Don't Be a Delusional Advisor

Adorning a Specialization

Most advisory firms spend only one to two percent of their revenue on marketing — reasons for this small allocation are mostly low budget, unwanted hassle and limited resources. The most efficient and cost-effective solution to resolve these issues and attract the most relevant clients who can scale an advisor's business is niche marketing. Most successful advisors I have come across have a particular client profile they want to target and know this profile inside and out. According to the latest CEG report, more than 70% of advisors focus on niche clients. Prospects know immediately that they are meeting with an advisor with expertise relevant to their situation — which makes the close and the subsequent engagement much stronger.

How: If you already have a specialization, make sure that all of your marketing efforts highlight your expertise. If you don't already have one, sift through your entire client base and follow the steps below:

1. Profile your favorite clients to work with.
2. Identify all clients with similar backgrounds and professions.

These two exercises are a great way to start identifying the expertise you will need to develop to take your business to the next level. However, if you find that your clients come from a particular walk of life, or share common careers, perhaps some of your professional development should be more targeted.

Learning New Skills

According to a Cerulli report, the number of certified financial planners has grown by 47% to an all-time high of more than 81,000 Americans. The CFP credential is a great way to communicate and validate to your clients that you are a competent and established financial professional. However, given the evolution of the industry, a CFP designation is not enough for an advisor to prove their worth. You should always keep learning and conducting due diligence, so when clients ask what you do in addition to investing (or monitoring) their money, continuing education is one of your answers — an answer which never gets old or redundant.

How: Considering a professional designation is important, but maintaining your credential and going after only the highest scores is what makes you stand out. The industry today is brimming with engaging and informative events and conferences — attending these, in my view, is the most convenient and efficient way to enhance your knowledge about the industry trends, key strategies and upcoming/ongoing developments.

The competition booming in the industry is often perceived as a threat to advisors — however, it can actually be a great opportunity for them to learn new skills and scale their businesses accordingly. The resources mentioned above can serve as a perfect motivation for an advisor to disregard the "delusions" associated with the profession, and to continue practicing trending strategies to maximize their value proposition.

Patrick A. Sweeny, principal, is a founding partner of Symmetry Partners. Prior to co-founding Symmetry Partners in 1994, Sweeny spent a number of years on Wall Street with Weeden & Co. and Dean Witter Reynolds in institutional trading and sales in both the equity and fixed income markets. Additionally, he was a member of the Commodities Exchange as a floor trader with Paine Webber. Sweeny is a recognized speaker on asset class investing and transforming advisor businesses into more efficient models. He speaks at industry conferences and is a guest lecturer at the university level. He received his B.A. in economics from Fairfield University.