of a handful of existing clients that this might resonate with, how do I even approach the topic or introduce the possibility? One of the best ways is just with some poignant questions, just some some feel questions. When you've got one of those

17:59clients that's and to be frank, once they're approaching a certain level well before billionaire status, they begin asking, how do I simplify things? How do I build continuity? And that's why the family office has emerged as being so popular is listen, I just want one person to bring this all in house that's familiar with both liquid ill liquid, both sides of the balance sheet, family properties, the states, all of it philanthropic, gifting, just somebody to be the centralized figure. And sometimes it just makes sense to hire a couple full time people and start up your family office. And that's what they do. But can we catch them before that step happens? Can we maybe ask them a question something like I'm curious, would it make sense for us to sit down

19:04and discuss really a family continuity blueprint, something that outlines the five steps of family wealth continuity, something talking about your wealth in a state, business ownership, leadership, succession, family relationships, decision making processes, air preparedness, and values transfer. Are these things something that you would like to have a more clear handle of when it comes to your family, maybe prior to the monetization event that we see coming down down the line. I've had this conversation with three families, one of them is one of the three largest private construction companies in North America, privately owned. And having that conversation first of all, I love starting it by saying when I'm talking to them, tell me why you still do this.

20:08I mean, you've got a jet for the kids and then you've got the jet for you and the wife. I mean, at what point do you want to pursue something else? And the enlightening thing that I found when talking to these folks is that their passion is in what they're doing, not what it is that they're earning. It's about what they're creating and the impact and legacy that'll leave. So learning the language of legacy, impact, and continuity deserves our attention if that's the direction that we would like to take our practice. Something to appeal towards those that net were standard. In Jackie Wilkie, in the advisor consulting group at First Trust has created a great question outline guideline called the family phone call. And an addendum to that is an ask anything session where they need to know your this isn't our first rodeo. Other families that we're speaking to

21:14in similar situations have expressed a desire to achieve clarity around these topics. Is that something you you stop me if if it's not, but is that something that you would like to go deeper on or take advantage of the intellectual property that we have on that on that side of the the aisle? Do you want to grow your business strengthen your team and build a practice with real enterprise value? If your answer is yes, then coaching matters. At Pareto Systems, we help financial professionals implement proven strategies around client engagement, team development, succession, and scalable growth. Your business becomes more valuable, more efficient, and more enjoyable to run. Whether you're refining your client experience, building stronger systems, or preparing your business for the future, our coaching gives you the structure,

22:15accountability, and execution to move forward. The first step is a no obligation call with one of our business strategists. They will walk you through our FET process and determine if Pareto is the next step for you in your business. Visit ParetoSystems.com to schedule your call and start building a business that serves both your professional goals and your life. Okay, so you said something that's quite profound that I can validate for many advisors where we we talk about this. I'm always thinking I don't want this to get lost and undermined by the law of diminishing intent. So let's not kill it with complexity. Let's keep it simple. So I've said to advisors, just add a bullet to the agenda of your in your strategy and tactical meeting with your top 20%. A simple bullet, family dynamics. Just put that on the

23:21agenda toward the bottom after you've got caught up and you know invested the past into the future and everybody's sympathico, all of that, just go there. And the framing to your point is through social proof and personal credibility. So what that looks like is the advisor says, hey, I'm curious, more and more of my clients who are similar to you in terms of the track you're on are asking me about family dynamics regarding their continuity and succession and various diagnostic issues. Now, interestingly, I've got my own continuity and succession and family dynamic issues that I'm working on. So as a proof of concept, I'm developing that up, but I'm working with more and more clients who understand that they've got some developing needs. They want to get out in front of that. So is this something you'd like to talk about in the future? So very much

24:22in line with yours, but it kick started by the agenda bullet. The social proof for a client, it's like, okay, so other people, it's not just me, others are feeling this. So yes, I would like to have this conversation. And then step one is if you'd like, we can have a family phone call. I can introduce myself, introduce our people, our practice and our process. And at any point, we can have an AMA and ask me anything conversation beyond that once they've had a chance to think that through. For many advisors who have gone there, they were blown away at how revealing that exercise was and it actually led to a family meeting with a formal agenda drawn from those checklists and talking points that Jackie has created. So now I'm talking to advisors about going even deeper. And one of the best ways to go deeper that's not that complicated is to just develop

25:26some subject matter expertise in the spot in this space. I talked to an advisor, Chris, not long ago, we're going through this progression. And I said, pull up chat on your phone. And I said, give it this prop. This is the actual prompt. I'm a financial professional. Build me a white paper that focuses on adding value to family harmony and legacy that combines family wealth, business continuity and succession with wealth with values transfer for multi-generational high net worth families. That's literally the prompt. And in seconds, he had a framework and he's reading it out to me. And he's like, I am in the red zone right now. I said, now you can structure this. And then you can start plowing in your own context and perspective and stories. And then go.

26:30This can become a hook as part of your marketing and branding strategy. It can become a bridge to start to really professionalize your thought leadership in this space. And it's also invigorating for a lot of advisors who realize, okay, this is demystified. I can go there. Like I actually like this. It's purposeful. It's meaningful. And to your point earlier, when somebody hits their inflection point, there's still purpose and productivity. But there's sort of a bin there, done that. Like I'm not going to be able to spend all my money. Now it's purpose and impact. How many people can I possibly positively impact for the rest of my life? That's where everybody is rejuvenated. So I love your thoughts on that. The edge you listen to and that's fantastic. I would just say I hope that everybody free plays exactly what you just said. Purpose and impact

27:35is it if you're if you're hearing this, you know, like, okay, I'm on board. I don't want to reinvent the wheel. That's a great problem. What's next? What does this look like if the client says, hey, I'm intrigued. What would that look like? We start with three practical actions. The first is a continuity risk assessment. Where we're going to find out with the wealth creators, followed by the selected individual interviews with family members, exactly where the risk fall in your continuity ideal transition. So then we create a one page family continuity map. It shows key people entities and assets gets it all out on one paper. People love that. It's like, yeah, I just see it all right there. I'm going to see my continuity risk assessment. Then I'm going to see my family continuity map. I'm going to see where all those assets are that all those different K ones and deals that I've done on the side and part of

28:42ownership and businesses and all of it's all going to be on the continuity map. And then we're going to produce a written 12 to 24 month continuity blueprint that identifies the priorities, the responsible parties and next actions. We get very specific and very granular and that's what they want to hear. They want, hey, I'm sitting with you, you're my person, you're the quarterback for this thing. And what I want to hear is exactly that. Our priorities, the responsible parties and next actions. And that's all spelled out. Now, those are the first three things that we put together. If this is something you find a value or would like to implement. Okay. The next question is Duncan when when a high net worth family hears that. Okay. I just first of all have to acknowledge that is pure gold. And I also before I answer

29:43your question, I try to imagine the inside voice of the client on the receiving end of that sequential progression. They're sitting there. I'm sitting here listening to you. It's intuitive. It's self-evident. And my knee jerk reaction is I want this. I don't have this. Like you're point about the risk assessment. That sounds like a very collaborative exercise. Why wouldn't I do that? Number one, number two, the clarity that comes from the mouth. He's talking like would be better not knowing where the risk is. I guess that's the alternative, right? I mean, it's okay to point that out. Maybe it's better that we don't know. And no, of course not. They're going to hear this. And the first instinct is kind of surprised I haven't done this before. Yes, this is something that we'd like to do.

30:46Thank you for being enlightened enough to approach me on the subject. Maybe? And depending on the person in every advisor will know the client, they might think, wow, what is this cost? Is this something? Is this an additional fee? Because it sounds like a lot of work that you'll be doing on my family's behalf. At a minimum, if somebody gets involved in any of these steps with my family, they're irreplaceable. Are they? I'm not doing what I was going to say. I'm not doing this again with someone else. You know how we often say, you know, if you're going to tell the world you have a process, it helps to actually have one. That is a process. And you know, you're point about the map. So I'm thinking to myself, okay, I've gotten away with it this long, without having this,

31:49I cannot take that for granted. Okay, I'm lucky. But going forward, to have a map, like an org chart of rules and responsibilities in my family, where they can actually have an understanding for what we've cobbled together over the years, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. And then that blueprint, directionally, okay, here's let's future pace this. Where is it all going to go? I mean, that is the definition of combining a plan with fluid and dynamic planning. It's absolute gold. So, and somebody wants all of that. Chris, if somebody wants that, where do they get it? Well, that's, we have these now to get these through and right now, but sitting in compliance because we've, like everything that we have, just taken from the Paisers, that are having a lot of success with it that allowed us to, because they're pretty confident that most advisors with you, this is work. And life is pretty good

32:52anyway. And I'm doing all right. And I'm probably retiring in the next five years. And yes, sure, I believe that this is probably what's going to happen. But I'll be done before. Most will think that. And that's fine. That's what provides the opportunity for those that, that do dig in. But, you know, this map, this continuity map, it also highlights that potential points of failure. When we talk about it, when we highlight it, we look at our decision makers and our advisors, all the entities assets and and and keep people on this map, it will become evident, self-evident on where there might be potential points of failure on the planet. And would it make sense for for us to address those before they fail?

33:57We found that it that it does make more sense. And and the hardest, the hardest thing is a financial advisor that that has been shared with me is having a client that didn't do the proper planning and the consequences become evident and it too late to rewind the clock. And then it's about damage control. And unfortunately, that's when most people hate when do you call the plumber? When there's a leak. And we we'd like to do that continuity risk assessment before there are any lead. And and they they see that. Or when the leak is just a couple of drips, right? Not full on like little indication, the war check engine, right? Yeah. And enlightened leader of a family would love to think, okay, there's clarity in the roles and responsibility. Like my family members

35:02have a responsibility to carry the torch here. I think that's got to be something that resonates. It's interesting, Chris, you know, as a coach, for for me, what's fulfilling is getting someone to take action, come to their own conclusions and power through the law of diminishing intent. I thought advisors wouldn't go here because of fear of scope drift, right? Okay, now I'm off on a path. I'm going to take my eye off the ball that's got me this far. What I've come to realize, and I say this respectfully, is that there's a bit of complacency. And fair enough, I mean, somebody told me not long ago that 50% of financial advisors today have not experienced a significant sustained. Bear, massive bear market. And I'm like, whoa, so the safety net of that has

36:13become a bit of a hammock of complacency. But what here's how I'm trying to push people through this. As I say to them, directionally as a lifelong planner, you've got to get closer to any and all forms of money and motion. And you've got to get eyes on. Your client has to realize that they have to have a degree of trust for you where they will give you eyes on all of their holdings that are currently outside of the process. And this has led to some very interesting consultations with very significant advisors to try to knock them out of this sort of, hey, life is good. I'm like, let's imagine what this looks like in the next five to 10 years. So with that, we're talking about future pacing. And what that does is positions the advisor always to be the first call. So they get the call before any decisions made never after, achieving total client engagement.

37:18This is very important. So everybody talks about net new, net new assets. And a lot of advisors think I'm going to do this through acquisition of new clients. Fair enough. But before any focus on acquisitions made, focus on conversion of existing relationships, maximize existing relationships, what you've got because sometimes the unintended consequence of acquisition is attrition. I think you said to me, you know, you get an advisor brings on five new clients. And those five collectively do not even come close to the loss of one of their top 20 clients because they they sort of left them to their own devices. So total client engagement fee worthiness you talked about why you're compensated on how much. And you know, so I love your thoughts on that progression, getting closer to money and motion and and eyes on all of that thoughts. There's a lot there.

38:23And as we're talking about total client engagement, I'm just thinking as an advisor, if one of your five best clients, one of your five best, these so the ones that you have to relationship with, you've experienced the social compounding effect. Trust loyalty is all established, but they're not in a vacuum. They're out in the world and and they're in contact with an enlightened advisor who has grasped some of the concepts that we're talking about. And if that advisor were to say something on the third tee or maybe the tenth tee when they're grabbing a little something to eat at the comfort station. And they look to that that client years and they say, Hey, I'm curious. You've done really well. And you've built up an a pretty impressive business. And I mean, all the accolades in your industry are are there.

39:25I'm curious when the advisor or team that you're working with showed you your your family continuity roadmap that outlined where all the assets are at and identified were the potential risk for failures. Felt, are you comfortable with with not just the the concept and grasping that map, but but the plans that are put in place to make sure that those don't fall apart. Now guys, that was 30 seconds. That's at the comfort station on number 10 with one of your top five clients. And if they wouldn't say, I mean, what do you think they say? What? My my family continuity and legacy roadmap. I don't know that we've we really haven't gone that deep.

40:31I don't know maybe maybe that's what they'd say. You know, I haven't seen that, but my advisor was all on top of that. Great. I think you're making enough money where it probably wouldn't make a difference if you did have a failure in there or not. Right? I mean, that you think that that is going to fly. This is why I think at the end of this podcast that you have the takeaways of at least providing an action plan, a three step action plan and a series of questions for introducing this additional level of services for your high net worth clients and get out in front of it and at least have them turn it down rather than it be proposed because it's getting proposed. It's not uncommon for me to hear from the regular retail investor now. Hey, why would I invest in public equities to begin with? Every all the money's being made on the secondaries before these companies

41:35become ideal. This is how they're talking. So they're out in front of it and the education on is is faster than we've ever seen. Did you see today, Duncan? It was interesting. What Sam Altman said that singularity he believes was just reached yesterday. Did you see it? They were talking about 20 30 before AI reached singularity where it was smarter than the combined human knowledge. And he says that it happened yesterday. Look, I don't know. Maybe that's not yesterday. It'd be too far from now if he says it already happened. And when the combined combined human knowledge database is exceeded with a you know where the value will be. It will be in that social compounding. It will be in that loyalty reservoir that you've built up over the years. And being out in front of what it is that they're most concerned about and that is having

42:39clarity around their continuity roadmap. Advisors often asked, how do I know where to focus to get the biggest lift in my business? That's exactly what the practice management index or PMI for short was designed to answer. PMI is a diagnostic tool built by Pareto Systems to measure the strength of your practice across the 18 key business focus areas that drive growth, scalability, and enterprise value. In just 25 minutes you'll get a clear snapshot of your strengths and blind spots plus a roadmap to turn insights into action. Start your assessment today at Pareto Systems.com, backslash PMI, and take the guesswork out of your next move. The link is also in the description of this episode. For a limited time, get the breakdown report for free. Just use

43:41coupon code BDR25. That's a $99 value which gives you access to a detailed list of action items and implementation tools. Now back to the show. Well, I want to go back to that golf episode because I love hearing advisors tell me stories about when a great client brings a friend to an encounter with the advisor, whether it's on a golf course or some other scenario. And sure enough, the question comes up from the friend. You know, so you're a financial advisor. And I love the stories of advisors who don't, they're not opportunistic, they're not coin operated. They don't chase, but they do ask good questions to create professional contrast to put in the wedge. And when you're telling that story, I can only imagine as that question is kicking around in that person's head, how bad the back nine would have been

44:44because they lost their focus. But when you punctuate questions with something specific, like a roadmap, like an assessment, like a structured process, it takes away any concern about hidden agenda. This is not a Trojan horse. This is something I have to do, especially when it's fueled with stewardship, understatement, not salesmanship. So, um, okay, I want to, I want to keep building on this because we talked a little bit about complacency. And obviously the other side of that, the contrast would be innovation. I had a, I had a conversation with an advisor substantial, like tracking towards a comma to the AEM. But he's deep on the back nine. He's less than five years out.

45:49He's got his protege in place. It's actually really well built out, but I called him out because, uh, and this is not a one off, by the way, this has happened in other scenarios, but I said to him, I said, can I be, can I be candid? It's like always. I said, you sound like a guy who's mailing it in. You sound like a guy who's so focused on the sunset. And what your life looks like when you're out. And you've never said anything specifically that leads me to that. It's in your tone, your cadence, your energy. There's a little bit of, um, cynicism in some of the things you're talking about. I think you've lost your mojo. I think you've lost your purpose. And I said, I don't want you to go out this way. I'm doing you a disservice by not having this conversation. I want the last five years to be your best five years. What a phenomenal conversation that came from the

46:55candor. Now you got to earn the right to go there. Um, but, but now the whole track is, what are the things you're going to do to leave on your terms to make sure everybody's in good hands and to secure your legacy, uh, when you are out. And so I want to, I want to talk with some of the things we, we discussed there. Uh, first of all, before I get into this, have you, have you had some of those moments of truth type conversations with advisors? Just, just every day. Uh, well, it's by nature of just the, the demographic, right? Of the business right now. It's the more common conversation, much more than 25 years ago, where we were just all about just bringing in as many assets as we could. These are the conversations I, if I were to summarize

47:58kind of what we've talked about, kind of what's next. And if you're taking notes on the back end, here are the three things that I hope that you pull from from today's conversation. First is see the whole family. First, connect the right people. Second, and prepare the next generation. If you're clients right now, you're top five, you're 20% into an 80 and the 20 on the 80. If they can say my advisor sees my whole family, they've connected all the right people. And they prepared the next generation. Then I apologize, we wasted 45 minutes of your time. But they're not answering that. And you're looking for the deliverables to provide it

48:58between Pareto systems. There's not a question on the street. We're independent. We're first trust portfolios do business with anyone. And we found the foremost leading expert that puts advisor first and brings meaningful impact to every relationship that they have. That's why we partner with Pareto. And if it first trust in our advisor consulting group can provide any of those solutions to bring to pass the answer to those three, three issues with your clients, then lean on us to do it. Because we have found that everything that we do that helps an advisor become more successful. In other words, their clients outcomes become more predictable. Everything we do in that space resonates in a return for our firm. And so let us help. I appreciate that. Great, great progression and checklist there. And it just brought me back to the

50:00whole, what, why, who, how, like, what are you trying to accomplish? What is the unmet need? Where, you know, where's this going? Why is it important to you, your team, and your clients? Who is the ideal client? And then how are you going to go there? That's a great kickstart. I do want to talk for a second about the other AI, which of course is alternative investments. You and I have got a white paper that's currently in compliance. I'm very excited about that coming out. Because that has shocked me. The, the significance of that even from the moment we started talking about it to today. I want to talk about the role alternatives, complain in everything we've discussed. Because we all know you can't pitch. All's as an idea. As a trade or as a product has got to be positioned as part of the process.

51:03It's also rejuvenational. Because I think there are many advisors that have clients that aren't even aware that an advisor can be active in that space. And they have access to deliverables in that space. Am I overstating it? That if somebody wants to become the chief continuity officer essentially for the top 20 clients. That it's not optional alternatives have to be embedded as part of the process. I don't even know that I could find a, a single team. And I'm just running through the role at eggs. I can't think of a single one family office solo practice from team. That does it make alternatives. Significant. Hard to their solutions. And based approach. I don't know that I can't think of a single one. And for good reason.

52:10What's interesting is is alternatives have always been there. People have been talking about them forever. It wasn't that widely adopted. But it's almost like once we hit that tipping point. I remember it back in the day. I know the advisors do too when it was only in mutual funds. And UIKs came around and like listen there. You can kind of know what you own here. And then it's not as diluted of a basket. And you know there were so many other perks. Tax wise, etc. And then ETFs came around. And there are those that ignore them at the beginning. But the early adopters they jump out to to a pretty quickly. I don't know that this is something that in fact I'm pretty confident. You just cannot ignore. Really, I guess you could. It's your peril not being proactive and at least sharing that as

53:11as part of your solution stable. Right. I just couldn't imagine for all of the the benefit just logically. What was the one in the white paper that we talked about? And I may be off on the number but it was something around 88% of companies that generate a hundred million dollars or more in revenue. 88% of the companies that do that are private. Well, to break that down there's 2,800 plus or minus public companies, 19,000 private companies with a variety of needs. And to your point, the billion dollar plus advisors and those, I mean not not not still. They're already there fair enough. It's the movable middle. The advisors in the 345 700 AUM space who are trending. They're tracking in this direction. Now that all's have been democratized. The awareness in the marketplace is more significant.

54:13The positioning has to be there. And the opportunity to go back to existing relationships and reframe and reintroduce and rejuvenate how they perceive you and how they describe you. And this is one I want to finish with. I am absolutely baffled by the advisors who have cracked the code on engaging other service providers and how all this has become part of the fuel of that. Everything we've talked about, the chief continuity officer has been a propellant for these stronger relationships. I don't know about you, but I'm talking to advisors. It's either one to one, two to one or three to one of introductions from a variety of strategic partners versus advocate clients. And the quality is mind bending of those introductions. So every advisor listening in

55:21who's in the maybe that movable middle space, I'm going to ask you, you've got this inner circle of existing relationships that you people who think they know you. I want you to make a list of the obvious ones, accountants, attorneys and other service providers you have a relationship with. Make a phone call, schedule a meeting to reintroduce yourself, have an agenda and watch the quality and the quantity of introductions. I just want to formalize this for a second because I'm I'm encouraging advisors go beyond this reciprocal sort of COI dynamic, formalize this as a proprietary part of your process that you have created a vast network vast being an acronym value added support team. You don't refer people out to these others. You engage these people into your

56:21process and it's incredible. The advisors who have gone beyond the obvious, I talk to an advisor who has an incredible relationship with a career counselor who focuses on pre current and post university kids. He's embedded that into the process. The positioning, having that conversation with a client, you know, I'm curious and you know, this is part of our process and we've got clients that are really engaging with this massive unmet need. So career counselor elder care, massive, family governance and mediation because how revealing is it when somebody is their inflection point and they're on the back half of their journey and wealth is revealing some dysfunction. And then some advisors this notion of creating a continuity council like a formal

57:25council of service providers quarterbacked by the advisor. Whoever controls that meeting is proactively driving the meeting, the agenda, the priming, the execution and the follow-up is making themselves indispensable. So I'd love to hear your perspective on all of that. Well, I just completely give credibility to what we talked about this entire time. It's about being the continuity person for the value-added support team, being that point person. I put a couple of others on there when I think of the value-added support team. The cyber security and family privacy. Huge. Is end going to get as they move up market more and more people, they are concerned about preservation, their privacy and their security. And so we kind of added that as part of that

58:31value-added support team. The other that that advisors are getting asked is when you start getting to that family decision-making tree and where there might be potential points of failure there, more often than not addiction, mental health, behavioral concerns, when appropriate, huge. Being a person to be able to refer on that side. It's just this is just real life. It's it's real world and people are on an island when they're dealing with those kind of issues. And to be a point person who's worked with other families who have dealt with similar issues is just an absolute God send for for those folks. You talk about the last five years being the best five years as a financial advisor. Definitely can be the most meaningful, most impactful, and purpose driven years of your

59:35professional career. And we're seeing it happen and it's pretty awesome to watch and to witness it. You know one of my favorite words that sort of defines that is the word accretive. You know you think of the hockey stick. You know you think about compounding inflection point, whatever you want to call it. I mean it's not just quantitative. It's qualitative. And it's it's you know the quote Jim Rohn. It's not what it gets you. It's what it makes of you. The fulfillment, the purpose, it is deep. It's so profound. I love you know I love when an advisor talks about how much impact first trust has had on their life. And not just the things that they can count and measure.

1:00:38But some of the softer impact on them personally like I'm I'm a better dad. I'm a better husband. I'm healthier like you just liberated me to stop kicking these cans down the road and focus on these things. Bottom line is you have to go from aspiration and intention to structure. You've got to build out a process. It's engineered. If you want to attract sophisticated clients you've got to make yourself more attractive. And the advocacy that comes from these influencers they don't talk to their friends and their colleagues and their family members about the rates of return. I mean it's a given that you're good in that space. They talk about the things that they didn't expect

1:01:38that they never got around to addressing. And I have been so profoundly impactful on their lives. There's never been a better time to be a financial advisor. And I don't think today in going forward there will be a better time to be alive in my opinion. But Chris we scratched the surface. I hope this has been remotely valuable but I'll give you the parting words and I really appreciate you being here. Well like I mentioned earlier we appreciate the relationship with first trust and as far as the culture at first trust it and all starts with Jim Bowen our CEO who is just a magnificent CEO an incredible example and and he kind of that that entire culture of advisor first and going through time together has been instilled in everybody. He's at any significant time in any advisor who's spent any time with with our firm realizes that it's

1:02:41it's client first is advisor centric and we would be humbled to partner with anybody in a deeper way to have a more meaningful purpose and and impact. So thank you for having me on 100 episodes unbelievable. So it's been great great run. Okay I promise to give you the last word but you went there and I just can't not say there are a few people you come across in your life where the value of the interaction begins at the end of the interaction which means I've had conversations with Jim Bowen. I'm thinking about that conversation an hour later a day later a week later because of the resonance the the brevity but the impact of what he said that's fueled by a philosophy and obviously incredible wisdom and Chris I'd put you in that same category. I hang up the phone on conversations with you I'm thinking about the conversation either because you said something

1:03:45incredibly humors or it was just so incredibly thought provoking it's a rare skill and it's all fueled by honor purpose and intention so I appreciate that a great deal massive impact on my life thank you sir. Appreciate it. Thank you for listening to Always On with Duncan McPherson. Where our objective is to enable professionals to always be working on their business and on themselves. Want to learn more about Duncan and his team? Visit ParetoSystems.com. Don't forget to click the follow button below to be notified when new episodes become available. The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the hosts and or guests and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Pareto systems. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only.