Insights

In this video, Penny discusses what you may need to change about your team before leaving for a new firm.

In this video, Penny discusses what you may need to change about your team before leaving for a new firm.

In this video, Penny discusses best practices for advisors who are struggling with what to keep “in house” and what to “outsource” as it relates to marketing.

When I ask advisors how recent headlines are impacting their communications with clients, the typical response is, “My clients don’t care about Tesla or Bitcoin. They’re not focused on what people say on the Internet. They know we have a sound, long-term plan in place.” I asked that question in March, when most of us went into mandatory lockdowns because of COVID-19, and again, a few weeks ago, when a mob stormed Congress and sent Washington, D.C. into chaos. I asked again yesterday, when a Reddit subgroup called r/WallStreetBets drove up the price of GameStop, AMC and Blackberry by nearly 1,000%, collectively, and eviscerated hedge funds across Wall Street.

Financial advisors and former Dynasty Financial Partners executives Michael Brown and Brian Flynn have left Magnus Financial Group, a New York registered investment advisor backed by Merchant, to launch Journey Strategic Wealth, an RIA/partnership, with practice management coach Penny Phillips, founder of Thrivos Consulting. The firm, based in Summit, N.J., will start with just over $2 billion in assets. It is structured as a hybrid RIA, with Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments as the broker/dealer, but the model is a sort of spin on the aggregator approach. They are looking to tuck in advisor teams from all over the country, and will provide more services to advisors than the typical RIA, doubling down on practice management consulting. Journey will add other coaches shortly with different types of practice management expertise. Phillips’ specialty is human capital management.