Client Service September 14, 2023

Affiliation Benefits Abound, but Independence Still Has Merits, Say Advisers Who Have Done Both

Many plan advisers have moved to affiliate models for reasons ranging from client service to career pathing, said advisers at the 2023 PLANADVISER National Conference.

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It’s no secret that the retirement plan advisement industry is moving toward increased merging and affiliation with larger firms.

But industries do ebb and flow over time. Take wealth management, where financial advisers are more frequently leaving national broker/dealers to join smaller registered investment advisories, according to tracking by consultancy Cerulli Associates.

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While being independent can have its advantages in retirement plan advising, the benefits to affiliation are numerous, including when considering the needs of the end client, according to two retirement plan advisers who spoke at the 2023 PLANADVISER National Conference.

“When we looked at the No. 1 criteria, [affiliating] was better for our clients,” said Kristi Baker, managing partner in CSi Advisory Services LLC, which joined Hub International Inc. in 2022. “There have been some significant opportunities to lower costs through the power of being with a larger organization. We had some opportunities to bring some new resources and investment tools to be able to drive costs down.”

Barbara Delaney, a principal in another Hub company, StoneStreet Renaissanceo, notes that another benefit of affiliation is not having to frequently renew contracts and other paperwork, a time-consuming process for both the team and her clients.

“I just got into the practice of telling my clients every other year we have to repaper, so they’’ve come to expect that,” she told the audience of advisers in Scottsdale, Arizona. “That’s one of the things people consider when leaving an independent and becoming part of a bigger group.”

Having the support of a large organization also allows her firm to better weather clients’ large staff turnover, Delaney said. She experienced one retirement plan committee that had 100% turnover during the pandemic, but having the tech and support of Hub was helpful.

“We really felt together that this is something we’re going to accomplish, we’re going to do this together, and we’re going to see it through together,” she said.

Baker also noted that affiliation has allowed her to provide career paths she otherwise would not be able to provide if she had stayed independent. She recounted when one of her staff members had hit a ceiling and was looking for a new job in order to gain more experience. Baker was able to call the Hub office and give that employee a new position within the firm.

“If that employee had walked into my office before, I would’ve had to say, ‘All right, let’s see what you can find, and best of luck,’” she said.

Baker sees an additional benefit of affiliation as outsourcing talent acquisition. “It’s hard to find good people, and that’s not my area of expertise,” she says. She now has someone who specializes in talent acquisition who she can call on to help backfill positions.

Delaney, who founded her advisory in 2008, admitted that most firms have moved to affiliate with larger organizations. “It was hard to find someone who’s not affiliated; thus it’s me and Kristi up here,” Delaney joked during the panel session. “The independent crowd has gotten much thinner.”

However, the affiliated advisers agree there are still advantages of staying independent.

“One of the key advantages is that you are still making all of the decisions relative to the business,” Baker said. “You get to determine your branding. You get to determine the direction of your business. I think that’s a huge appeal to stay independent.”

One of the other important upsides to being independent is getting to choose the company’s footprint and make budget decisions without supervision.

“Definitely, being in the corporate environment now, we have [protection and indemnity insurance], and we have some guidelines that we have to go by,” Baker said.

Ultimately, despite most advisers choosing to affiliate, she believes the model will not completely take over.

“I think there’s still a place for independents,” Baker said. “There always will be in the marketplace.”

In Practice September 14, 2023

How Advisers Can Put the ‘Social’ in Social Media  

A financial services social media expert stresses the importance of analyzing audience and connecting to stakeholders and peers to gain new clients.

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You’ve been thinking about it for years. Or maybe it’s on your “to-do” list, but it keeps being deprioritized. Or you decided, at some point, that it’s just not your thing.

The “it” in question is building a social media presence, and advisers and advisory practices avoid focusing on it at their own peril, according to Intention.ly co-founder Meghan Richter, whose firm specializes in financial services marketing.

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“We know that adding a CMO [chief marketing officer] hat to the list of things you’re already doing can be really stressful,” Richter told an audience of plan advisers at the 2023 PLANADVISER National Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. “But if you’re here … you know that building brand recognition, prioritizing client communication, thinking about growth beyond just word-of-mouth referrals and continuously showcasing your value [to clients] has to be a top priority for you.”

Richter, who noted that she talks to advisers on a daily basis, realizes that many question whether social media is worth their time. According to the data, Richter believes the answer is: “100% yes.”

She cited research showing that 10% of financial advisers are found online, and upwards of 70% of investors reallocate funds or change financial providers based on content found on social media.

“Being [on social media] is really critical,” Richter said. “That being said, how do you begin? How do you start thinking about your social media strategy?”

Richter laid out three main tactics for advisories to build and leverage social media:

  1. Determine which platforms to leverage.

Richter noted that the social media platforms that people use tend to differ based on their generation. Baby Boomers, for instance, are most likely to be on Facebook, LinkedIn and X (Twitter). For younger users, however, those outlets start to drop or fall off altogether, with Generation Z’s top platforms being, in order, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

“You have to start with your target audience, and you need to figure out what’s the best platform to leverage [for them],” she said. “It doesn’t mean that you need to be on all of them, but you need to be on the right ones where your target audience may be.”

  1. Strategize the persona of the social channels you select.

There are many options, Richter said, when it comes to creating a social media persona, from which platforms to be on to whether an adviser should be posting as themselves or as their advisory practice.

For instance, she cautioned advisers against using a personal Facebook page most often used for friends and family to start posting business content. Even if you have a following, it may be better to start a separate, dedicated business channel to generate client interest.

For popular social media channels, Richter recommended the following as essential:

  • LinkedIn: business page and personal profile
  • Facebook: business page
  • YouTube: business channel
  • Instagram: business profile
  • X (Twitter): personal profile
  • TikTok: personal channel
  1. Build and optimize your profile.

Once it comes time for an adviser to build a profile, Richter suggested several best practices.

First, an adviser should fill out a robust profile, use specific key words related to the business and have a strong call to action, such as offering an option to book an appointment.

Richter also recommended that advisers use their own voice, not jargon, and post practical, applicable information. She also said it is crucial to answer client questions and engage with others in the industry, noting the importance of keeping the “social” in social media.

“One of the key benefits of social media is not only that it is great to connect with audiences, but that it gives you a solid brand persona,” Richter said. “When you build out a really optimized social media profile, even if it’s just one, it tells the gods up in Google: ‘Hey, this is a firm that is in this space posting content,’ so if someone is searching for a financial adviser in Michigan, you’ll increase your ability to come up more quickly, because you’re posting relevant content or you’ve built out a robust profile.”

The marketing head noted that advisers do not have to worry too much about volume, as social media is about “quality, not quantity.”

Once the baseline of social presence is set up, the community can build over time, with Richter suggesting:

  • Inviting and sharing profiles with current clients (and encouraging them to do the same);
  • Spreading the word about community events and charities the firm or adviser is involved in;
  • Tagging local businesses, organizations and schools in posts to increase visibility; and
  • Sharing accomplishments, awards, news articles and other accomplishments.

“After you’ve built out your profile and started posting your content, you have to keep growing your community,” Richter said. “Tag local businesses, organizations and referral partners that you work with in what you’re sharing … and just keep sharing more of what’s happening in your business.”

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