Power Your Advice

Sheldon Chang is the President of CrowdStreet Advisors, a company that provides investment advisory services exclusively to privately managed accounts and private funds. They also help advisors incorporate commercial real estate (CRE) into their clients’ portfolios. Doug and Sheldon talked about the unique opportunity CrowdStreet gives to private investors and their clients to advance their portfolios.  They also discussed: Sheldon’s diverse background in the industry and how he arrived at CrowdStreet Advisors The role CrowdStreet plays in the industry to allow access to great investment opportunities  The return of economic and demographic trends that are impacting advisors Why CrowdStreet focuses on projects in growing cities How CrowdStreet is working to make CRE more accessible to advisors Resources: CrowdStreet Advisors Source

Teresa Leno is the Founder of Fresh Finance, a financial services industry publishing company specializing in enterprise content creation and deployment for advisors. Doug and Teresa talked about how they co-developed Advisorpedia’s newest product, The Advisorpedia Content Engine, that provides advisors access to personalized content they can use as their own and share with clients. They discussed: The need for advisors to engage with content that helps them and their clients grow Teresa’s background in the industry and the idea behind her platform How financial content can drive more leads to financial advisor’s sites The types of content financial advisors should be using to their advantage What benefits FreshFinance brings to the financial industry  Resources:  The Advisorpedia Content Engine  Source

Robert Teaney is the Director at ViewTrade., a firm creating a smoother, faster and more efficient straight through trading process for non-U.S. firms seeking access to the U.S. equity & option market. They provide turnkey white-labeled retail brokerage, technology, content, customer engagement and advisor solutions to brokerage firms, banks, and financial firms worldwide. Doug and Robert talked about what Robert learned regarding advisors through his time visiting practices and the problems they continue to face. They also discussed: Robert’s journey and decision to join ViewTrade An overview of ViewTrade and what its trying to accomplish The recent release of OneView and how it helps advisors The feedback from advisors who are using OneView What is next for ViewTrade Resources: ViewTrade Source

Gino DeRango is the Senior Vice President, National Sales Manager at Axos Advisor Services, a hybrid custodian and financial services company with powerful integrated custodial and banking solutions that enable RIAs to offer a wider range of services to their clients. Doug and Gino talked about the current environment of the financial services industry and the opportunities that are in front of advisors. They also discussed: The major changes in financial advising over the last two decades How the industry can better focus on the end investor to ensure people are getting educated Why Gino feels that Axos Advisor Services is going to be successful What has him excited about joining the company How the industry can become winners Resources: Axos Advisor Services  Source

Eric Lansky is the President of StoneCastle Cash Management, a company that connects institutional and retail investors to banks via innovative cash, deposit, and capital investment solutions. Doug and Eric talked about the current environment and why cash is becoming more relevant than ever for advisors. They also discussed: The implementation of cash management into advisors’ practices The increase in liquidity events and where cash is going Why it may be beneficial to have direct control over clients’ cash Why there are such large differences in rates among bank checking, savings, and CD accounts How StoneCastle helps advisors manage their clients The clients now becoming referrals for advisors   Resources: StoneCastle Cash Management   Source

Carla Barry is head of Operations at Axos Clearing, a full-service clearing firm focused on the success of introducing broker-dealer and registered investment advisor correspondents. Doug and Carla talked about her coming from outside the financial services industry and what she believes goes into creating a great service model. They also discussed: What gets her excited to come to work every day How she keeps her staff motivated at a high level Her rating of the service her team currently provides to broker dealers Using the strategy of teaching combined with problem solving The way the feedback she is getting from clients has changed over the year she has worked there What she would tell a prospect who is considering the service and support of Axos Why Axos makes sense for her and what gets her excited about the future Resources: Axos Clearing  Source

Andrew Altfest is the founder and CEO of FP Alpha, the first AI driven, comprehensive financial planning solution that enables advisors to provide actionable and personalized recommendations to clients across over 15 financial planning disciplines.  In today’s podcast, Doug talked with Andrew about his background and how he got the idea for this innovative product. They also discussed:  Andrew’s background growing up in a family of advisors The solutions FP Alpha provides to advisors and the journey of its creation Why tax planning and estate planning are key areas to providing holistic advice How Andrew and his firm have used FP Alpha for personalization AI’s impact on personalization and how advisors do business Why Andrew decided to offer his solution to the industry instead of keeping it for his firm Resources: FP Alpha  Source

Rocco Pellegrinelli is the Founder and CEO of Trendrating, a Swiss company with proprietary and unique trend-capture and rating methodologies used in the asset management, wealth management, private banking, advisory, hedge funds, and family offices fields to maximize returns and to better control risks. Doug and Rocco talked about the current state of the overall global markets and the historical trends that may tell us what to expect when deciding to invest. They also discussed: The combination of factors affecting market fluctuations Why inflation is not just an American issue How active management can help people navigate the current and upcoming cycles The challenges that Rocco has experienced as an active manager over the last decade Rocco’s advice to active managers about the opportunities that exist The Trendrating model and what it says about recent market behavior Resources: Trendrating  Source

Adrian Johnstone is the Co-Founder and President of Practifi, a performance optimization platform purpose-built for the wealth management industry that empowers teams to automate workflows, create rich client records and access advanced analytics in a unified experience. Doug and Adrian talked about his background that led to his path of co-founding Practifi and why he decided that the idea was worth the investment. They also discussed: The issues that may arise if advisors don’t automate their workflows How advisors can manage all of their tasks to become more efficient and save time How AI makes the optimization achievable The business development app they created to automate firms’ growth activities Tracking ROI being crucial and how the app helps with that The profitability puzzle Resources: Practifi Source

Mac Bartine is the CEO of SmartRIA, which is a powerful, easy-to-use cloud-based software solution designed to meet the specialized needs of compliance consultants, investment advisors, and CCOs. Doug and Mac talked about the SmartRIA platform and how advisors can take advantage of it to turn compliance to an asset.  They also discussed: What drove the idea for SmartRIA and why Mac wanted to pursue compliance solutions The benefit of using SmartRIA and what it does for advisory firms How advisors are starting to view compliance as an asset and not a barrier What technology SmartRIA integrates with and getting approval on social media The advantages of reporting client annual reviews and trading it on compliance software Mac’s advice for those in the industry on navigating the accelerating rate of change Resources: SmartRIA Source