Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 421st episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!
My guest on today’s podcast is Daniel Friedman. Daniel is the CEO of WMGNA, a hybrid advisory firm based in Farmington, Connecticut, that oversees approximately $270 million in assets under management for 200 client households.
What’s unique about Daniel, though, is how his firm has expanded its tax focus to include “in-house” tax return preparation for its clients as a one-stop shop, but actually outsources the tax preparation work itself to trusted CPAs that he pays out of his own revenue (rather than bringing this service fully in-house) so that he can focus his staff and team time more fully on the tax planning analyses and strategies that make up the core of his firm’s value proposition to clients.
In this episode, we talk in-depth about why Daniel decided to outsource tax return preparation (rather than hire someone to do it in-house) to be able to access the expertise of the CPAs his firm uses (particularly for clients with complicated equity compensation plans), how Daniel views these CPA relationships as mutually beneficial from a financial perspective (not for the purposes of generating cross-referrals, but simply because his firm can negotiate bulk discounts on tax return preparation on behalf of his client while the CPA firms get the efficiency of just being able to bill Daniel’s firm once directly), and how Daniel positions this Strategic Professional arrangement as a value-add for clients (as they can benefit from independent perspectives on tax planning strategies and the preparation of their tax returns).
We also talk about how Daniel has used a subscription-based model for financial planning fees for 30 years (now setting the monthly subscription fee based on each client’s unique needs, including the complexity of their tax situation), why Daniel finds that the vast majority of clients also decide to have his firm manage their assets (paying a separate AUM fee for the service that is priced based on all-in investment costs plus a profit margin for his firm) that has grown to the point that AUM fees far surpass his still-core subscription fees, and how Daniel’s firm has successfully implemented a money-back guarantee for its subscription-based planning service to give prospective clients confidence to try out the value his firm offers (with only 2 clients in 30 years having actually ever asked for a refund!).
And be certain to listen to the end, where Daniel shares why his firm uses the term “restylement” rather than “retirement” to reflect that they are helping clients restyle themselves for the next stage of their lives (not the end of their lives), how Daniel has benefited from having a “director of first impressions” on staff whose job is to both make a good first impression on prospective clients who come to the firm and to send cards and gifts to commemorate client milestones, and how Daniel found that while success did not come as quickly as he would have liked in the first several years after starting his firm, his persistence in providing high level of service to his clients has paid off over time in the form of a thriving business today as client relationships compounded over time.
So, whether you’re interested in offering in-house tax planning services while outsourcing the actual preparation of tax returns, using a combination of subscription and AUM fees to serve clients, or how to navigate the first difficult years of firm ownership, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Daniel Friedman.
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