Asset manager Loring Ward likes to focus on helping advisors with softer issues, says President and CEO Alex Potts. It did so at its June conference, which wrapped up Thursday in Monterrey, Calif., and it's engaging in such conference to grow its new (non-turnkey) business.
"It's an anti-product conference," Potts (left) said in an interview with AdvisorOne, "with no big banners and no formal sponsors."
Motivational speaker Juliet Funt, for instance, discussed the important of white space. "You have to block out creative time, shut off your gadgets and deliberately create space rather than give in to cognitive overload from technology and information flows," he said.
There were also talks on getting referrals, understanding and changing habits. "We were told by one expert that it's best to communicate with client when something is cold rather than wait until it gets to be a hot topic—like risk tolerance," Potts said.
The turnkey asset management provider (or TAMP) works with about 850 RIAs and other independent registered reps that rely on Loring Ward portfolios, which are included in platforms used by their "neutral custodians," such as Fidelity, Pershing (BK), Schwab (SCHW) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD). These relationships represent about $7.7 billion in the client assets managed by the San Jose-based TAMP, Potts explains.
Loring Ward also is expanding its work as a strategist for 800 or other advisors affiliated with independent broker-dealers like Royal Alliance and Securities America. This represents nearly $1 billion in client assets under management for the asset manager.
"This new business is growing rapidly," said Potts. "It's for reps who, for example, are moving to a [purely] fee-based business and want help with trading, investment methodology, marketing materials, goal planning and other work [involving] behavioral finance and managing client relationships."
