A conversation with the industry thought-leader, financial planner and host of the popular blog and podcast series

It was almost 2 years ago when Michael Kitces last visited this show.

And much has changed since that conversation.

Even his own business life took a new turn, having joined Buckingham Wealth Partners in March of 2020—right when the pandemic shut the world down and the market tanked.

In this episode, Michael shares the story of his transition, and weighs in on the changes this industry experienced in the past year and the impact on advisors and their businesses, sharing key takeaways, including:

• Best practices for creating a thriving financial advisory practice—and how to build a firm with the end in mind.
• The infinite value of strategic vision—and how clarity around “what” and “why” is critical.
• The realities of scale—and why he says it doesn’t add as much to profitability as many think.
• The key considerations around acquisitions—and how organic and inorganic growth synergies should be a part of the overall strategy.
• The role of marketing—and why he feels it’s the most scalable part of an advisory business.
• Methodologies around fee structuring—and why margins often do not improve with growth.
• The employee advisor mindset of “more revenue”—and why advisory business owners need to think about profitability, enterprise value and client service instead.

Michael is a rockstar in the wealth management world, with a scope of knowledge unsurpassed by others. And he shares a ton of advice in this episode—so much so that you’ll want to download the transcript to be sure you captured it all.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:16 — 96.5MB) | Embed

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Download a transcript of this episode…

Related Resources:

Beginning with the end in mind
How to chart an efficient course to your best business life. Read->

Aligning Your Inward and Outward Pointing Compass: A Process for Advisors Considering Change
Balancing the needs of all stakeholders offers a clearer and more congruent path towards your ultimate destination. Read->

Gaining Scale: Why it Matters to Your Advisory Practice
Scale seems to be the buzzword du jour, but what does it really mean for your practice? Read->

Michael Kitces on How to Differentiate and Grow in a Competitive Environment
One of wealth management’s leading voices shares his thoughts on the fundamental shifts in the industry, the leveling of the playing field and what advisors need to do to compete and thrive. Listen->

Michael Kitces:

Michael Kitces is the Chief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning and helping to make financial advisors better and more successful.

In addition, he the head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners, the co-founder of the XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, and New Planner Recruiting, and FA Bean Counters, the former Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, the host of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, and the publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View.

In 2010, Michael was recognized with one of the FPA’s “Heart of Financial Planning” awards for his dedication and work in advancing the profession.