Preparing the Next Generation: Bridging the Advisor Talent Gap

In episode 6 of Thinking Independently, host Conor Delaney, CEO of Good Life Companies, sits down with Brie Williams, VP and Head of Practice Management at State Street Global Advisors, to explore the evolving role of financial advisors in a dynamic industry. They discuss strategies for business growth, the importance of relationships in financial planning, and the shift from product-focused offerings to holistic wealth management.

Visit GoodLifeCo.com/podcasts/thinking-independently for more episodes.

Good Life Companies is a stand-alone entity providing real estate, infrastructure, technology, training, marketing, and support to independent professionals throughout the United States. Good Life Companies is not a broker/dealer or a Registered Investment Advisor and does not provide legal or tax advice.

Transcript

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Thinking Independently. My name is Connor Delaney, Chief Executive Officer at Good Life Companies. And I'm joined by Brie Williams, Head of Practice Management for State Street Global Advisors. Brie, tell us a little bit about yourself. Well, first, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for including us. I think very simply, advisory business development is our core focus. And we support financial advisors and wealth managers around the globe. A lion's share of what we do is based in the US region. And our goal is your goal.

make sure advisors grow and achieve their business aspirations in service to the clients that they support. Awesome. I know one of the things that you are also doing is speaking at industry events and conferences. And we just had you downstairs at our conference. Share with me what some of the goals that State Street has in terms of having you and other folks like you out in the field. So we really focus in two areas to help advisors grow. The first is really taking care of the strategy of the practice.

Business plan, but simple one, actionable to help you make measured progress in a meaningful way in real time. So you can achieve those loftier objectives that are probably three, five, seven to 10 years out. And those include the people plan, the structure of the practice.

your own leadership and development, and your personal aspirations for what success looks like for you, the business, your clients, and then the team you ultimately support. The other side of the equation is, of course, the client experience. So how can we arm financial advisors with strategies that will help them better attract, develop, and retain the right clients for the offer that they have in market? That's awesome. And I know just hearing what you were talking about when you were speaking downstairs, one of the things that's so interesting to me is just the

the way that the industry has changed in terms of the products versus actually bringing value in terms of what you're coming to these conferences with. Where do you think that change happened? So if I go back 10 years and I think about what those conferences look like, it would have been, know, State Street and some of these other vendors coming in and just talking about why their fund is the best fund in the world. So that has changed wholesale across the industry. Why do you think that is? sort of what's the strategic intent that

Good Life Producer (02:32.218)
you all have in supporting the advisor, even though you didn't mention a word about the products that you guys offer. Correct. So mean, you lean into what's happening in the dynamic space of wealth management and products important. The heart of what a financial plan is built on is the strategies that will support the outcomes that an individual or families have. So it's the engine that's going to get them to where they need to go. And you think about that in the buckets of what they need short term. So the liquidity.

element, what they need long term, so the longevity component of the plan, and then their higher aspirations, which are often in the legacy area. So product's essential, but our goal is to, you know, if you're changing your positioning in the market as a wealth advisor from the best investment management.

selection available to this more holistic approach to maximizing what you have to work with to support your financial journey from the very beginning all the way until you move on from this planet, then you have to have a comprehensive set of services in wealth management with depth and reach. The investment management component, your process, your philosophy is the underpinning to all of that. And then there's this need to ensure that as the individual, you don't self-sabotage in getting

your own way. We all have biases. And it's just about that self-awareness and understanding one's natural orientation to, you know, live their life and focus on what they're excellent at and find a trusted provider to help them do some of the heavier lifting and organize the finances so they can have engagement, control and security that they're going in the right direction, no matter what's happening externally. So those factors like the economy, the markets.

the white noise in one's life, all have a proper place within whatever they're trying to achieve. Yeah, that's so cool. think one of the things that, one of the questions that you asked on there was around business planning. So we have a room full of financial planners and everybody is great at financial planning, but how many people are actually looking at their own business and some of the things that have to happen in their business? And your talking points were right in line with some of the stuff I was talking about, which is the idea of working on the business versus

Good Life Producer (04:52.528)
always working in the business. And I just think it's an interesting journey when you think about the advisors that are in a position to help clients make decisions. But a lot of times lack the resources to help them make the decisions on their own business to help their business go from point A to point B. Yet they spend all their time working with clients going from point A to point B. And so it's been really cool to see companies like yours make that transition to actually supporting the advisors. What's also cool is you

you talk to so many advisors all over the country, all over the world. And so you can take these different best practices from all these advisors and use that as that real experience that you're sharing in broader audiences like you did down there. But then also you have the data to back that up. So I was looking at one of the sheets that you had brought up and it was just talking about the different things that the clients are seeking, legal services, tax

preparation, lending and banking services. And I think the point that you made was the point that I was saying was that the investment management wasn't even in it's not even in the top 10. And so that's so consistent with what I've been thinking about over the last 10 years, which is if the asset management is good, that's table stakes. If it's great, that's awesome. If it's subpar, that's not necessarily a deal killer if you're doing all these other things.

You know, it's almost like the old banking ways. If you can hook the client in with a number of different things instead of just having a checking account there, then the likelihood is the clients are going to stay. I think that's the same thing in our business. Don't you? I do agree. And there's that trend towards striving to find a financial institution provider that can support my whole financial life. One stop shop, which we haven't seen in a while, honestly. So we have different specialists in the financial space.

that have been helping us support our goals and our dreams as consumers. But we're all very busy. There's fee considerations to think about so you're not paying more than you should.

Good Life Producer (07:04.814)
in what you need from services and outcomes in your financial life to be mindful of. We've certainly done a great job as an industry making product accessible, affordable, democratized investing when you think about ETFs just as a product example. So the innovation in financial services has gone such a long way. Now when you think about the relationship side of the equation of which really is the value proposition that we're trying to ensure is understood.

what your offer is, what I pay for for those services, and what that really means as an investment in me, as an individual and for my family, is the way we want the consumer to think about it today. So it makes sense that they're looking to consolidate with a single financial institution or provider, so they aren't over-complicating the way they manage their financial life. And it doesn't necessarily equate to absolutely all those services must be in-house with that one person.

provider, but by extension through our professional networks, who are your trusted centers of influence that can give you the estate planning that is necessary or the tax smart strategies when you think about that equation, the banking component, if that's not a part of in-house. But if you have those solid lines to who you can help refer to, they understand your value, you understand theirs, you're being the quarterback to use a sports analogy.

in their life. key too is, and you hit the nail on the head, it's relationship. Yes. It's like, if everybody else is viewed by the consumer whose perception is reality, if everybody else is the same, is equal, what's the differentiator? The differentiator is the relationship. And I think that's what you guys are doing at State Street. think what the industry is recognizing is like, if all the products are going to be within a few points of each other, it's the depth of the relationship and then the extraneous resources that we could bring to the advisor practices.

that's going to create the flows that are going to, you know, maintain. that's your value. Yep. So, you know, our value proposition to you is can we support all your goals? And we can be on that short list of preferred providers to want to work with, because we share the same end goal, aspiration of growth and development on what's most important to you, which is aligned with what's most important to us. It's no different when I think about the wealth managers value proposition and the type

Good Life Producer (09:34.448)
of individual investors, families, they want to support. That's what I was going to say. It's crazy how the sort of institution to institution, meaning organizations like yours to the advisor, it's the same alignment of interest that the advisor has with this client. like, how do I stand out? And the key thing is always relationship. And I more than ever in this world that has access to product everywhere, access to technology and AI and all this stuff everywhere, it all comes back

down to the relationship. You're going to do business with those that you know, like, and trust. And I was thinking about this the other day. The other element of it is getting those professionals. We used to say, you have to have somebody to refer business back and forth to. You got to have that lawyer you can refer, the tax person you can refer. But it's deeper than a referral at this point. I was just saying to one of the folks we were talking to is you have to know that that person you're referring business to is somebody that you can expect to show up in a client meeting.

if and when you need it. Where I'm at down in Florida, culturally, we have a lot of folks from Central America. They're all small business owners. But what's interesting is how important the family element is to those. I remember a second guy last week and he said, I've been bringing my son into the family meetings. He owns a real estate sort of empire. He's got 80 or 90 of these multifamily homes and apartment buildings and all this stuff. He said, I've been bringing my son in the meetings since he's 12 years old. But in that meeting is the CPA,

the financial advisor and the lawyer. And I think he has an insurance agent and stuff there too. And he said, the expectation is that when I have my once a year meeting with each of these people or twice a year meeting, it's not individually. It is all of them sitting in a room together. And he's like, this way there's consensus. And I know that that guy and that guy are aligned. And it also creates accountability where if something happens to me, he knows that he knows everything just the same. You know what I mean? So it's, think that that to be able to pull that down,

from a level of like the client has to have a hundred million dollars to get access to that deep of a relationship, that's going to be a big thing for advisors going forward. It's like, how can you build that network in your town and have it be something that is accessible to clients that don't have gajillions of dollars? Well, it's the mindset shift for the advisor to think about it. It's not just your professional network. They have to operate as an extension of your team.

Good Life Producer (12:02.75)
And it's no different in the way they're trying to change the structure of team approach to how they service clients. Because to your point is very well taken is if I can't be in that meeting or if I'm taken out by the proverbial bus, there is other accountability with other members on my team, including the extension of our team to help you continue on.

doing you, even if I get sidelined temporarily or permanently. And that is an important factor for individual investors when you think about that one stop shop and consolidation, because they're not looking for a partner to change out on a whim. They're looking for a partner that can run the race with them for the duration and beyond if legacy planning is a critical element for them. Yeah. think the key thing to think about is over the next 10 years, there's just this giant change, right?

in our ecosystem is 60. The average advisor in the industry is 56. And so the client and the advisor are both kind of running into this train station called retirement at the same time. And it's going to be the companies, the organizations, the practices that are saying, how do we give confidence to the the retiring client that it's not all a linchpin on one person, one. And then secondarily, as the advisor group, how are we making sure that we don't just have the retiring client, but we

have the family and that there is this idea that is that the strategies and conversations and decisions are not just any longer. know, the 1990s where it's the sort of the man of the house is showing up to do all the financial stuff and then everything else kind of falls by the wayside. Well, if he gets hit by a car, what happens? know, right. it starts over. It's so common that you see, you know, unfortunate situations where, you know, the spouse is left over and she said, I don't

I've to do this before. What do I do? And now who is that attorney? Who is that accountant? is the one that can put all that stuff together? I think he's going to be able to create that sustainable and growing practice over time. So there's two elements that are critical. If you're going to win in this game of holistic wealth management, you have to be authentic in the relationship management component. And you also have to provide evidence that you are delivering on that value consistently because it's not, you know, money talks is the expression.

Good Life Producer (14:26.996)
but it's the results matter for the end client. So how do you show them the progress that they're making incrementally towards their short, medium, and long-term goals, which is that outcome orientation? And in terms of how you manage the relationship authentically, your point of differentiation, you truly are a provider for them in their financial life, and you become indispensable, but also delight in the experience overall.

they're anxious about anymore. It's a meeting they're looking forward to because they know you're going to help troubleshoot.

the concerns that are weighing on your mind as the consumer. They're also going to share the good things with you too, which can create fantastic opportunities like the new job, the new baby that they need to think about planning for a little bit differently or make an adjustment in the financial plan that's been their roadmap. Yeah. Yeah. I think that you're right. When a client walks into the financial services office, are so short of the doctor's appointments. It is the place that creates probably the most anxiety.

Cause it's that, that fear of like, do I have enough? I on the right track? Et cetera. One of the things that we've done in our, both of our offices in Florida, as well as in Pennsylvania is just created like a very welcoming environment. Like when you walk into those offices, you feel more like you're at Starbucks than you do that you're in some, you know, high, highfalutin office because we can see the client kind of a place of rest. you're right. I have to be authentic. You know, you have to, to not just pretend that you care, you've got to actually be able to show that you care.

in a tangible way. And I think that the clients, at least my experience has been that clients are less concerned with the 43 pages of data that you have. They're most concerned with one, what are you going to do with that data? And then two is, I trust that the confirmation in this 43 pages is going to, that you're the one that can pull that stuff through as the advisor? Absolutely. And those that are experiencing the most growth

Good Life Producer (16:34.448)
I've always said, and this is a little bit biased because of my perspective, but you don't have to be the smartest advisor in the world. You just have to care, one, and surround yourself with the smartest people. If you can do that, then there's a long runway space, especially in this sort of dynamic industry that we're in. Right. So the inclusion component is key then. So when you were talking about the perfect storm, age of retiring advisors, age of the lion's share of clients practice today, coming to that head.

moving into the decumulation phase and if we're in the retirement for the advisor, it's more of an exit strategy. Who else is stepping in? The inclusion of next in line within the business, but also the inclusion of next in line within the family unit is just as critical. that partner, a spouse, children, or even extensions of that family because there's so many different definitions of what a family is today. We have to lean into that. And if they're not at the money decision making table and they aren't aware and developing these relationships,

as well, then it is starting over when something unforeseen happens that really changes things completely for that family, for that individual. And you then are fighting for the business all over again. Yeah. Are you familiar with the stat? I heard it somewhere. I think it's about 50 % of life insurance policies, for example, never get claimed because the next of kin or the counterpart didn't even know they had it.

It's crazy when you think about one decision and it could be the decision of just not including that other person in the conversation can change everything. It can change the trajectory for generations of what happens. In my experience, when I was 17, my dad died and my parents were never really well off enough to even have a financial advisor, didn't have a lot of money, et cetera. But two or three decisions just in terms of how to fill out beneficiary paperwork and what type of insurance to get from your employer,

having that guidance and not having spouses being informed on that changed everything. It created generational fracture in terms of wealth creation instead of generational blessings. In my experience, when you look back at that, these are simple solves that if there's advisors that care, the clients are going be okay. Yes. I couldn't agree with that statement more. mean, that's why the proverb of shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations is true. More often

Good Life Producer (19:04.118)
than not, you have the primary wealth creation generation, the ones that build it. The second generation starts to spend that down, maybe contributes a little bit to it, but the value and the process for what that means for that family and the financial organization and inclusion for roles and responsibilities doesn't trickle down. And by the third generation, it gets spent down as opposed to it being the blessing of that word as a way to give the next generation a leg up roots and wings.

are usually on the wish list for clients when they start talking about legacy planning and giving them a better chance or an easier start or opportunity for that next generation that they themselves didn't have, or even if they had it, giving them the same opportunity to do that. And that starts with just conversations about money at home. So thankfully we are seeing the trend of money being a taboo topic begin to

to become more diminished as a challenge. But it's a courageous move to get that off the dinner table. It doesn't have to be deep conversations about ins and outs and full of jargon and complexities, but simple of, hey, what would you do to your 10-year-old child at the table if you found 20 bucks on the sidewalk? What would you do?

I mean, that's a great conversation to have. And you start to get a little bit inside their mind about how they think about what that $20 is truly valued at. And you know what they may or may not do that. Do they try to find the owner? Do they want to spend all of it? Do they want to spend some of it and put the other half in the account? Who knows? But I just put it out there. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great point. So as you've traveled around the country and around the world, you've talked to

a lot of advisors, all different shapes and sizes. Give us the best example or the best thing that you're seeing actively working in a practice right now for the young advisor that is in that sort of accumulation mode himself or herself. And then the best piece of advice for that advisor that might be starting to see that kind of five year window in terms of their practice. Sure. So from my...

Good Life Producer (21:24.566)
Talent development and retention standpoint, which satisfies a little bit of both sides of that equation. The best practice that I have seen thus far as an idea is it's hard to find talent. So when you're ready to bring someone new on, where do you go? Rather than starting from ground zero, as you meet impressive people along the way that you could see being in a part of your practice, write their name down.

keep a log, why did they impress you? What was it about it? What could they contribute to this business? And even if it's three, four years down the road, when you're sourcing for that junior planner, maybe that person's name rises to the list and you have three or four candidates to now start with in sourcing versus from scratch. And it's in the moment, maybe it's pressure in terms of timing that is critical for you that takes that all out of the equation. And you have a great list of possibilities right then and there.

I would say the same thing for those that are looking to either be in this business or further their career. If they feel stuck in their current position as a young contributor to a practice, why do they feel stuck? Have they had a conversation? Can they have the conversation about their career aspirations? Because it likely could be solved right where they are. They just haven't had the manager, staff discussion about, you know, how am I doing? What can be

improved? Are there shadow and training opportunities I can take advantage of? If I'm really serious about one day having equity in this business, can we put a role charter together versus I don't think I can have this conversation. I don't see this opportunity and I start to look outside. Yes. So try within first as the younger person, communicate your career aspirations, be open to constructive feedback, work on what you need to work on. And for the senior members of the team, include them in the business.

get them at the table when they're ready, give them responsibility. It's not about you trying to do everything. You said that in your remarks this morning. Yeah, that's right. Glad you're listening. So last comment on that and then we'll wrap up.

Good Life Producer (23:36.13)
We talk about this industry having really this big time issue that's bottlenecking, which is you have the retiring advisors over here and who's gonna take, the training programs are gone from the early 2000s and before and stuff. But I have to say, I look at this and I'm like, if I'm a young person, whether I'm in the industry or not, I've gotta be looking at this business and saying, wait a second.

I get a raise every year, seven out 10 years the markets go up. So I'm inherently going to get a raise just by the assets growing. I can manage a lifestyle, albeit you got to work your butt off to get in there and get up there.

I look at it I'm where's the negative? Maybe it's, I've only known this. I've been doing this since I'm 19. But what's the negative in this business? Like why do you think that there is this weird bottleneck of advisors needing to go and nobody to step in? So let's start with the nobody to step in element. We, as an industry, have to do a better job talking about what this career offers. Just think about when you were in college.

Did you see a wealth management firm that wasn't consultancy or executive pathing, but rather a wealth management business or a financial advisor practice in that fair? No, I didn't. And unless your parents had a financial advisor or a wealth team and you were exposed to that, you just don't know this career exists.

So we have to do better job. And earlier I would say middle school, high school, like, hey, this is a career path and this is what it offers. Because for those that like the service business, like relationship management, and it's not all math, understand that this is about helping someone achieve their goals and aspiration. It's quite a call to service. There's a lot of different people of different skill sets, not just someone who's quantitative.

Good Life Producer (25:35.982)
quantitatively driven that can fill those shoes. And I think that we have to bust down some of those walls. Now for the retiring advisor, a lot of the barrier is, cause you love so much what you do and the people that you work with. It's really difficult to envision what am I doing after I walk away from this? I don't even know what that is. So you have to allow yourself some exploratory time. But what do you want to do on the back nine?

because you shouldn't be planning to die at your desk. That's not good for your clients. It's not good for your team. It's definitely not good for your business. So think about what you've worked so hard for all these years so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. And they're going to be different answers. If we just did a quick round table with a few of your advisors in the room, we would hear probably four five different things and lots of people saying, I just don't know. It's okay not to know, but you can't wait.

until it's right at the finish line to start making some of those decisions. You really need a good five, seven year roadmap for yourself to think about unwinding from the business. It's better for your clients. It's better for your team. It's definitely better for your bottom line. Yeah. think if they do, if advisors do a great job, which they do, identifying themselves not just as the title of financial advisor, but we serve in this role of like,

I mean, I've been asked to be the godfather of clients' kids and, you know, active participants in their life. And I think what happens is a lot of times, well, if I'm not their advisor anymore, the relationship's not going to die off. Well, if your identity is being a financial advisor, then you might, it might be harder to unwind. But if your identity is that I'm a servant leader that cares about my clients, that cares about Tom Smith or Jane, if you know them by name and you care about them at a personal level,

then it probably makes it little bit easier as well. But it is a hard switch to flip. Yeah, I mean, I think you can't underestimate the emotional component that's involved when you unwind from your business. And it's important to spend the time thinking about what you want, what you and your family want, because that's also in service to your clients. And your clients know at some point you are going to retire, regardless of how old they are, how long they've been working with you, and they want that for you.

you just have to show them what is the path forward so they know what to do. And they know who among the team, if not the whole team ideally, is going to continue to take care of them while you enjoy whatever that is. Yep. Great advice. Great advice. Well, thank you. my pleasure. Thanks for having us. Happy to do it. Thank you for joining, and we will see you the next time on Thinking Independently.