Top Tricks to Growing as a Financial Advisor

There are three things any registered investment firm can focus on to outperform their competition. As long as they can properly execute their pricing, structuring, and their teams while simultaneously pursuing new business, they will have a strong advantage over their peers. “There is a direct correlation between operational rigor and robust bottom-line performance when the above three factors are adequately developed”, according to a new study done by fa-mag.com.

Proper Pricing

The most critical tool an advisory firm can use is their pricing model. It's important for advisors not to offer discounts and to make sure to be compensated for the actual value of their advice. Pricing is a necessity to advance quickly. It's essential to have a diversified pricing approach that is more than assets under management (AUM) pricing. Include flat fees, have non-asset-based schemes, and account for challenging marketing environments. A setup that provides a plan for those that don't have enough assets for AUM based pricing is a smart approach. RIAs can gain an advantage through the use of non-asset-based fees and variation in pricing levels. These pricing structures will also help financial firms to have more protection in times of volatile markets.

Focus on the Future

To have a future-focused strategy, RIAs need to run like a corporate business enterprise. The plan needs to focus on bringing in new clientele. The forward-thinking firm is the one putting on seminars and other educational events that position them as industry leaders. Firms that were studied stated that 60% of past growth resulted from bringing in new client assets and 75% of their future growth depends on recent business efforts. The biggest driver of growth for large RIAs gets attributed to client referrals. The firms with the most successful RIA's are generating 19% more annual revenue growth, and that's twice the amount of their peers. The only thing they seem to be doing differently is creating a large focus on developing new business.

Building Your Team

Hiring is always something that ebbs and flows throughout any business. As firms grow, the need to hire becomes a reality. The RIAs that hire with high-performance individuals in mind and focus on members that can pull their own weight put themselves at an advantage. It's essential to be selective when hiring for the sake of overhead and team performance. It doesn't matter what role a firm is hiring for:

• lead advisor
• associate advisor
• non-revenue generating roles (administrative or client services manager)

When a firm hires selectively, they get more from each person that they employ. According to famag.com, an advisory firm can get up to 20% more revenue from each revenue-generating position.

The things needed for continued growth are effective execution of the three basics business management fundamentals:

• Pricing
• High-performance teams
• Pursuing new clients

Advisors must be determined and believe that they can continue to finesse their approach to efficiency while focusing on getting the job done.