Guest: ChatGPT, a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations and complete a variety of other mind-blowing things. This artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI was released in November 2022 and has been upgraded since then. In a Nutshell: With all the excitement and interest around artificial intelligence, particularly ChatGPT, I thought it was time I did an episode on AI. And as I looked around for potential guests, I thought, why not go directly to the source and interview ChatGPT. So I connected ChatGPT to a text-to-speech AI from ElevenLabs named Rachel. She was gracious enough to answer my questions and give me a snippet of what AI is capable of.

Between Now and Success

ChatGPT and I Recorded a Podcast

Guest: Dan Haylett, Director, Head of Growth & Financial Planner at TFP Financial Planning in Essex, England. In a Nutshell: My business partner, Mitch Anthony, calls it "Life-Centered Financial Planning." Dan Haylett's firm uses the term "human-focused financial planning." However you describe the process, the fundamentals are the same: a growing movement of financial advisors putting people first and prioritizing the relationships they build with their clients over time. On today's show, Dan and I discuss what that level of personalized service looks like, how it's priced, and how he's built a team to support every client on their journey to retirement.

Dan Haylett on Defining, Building Out, and Delivering Human-Focused Financial Planning

Guest: Amit Dogra, President and COO of tru Independence. tru offers an open architecture platform that provides a full suite of services that advisors need to manage and grow their business effectively. In a Nutshell: In 2022, I crunched the numbers from Charles Schwab’s 2022 RIA Benchmarking Study and spotted an alarming trend: net organic revenue growth is almost non-existent in our industry. Solving that problem isn’t just a matter of running a better marketing campaign or asking clients for more referrals. It requires an understanding that every facet of your organization is interconnected and must be thoughtfully designed to support and reinforce your ultimate aim. Amit Dogra and I discuss: Six specific areas that leaders need to focus on to build a highly functional, growth-minded firm. The relationship between total client experience and organic growth. Using your Why Story to enhance your culture and deepen your connection to employees and clients. The question tru Independence is asking itself as it redefines its purpose. How leaders and entrepreneurs should think about their responsibilities when it comes to driving growth. Why it’s worth investing in relationships even if there isn’t a direct “dollars and cents” ROI. Why Amit believes advisor technology is heading toward what he calls “experience as a service” that’s part of a “single source code” instead of best of breed or integrated but separate applications. Building excellent service around your team’s unique skillsets. How Amit fosters a curious spirit that helps him see the big picture and connect some surprising dots. Resources Related to This Episode Elliot Weissbluth on building $30 billion RIA HighTower Amit chuckled when I mentioned Elliot’s habit of “firing” himself at the end of every year — turns out he encouraged people who worked for him to do the same! Elliot Weissbluth on management: Fire yourself every year I dug into Elliot’s methods and philosophy a little deeper in this article I wrote for InvestmentNews. Deconstructing Amazon’s Massive Growth by Working Backwards with Bill Carr Amit is an admirer of Amazon’s leadership principles, and I talked to one of the company’s key executives about the insights, stories, and secrets that propelled Amazon to the top. Building an Interconnected Technology Future Ainslie Simmonds, President of Pershing X, talked to me about how an interconnected suite of financial applications could help advisors spend more time doing what they do best: delivering human-to-human interactions. The Digital Money Advisor Podcast Amit says you don’t have to believe in Bitcoin. But you do have to have an informed opinion when your clients come to you with questions. In this year-long podcast series, I talked to leading thinkers in the crypto space. 

Amit Dogra on Using Systems Thinking to Solve the Organic Growth Problem

Guest: Leslie Y. Tabor, Director of Business Consulting and Education at Charles Schwab Advisor Services. In a Nutshell: Most successful RIA leaders have been very intentional about hiring top talent in this competitive jobs market. But the best of the best are now being just as intentional about diversifying their talent to create a more dynamic culture capable of delivering more value to clients. Leslie Tabor explains how Charles Schwab is helping RIAs build diverse cultures based on four pillars: Cultivating an inclusive workplace culture. Attracting, developing. and retaining a diverse workforce. Serving the needs of a diverse marketplace. Supporting diverse communities. 

Leslie Tabor on How Advisors Can Build More Diverse and Inclusive Firms

Guest: Gayle Colman, Certified Financial Planner®, Master Integral Coach®, and author of the new book The Body of Money. In a Nutshell: Financial decisions are often framed as a tug of war between the head and the heart. But by paying attention to how the whole body expresses feelings around money, advisors can guide clients past their fears and towards a fulfilling sense of sufficiency and inner knowing.

Accessing Body Intelligence to Make Wiser Money Decisions with Gayle Colman

Guest: Terry Foxworth CFP®, CLU, and his daughter, Morgan. Terry is the Managing Partner at Foxworth Advisors in Asheville, NC. Morgan is a student-athlete at Oregon State University where she is a member of the women's rowing team. In a Nutshell: To quote Terry's firm, "Life's an adventure. Plan for it." The TransAmerica biking adventure that Terry and Morgan planned (more or less) for Morgan's last summer before college brought them closer together and taught them just how much they're capable of achieving.

Insights From a TransAmerica Biking Adventure With Terry Foxworth and His Daughter Morgan

Guest: Scott Holsopple, the Chief Growth Officer at Hightower, one of the top RIA firms in the country with well over $100 billion in assets under management. In a Nutshell: How do you think about your personal and professional growth?

Mastering a Growth Mindset with Hightower's Scott Holsopple

Guest: Ainslie Simmonds, President of Pershing X. In a Nutshell: For decades, technology has promised productivity boosts that would shorten work weeks and increase leisure time. But despite all the computing power at the heart of a modern financial services tech stack, I don't think the typical advisor is working any less than he or she was 10 years ago. Perhaps more importantly, I don't think tech has freed the typical advisor to focus more of their time on building client relationships and delivering human advice. Instead, what tech has done is enabled financial advisors to do more analysis and deliver more data and "what ifs" to clients while also facilitating the increase in communication. The fact remains that no technology enables two humans to increase the speed at which they’re having an in-depth conversation. And ultimately, it's the human to human conversation that generates the true value in a financial advisor-client relationship. Technology is a means to an end and Ainslie Simmonds and her team are hard at work building an interconnected suite of financial applications that will respond to your most challenging needs, so that you can spend more time focusing on helping your clients thrive and running your business your way.

Building an Interconnected Technology Future with Ainslie Simmonds

Like Miracle Mile Advisors, the path from where your firm is today to where you want it to be tomorrow is not a straight line up and to the right. You'll face fork-in-the-road moments that will define you and your firm. Antonia Burchman shares how Miracle Mile Advisors responded to their pivot points and paints a path forward for advisory firm leaders who want to grow and deliver a great client experience. Guest: Antonia Burchman, Senior Director of Corporate Development for Miracle Mile Advisors. Antonia was one of Miracle Mile's first team members and has been with the firm as it has grown from less than $100 million in AUM to approximately $4.5 billion.

How People, Processes, Compensation, Culture, Pivots, and Growth Strategies Led Miracle Mile Advisors to $4 Billion + in AUM with Antonia Burchman

Pam Perskie is the Founder and CEO of Seven Mile Advisory, a multi-family office that works with clients who have significant financial complexity, including business owners, private equity professionals, real estate investors and operators, professional athletes, and entertainers. Pam and I discussed how a successful multi-family office operates, the profile of clients, how her firm charges for its services, the mindset advisors need to work with wealthy (and oftentimes famous) individuals, where alternatives fit in her clients’ portfolios, and the role that technology plays in delivering exceptional service.

Working with Ultra-High-Net-Worth Families in a Multi-Family Office Structure with Pam Perskie

Andrew Kaye-Skinner is a Senior Product Trainer for Advisor Group, which is one of the country's largest independent broker dealers. Andrew and I discussed how he taps into his theater and linguistics background to deliver effective training to financial advisors. We also touch on some adult learning theory topics that will help you get your message across whether you're training your team of advisors or preparing to speak at an event.

Using Theater and Linguistics Techniques to Train, Educate, and Engage an Audience with Andrew Kaye-Skinner

Michael Fosnaugh is a Chicago-based Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the Flagship Fund at Vista Equity Partners (Vista). Vista has over $95 billion AUM and over 20 years of experience investing exclusively in enterprise software. I talked to Michael about the opportunity in private equity and how he and his team analyze and invest in the B2B software market.

A Guide to Private Equity and Enterprise Software Opportunities with Michael Fosnaugh

Miguel Sosa is a research and product strategist at Bluerock Capital Markets, which has $15 billion in AUM. At the 2022 CAIS Alternative Investment Summit in Beverly Hills, Miguel and I discussed a paper he wrote on Advanced Diversification, where he used modern portfolio theory to deconstruct the three elements of diversification to quantify the benefits of each of those elements. We then discussed how to apply those three elements to build a more efficient portfolio. We get a little technical in this one but I think you’ll really appreciate how this type of knowledge can help you build higher performing risk-adjusted portfolios.

Deconstructing Modern Portfolio Theory to Build Better Investment Portfolios with Miguel Sosa

John Christmas is Co-Head of Business Development and Investor Relations at HPS Investment Partners, a global investment firm with approximately $92 billion in AUM as of September 2022.   John and I talked about how even as interest rates rise, private credit could provide a reasonable ROI with moderate volatility for clients looking beyond the traditional components of the 40 in the 60/40 portfolio.

A Guide to Private Credit Alternative Investments with John Christmas

Since 2014, I’ve published 678 podcasts and the vast majority were interview shows. In 2022, I published 45 shows. Here are 10 ideas from my top podcasts of 2022 that particularly resonated with me and my audience (in chronological order). You'll hear ideas from: Lisa Salivi Denise Shull Scott Keller and Vik Malhotra Scott Hanson Julia Boorstin Carrie Melissa Jones Lynne Twist Jess Bost Dr. Preston Cherry Rachel Robasciotti Full show notes: https://stevesanduski.com/top-podcasts-of-2022/ 

10 Key Ideas From My Top Podcasts of 2022

Host Steve Sanduski, CFP® is the founder of two financial services companies, a New York Times bestselling author, podcast host, executive coach, and speaker. Through interviews with top achievers and visionary voices, Between Now and Success brings you the strategies, tips, and tools you need to succeed at the intersection of business and life. In each episode, Steve's guests open up and share their journey and the lessons they learned on their road to the summit. So rope up and get "On Belay" as we climb the summit to success together.

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Between Now and Success

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