Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions is partnering with Ron Carson’s coaching firm, Peak Advisor Alliance, to provide coaching and peer learning opportunities to its advisors. Fidelity will introduce an eLearning Exchange, an online resource portal, and one-on-one coaching to advisors who clear or custody with the firm. Fidelity sought to expand its practice management and consulting services after advisors said they wanted more training and personalized coaching. “Never have the opportunities been greater to succeed as an advisor, nor the distractions to fail,” said Carson, founder and CEO of Peak. “We’re on the eve of experiencing a new competitive landscape in our profession, making it all the more crucial for advisors to continually seek knowledge and new ideas on how to improve their businesses and sustain meaningful growth.” The new program will be available to Fidelity advisors in January.
CPA Clients Worry About Running Out of Money
The top retirement concern for clients of CPAs is running out of money, according to a new survey by the American Institute of CPAs. Forty-one percent of CPA financial planners listed running out of money as the top concern of their clients, according to Accounting Today. The next biggest concern, by 29 percent of clients, was maintaining their current lifestyle, followed by increasing health care costs. The survey also broke down concerns by time during retirement. In the first decade of retirement, the biggest fear of clients was a sharp decline in the value of their investments. After the initial 10 years, however, serious illness, including dementia and diminished capacity, took over the top spot as clients' biggest worry.
Advisors Still Behind the Times
According to new research from Back Office Support Service (BOSS), advisors have been historically slow to deploy the latest technologies. As a result, firms are having a harder time operating a profitable business and meeting new client demands in a changing environment. BOSS found that 64 percent of affluent people, including high net worth investors, expect their wealth management relationship to be digital in the future, and 65 percent said they would leave their firm if it didn’t include an integrated online experience. In conjunction with the report, BOSS launched a new client portal that is optimized for mobile devices and includes a document vault, account aggregation and integrations with the advisor’s CRM (customer relationship management) system. Mike Kelly, the CEO of BOSS, said, “Business reinvention can be a powerful way for advisors to take their firms to the next level and respond to these big changes happening around them.”