Category: Finance
The Rise of Climate-Friendly 401(k) Investment Options with Alex Wright-Gladstein (Ep. 26)

The Rise of Climate-Friendly 401(k) Investment Options with Alex Wright-Gladstein (Ep. 26)

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In this episode, we speak with Alex Wright-Gladstein, the founder of Sphere, an asset management company that offers a climate-friendly mutual fund and index option for retirement plans. She shares her journey of discovering the lack of sustainable investment options in 2017 and her mission to provide a low-fee, planet-voting alternative to the traditional S&P 500.

Alex discusses:

  • The holistic approach to corporate governance and retirement plans
  • Where the $1.5 trillion invested in the fossil fuel industry from 401(k)s are going
  • The risk of climate change is not just an advisor opportunity but a global mission
  • How young people are driving progress through initiatives like the Green New Deal
  • What her company Sphere is doing as a climate-friendly alternative to the S&P 500
  • And more

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About Alex Wright-Gladstein:

Alex Wright-Gladstein is the founder and CEO of Sphere. Over 80% of Americans are worried about climate change, but 99% of Americans with retirement savings don’t have the option to make climate-friendly investments. Sphere makes climate-friendly investing available to those who would not otherwise have that option, by making it easy to offer climate-friendly options in 401(k) retirement plans. Prior to founding Sphere, Alex was founding CEO of Ayar Labs, an MIT technology spinout company that has raised over $200M in venture funding and makes data centers and supercomputers faster and more energy efficient by using light to move data between chips. She has also been the energy entrepreneurship practice leader at MIT and an energy efficiency program manager and energy markets specialist at smart grid company EnerNOC (now Enel X). She received an MBA from MIT and a BA in Political Science and Economics from Tufts University.

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Color Coding Financial Planning to Create an Understandable Client Experience With Rob Cook (Ep. 25)

Color Coding Financial Planning to Create an Understandable Client Experience With Rob Cook (Ep. 25)

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Have you ever spent time with a prospective client only to find out after you’ve sunken who knows how much time with,  that they’re not a good fit?

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan invites Rob Cook of The Elements Financial Monitoring System™ to share how their technology can help solve this very common problem faced by financial advisors by implementing a system and a process in place that would enable them to provide planning at scale.

Rob discusses:

  • How the Elements® software solution came to be created
  • The problems commonly faced by financial advisors and how their product remedies these issues
  • Why enegagement and adaptation is so important for financial advisors to implement
  • Why Elements® chose to do mobile first user experience
  • And more

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About Rob Cook:

Podcasting, personal finance, college sports, and family are Rob’s passions.

Rob is a CPA, CFP®, and former finanical advisor. By night he runs and operates his personal business, Contenders Wanted, and by day he is an account executive and shareholder of a FinTech company (Elements®) that’s trying to change the way advisors serve their clients so they can provide advice anyone, and so more people can get access to high quality financial advice and create wealth. Then by night I am the host of the Contenders Wanted podcast and use Elements® to serve our audience.

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How Advisors Can Use Technology to Improve Financial Knowledge in the Workplace with Emily Koochel, Ph.D., AFC®, CFT-I™ (Ep. 24)

How Advisors Can Use Technology to Improve Financial Knowledge in the Workplace with Emily Koochel, Ph.D., AFC®, CFT-I™ (Ep. 24)

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Creating financial peace of mind is a lifelong goal. As a result, finding innovative ways to talk about money in the workplace is crucial because there has been a wave of employee resignations across many industries due to financial stress. 

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan sits down with Dr. Emily Koochel, Senior Financial Planning Education Consultant at eMoney Advisor. Dr. Koochel is an experienced financial professional, academic and researcher. Prior to FinTech, she served as an assistant professor where she taught courses in personal financial planning and working in the financial planning field. 

Here, Dr. Koochel explains what financial well-being is and how it can help individuals have a positive relationship with money. 

Dr. Koochel discusses:

  • Why she transitioned from academia to the eMoney team
  • The concept of financial wellness and how it benefits employees, businesses, and retirement plan advisors
  • The high importance of financial education
  • What does eMoney do to help financial advisors
  • And more!

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Dr. Emily Koochel is an experienced financial professional, academic, and researcher. She currently serves as a leader for eMoney Advisor’s Financial Education and Wellness initiatives in her role as the Senior Financial Planning Education Consultant. 

Dr. Koochel’s PhD in Applied Family Science and Master’s in Financial Planning provide a multidisciplinary lens to inform her work where she focuses on understanding the effect of financial behaviors and financial decision-making on personal and financial wellness. She serves as a subject matter expert in the field, reviewing and authoring peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and contributing to public scholarship. 

Most notably she served as a co-author for the CFP Board’s book The Psychology of Financial Planning and was awarded 2020 Outstanding Research Journal Article of the Year by the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. She holds the Certified Financial Therapist I designation and is an Accredited Financial Counselor.

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3 Goal Setting Strategies of 401(k) Advisors and How to Achieve Them (Ep. 23)

3 Goal Setting Strategies of 401(k) Advisors and How to Achieve Them (Ep. 23)

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As we wrap up the end of 2022 and look forward to 2023, what do you hope to accomplish?

Growth? Profitability? Building a great team?

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan breaks down three goals that many retirement plan advisors share and then she provides helpful tips and strategies to bring each one to fruition. 

Rebecca discusses:

  • The marketing funnel and the ways you can make the most of each stage
  • How to manage your time to achieve your short and long-term goals
  • Activities you can implement to achieve success for your business
  • And more!

Connect With Rebecca Hourihan: 

 

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How Leveraging Video Can Help Grow Your 401(k) Practice With Katie Braden (Ep. 22)

How Leveraging Video Can Help Grow Your 401(k) Practice With Katie Braden (Ep. 22)

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In the aftermath of the pandemic, we are seeing a rise in video content – from Zoom calls to social media.

If the last five years have taught us anything, it’s that we can’t always meet with our clients in person. So, the next best thing to connect in an easy and authentic way is through video. 

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan has guest Katie Braden, CFP®, founder of Innovating Advice, on the podcast to discuss the power of video and ways you can use it to your advantage.

Katie discusses:

  • How video has evolved in the last 10 years
  • Simple ways to get started with quality video 
  • The different tools you can use to bring your video content up a notch
  • Why the video approach can be better than using traditional media
  • And more

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

After 16 years in the profession, Katie Braden, CFP® has combined her passions and expertise to focus on helping financial advisors leverage video to grow their businesses through her company, Innovating Advice. She runs the 3-month Video Creation Masterclass, video workshops and the Innovating Advice Community (IAC) which provides all the tools, support and resources financial advisors need to embrace the power of video.

Katie obtained a degree in photography from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia before returning to the U.S. and joining her mother’s RIA. She left in 2013 to start one of the first completely virtual, subscription-model financial planning businesses and then pivoted to working, speaking and consulting with financial planners in 35 countries, encouraging them to innovate in all areas. Katie is also a Private Pilot and loves the freedom of the skies, whether flying herself or traveling around the world with her husband, who’s a professional pilot.



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Secrets of a Successful 401(k) Business with Brian Adcock (Ep. 21)

Secrets of a Successful 401(k) Business with Brian Adcock (Ep. 21)

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How do you define success? In our industry, some consider themselves successful if they’ve made a difference in people’s lives and served their communities.

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan is joined by Brian Adcock, President of Adcock Financial Group, to share his keys to success and making customers happy. 

We talk about how he got started in the 401(k) side of things, the story of how Brian got his nickname, community initiatives, and Adcock Financial group’s focus on delivering a great customer experience.

Brian discusses:

  • How community engagement can impact your business
  • The steps you can take to provide an exceptional customer experience
  • What Adcock Financial Group does differently that keeps their clients happy
  • And more

Connect With Brian Adcock:

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About Our Guest:

Brian Adcock graduated from Auburn University in 1996 with a BS in Marketing Education and joined Adcock Financial Group. He runs two divisions of Adcock Financial. Brian directs the Wealth & Income Planning Division, which works to create customized financial and investment planning for high net worth individuals centered around their core beliefs and goals. Brian also leads the Retirement Plan Division, where he works with small to mid-size businesses in implementing and monitoring retirement plans. He and his team work as an extension of the HR department to provide some of the fiduciary oversight requirements and, equally as important, work to provide the education of individual participants to help them make informed decisions around their retirement plan experiences.



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How Conferences Are Evolving for a Better Experience with Ross Marino, CFP®, CeFT® (Ep. 20)

How Conferences Are Evolving for a Better Experience with Ross Marino, CFP®, CeFT® (Ep. 20)

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What makes a conference stand out to you?

Is it the agenda? The keynote speakers? Making meaningful connections? Or maybe the refreshments and food? Attendees often feel like they have to abandon one for the other.

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan has Ross Marino, CFP®, CeFT®, Financial Planner, Social Entrepreneur, Author, CEO, and Founder of Transitus Wealth Partners and Advisor2X on the podcast to share his experience. He is the founder of numerous workshops and conferences such as Wealth@Work, which is just around the corner, and even shares some information about his newest project, SHIFT Human First Financial Guidance.

Ross shares:

  • A sneak peek of what to expect in the upcoming Wealth@Work conference
  • The Hive and how this new idea enhances the experience for attendees
  • Ways your health is impacting your wealth
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Rebecca Hourihan: 

Connect With Ross Marino:

About Our Guest:

Ross Marino’s fascination with business and investments started in the 9th grade, when he received a copy of Money Magazine as a birthday gift. Since business was a common topic in his home, this wasn’t a huge surprise. His father owned a small business, and his mother was an executive for a “Big 4” accounting firm. That fascination led to a career as a financial planner, beginning in 1988. 

Giving back to make the world a better place is more than just a responsibility. Specifically, Ross believes business owners have an incredible opportunity to leverage their resources and find creative ways to impact the world. To this end, he founded Mission Made Jewelry to fight global poverty, which is funded and staffed by volunteers from his companies.



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Business Development Strategies for 401(k) Advisors with Sasha Cibrian (Ep. 19)

Business Development Strategies for 401(k) Advisors with Sasha Cibrian (Ep. 19)

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To grow your advisory firm, you need initiatives and strategies that can help you reach a broader clientele.

In this episode, Sasha Cibrian shares her knowledge on how to design the necessary activities to expand your firm. She covers topics like client acquisition, retention, reputation, brand awareness and why having niche retirement plan content enhances your trust. Additionally, she provides useful tips to help businesses expand their network through email campaigns and social selling with LinkedIn.

Sasha discusses:

  • The concept of business development
  • How the sales funnel can be useful to develop business strategies
  • Tips on how to advance an advisor’s business
  • The value of outsourcing when getting into business development
  • And more!

Connect With Sasha Cibrian: 

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Three Marketing Trends Every Financial Advisor Should Follow (Ep. 18)

Three Marketing Trends Every Financial Advisor Should Follow (Ep. 18)

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As an advisor, you may feel limited when it comes to ways that you can market yourself to your ideal client. What if you could change that? 

In this episode, Rebecca Hourihan shares with listeners the top three newest trends she sees in the ways financial advisors are marketing themselves. While she discusses what is working right now, she also covers past trends and future outlooks. 

Rebecca discusses:

  • The newest trends that advisors are using right now to market themselves
  • What trends may not be worth your investment
  • The digital tools available to increase advisor marketing efficiency
  • Her opinion on hashtag usage
  • And more!

Resources:

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How to Write a Successful Marketing Strategy with Rebecca Hourihan and Sasha Cibrian (Ep. 17)

How to Write a Successful Marketing Strategy with Rebecca Hourihan and Sasha Cibrian (Ep. 17)

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When was the last time you took a step back to assess your business? Reviewing your brand, mission, goals and marketing initiatives will help know if you’re on (or off) track. 

In this podcast, we’re going to show you how to do a company assessment with your team. So you can write and formalize a Marketing Strategy to align your brand, mission, team and goals into a unified client service standard and build an action plan for business growth.

Rebecca and Sasha discuss:

  • What marketing strategy is and why 401(k) advisors need it
  • The 6 different stages of marketing strategy
  • How you can develop an action plan
  • Where to get started and what to tackle first
  • And more

Connect With Rebecca Hourihan and Sasha Cibrian: 

 

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