Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that a recent study by Cerulli Associates and Osaic found that at a time when consumers are increasingly seeking comprehensive planning relationships with their financial advisors, many advisors appear to be overestimating the comprehensiveness of the services they provide. Nonetheless, given Kitces Research findings that being ‘too’ comprehensive can eat into a firm’s bottom line, advisors might seek a ‘sweet spot’ of providing a comprehensive slate of services (but not necessarily every possible service) that are most valuable for their ideal target client.
Also in industry news this week:
- The SEC this week released its list of priorities for 2025 examinations, which include advisers’ use of Artificial Intelligence tools, adviser recommendations of complex investment products, and broker-dealers’ compliance with Regulation Best Interest
- CFP Board has introduced a refreshed ad campaign encouraging students to pursue a career in financial planning after some of its initial ads received pushback from the advisor community
From there, we have several articles on investment planning:
- A report from Morningstar found that investors underperformed the funds they invested in by approximately 1.1 percentage points each year during the past decade, signaling a potential opportunity for advisors to help clients avoid this “behavior gap”
- A research paper considering the underlying methodology of studies measuring the “behavior gap” suggests that the “gap” might be much smaller than assumed
- While financial advisors can add value by managing their clients’ “behavior gap”, it might not be an effective selling point when meeting with prospects
We also have a number of articles on estate planning:
- Strategies for encouraging younger clients (and perhaps the adult children of older clients) to prepare relevant estate documents
- The key legal documents needed to help a client plan for their potential incapacity and avoid potentially acrimonious court proceedings
- How creating a “digital death-cleaning” plan can give a client peace of mind that their digital affairs will be in order after their deaths and ease the burden on their survivors in the process
We wrap up with 3 final articles, all about intelligence:
- 4 exercises that can help an individual avoid cognitive biases and make better decisions
- Why “wisdom work” is increasingly important in the modern workplace and how firms can tap into the experiences of employees across the age spectrum
- Why ‘intelligent’ and ‘smart’ are not necessarily synonymous and why each of these play a role in finding success as a financial advisor
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
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