When it came to kick off Season 3 of In The Suite Podcast, I knew it was time to act bold and take risks, like so many of our guests from Seasons 1 & 2. So I abruptly canceled my December trip to Cabo, and moved by beach chair and blanket literally to Podcast Row at The MarketCounsel Summit, in the Fountainbleau in Miami Beach. And let me tell you, it was well worth it.
The MarketCounsel Summit is the brainchild of Brian Hamburger, President and Chief Executive Officer of MarketCounsel and Hamburger Law Firm, and I want to dedicate this special extraordinary, first of its kind episode to him and the amazing team at MarketCounsel, to Brian’s daughter Ella and to his General Manager Ryan Marcus who were instrumental to my visit and mission to support female leadership In The Suite.
You’re about to hear live, on-the-spot, in-person spontaneous interviews with industry leaders who continue to break the mold and shape the future of the wealth management industry:
Aaron Klein – Co-Founder and CEO of Riskalyze, https://www.riskalyze.com/, 3:46-19:07
Aaron Klein, Co-Founder and CEO of Riskalyze, has a career that has largely been at the intersection of finance and technology. As co-founder and CEO at Riskalyze, he led the company to twice being named one of the world’s top 10 most innovative companies in finance by Fast Company Magazine.
In this episode, Aaron discusses being able to build a capability called Discovery. Discovery is a search engine that dives into investment research based on the most vital search criteria including the Risk Number, Riskalyze GPA, and more. He also talks about the importance of client relationships and integrating technology into business.
Shirl Penny – Chief Executive Officer of Dynasty Financial Partners, https://dynastyfinancialpartners.com/, 19:11-28:06
Adversity builds character, according to Shirl Penny, CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. Dynasty Financial Partners is known for assisting advisors of integrity to better serve their clients, run their businesses more profitably, grow faster and enhance the enterprise values of their firm’s dynasty.
Shirl discusses the company’s business plans, strategies, building, and evaluating capability where people can invest in a business. Additionally, how he sees the RIA ecosystem as an opportunity to thrive and grow, from an entrepreneurial perspective.
Craig Iskowitz – Founder and CEO of Ezra Group, https://ezragroupllc.com/, 28:10-50:07
Ezra Group provides technology and strategy solutions to the wealth management industry. As the Founder & CEO of his business, Craig Iskowitz discusses his philosophies on investment, T3’s, technologies & networking. Craig talks about how he has been able to integrate these core values into what is being taught at the MarketCounsel Summit.
Joel Bruckenstein, CFP® – Producer of the Annual T3 Advisor Conference at T3 Technology Tools for Today, https://www.t3conferences.com/, 33:19-50:07
Joel Bruckenstein, CFP®, is the Producer of the Annual T3 Advisor Conference at T3 Technology Tools for Today. In this episode, Joel discusses the importance of going into a business relationship with a fee strategy, as well as the importance of knowing the distinction of financial planning versus comprehensive planning.
Shannon Spotswood – President of RFG Advisory, https://rfgadvisory.com, 38:26-50:07
Shannon Spotswood, President of RFG Advisory, is passionately committed to serving independent financial advisors and their clients. RFG Advisory delivers advisors a turn-key integrated technology platform to manage their practice and institutional-caliber investment management solutions. Shannon discusses the importance of working with the next generation of clients, how advisors should approach a pricing model and approaching an innovative way of subscription models.
Allen Darby – CEO of Alaris Acquisitions, https://alarisacquisitions.com/, 50:08-1:00:45
Allen Darby is the CEO of Alaris Acquisitions. Alaris Acquisitions focuses solely on the subject of mergers and acquisitions in the wealth management industry. Alaris Acquisitions sources, negotiates and closes new partnership opportunities for dominant local, regional and national wealth management firms that seek to grow via acquisition. As an owner of his own wealth management firm, Allen grew his practice by completing 9 mergers and acquisitions. While having a conversation with Allen, he talks about his knowledge on MNA as well as mergers and acquisitions in the wealth management industry.
Robb Baldwin – President and CEO at TradePMR, https://www.tradepmr.com/home, 1:00:48-1:10:28
Robb Baldwin is the President and CEO of TradePMR. TradePMR works to streamline fee-only Investment Advisors operations to comprehensive custodial, operational and trading support. Robb talks about his perspectives on educating advisors on controlling their own data, analyzing demographics from a Client/Relationship Management database and portfolio management.
George Tamer – Head of Sales at AdvisorEngine, https://www.advisorengine.com/, 1:10:29-1:18:30
“Change creates opportunities” according to George Tamer, Head of Sales at AdvisorEngine. Advisor Engine builds powerful and intuitive technology for financial advisors. As Head of Sales, George uses a consultative approach to match client needs with AdvisorEngine capabilities. He talks about the innovation of technology and how it has helped AdvisorEngine. He also touches upon the company’s unique client onboarding approach, CRM database, and mass customization.
Marwa Zakharia – CEO of AssetBook, https://www.assetbook.com/, 1:18:34-1:25:02
Marwa Zakharia, CEO of AssetBook, has helped companies increase their market share and develop revenue growth processes and is well-versed in human resources, operations, and overall strategic planning. AssetBook’s mission is to help advisors solve the daily challenges they face through assessment and diagnosis of their portfolio management and reporting, and key business metrics. She gives her insight on important topics such as leadership in the C-Suite and how females are impacting the wealth management industry.
Rob Sandrew – Chief Growth Officer of Integrated Partners, https://integrated-partners.com/, 1:25:06-1:29:42
“I firmly believe that Integrated Partners offer distinct value to advisors along with a strong culture that represents an advisor community” – Rob Sandrew. Rob Sandrew, Chief Growth Officer of Integrated Partners, helps financial advisors to pursue their entrepreneurial vision. They offer comprehensive business building services designed with a truly independent advisor in mind. While talking with Rob, he talks about opening up in architecture, multi-custodial and innovative technology as well as getting exposure and understanding the knowledge base at MarketCounsel Summit.
Ryan Shanks – Co-Founder and CEO of FA Match, www.famatch.com, 1:29:45-1:37:49
“As we evaluate firms around all the different connectivity points, culturally, that’s the human part of this business that you can digitize,” said Ryan Shanks, Co-Founder and CEO of FA Match. Ryan Shanks’ mission for forming FA Match was built from the ground up with this sole focus. Our platform is intelligent, passionate and the smartest thing for your career. While sitting down with Ryan, he talks about topics such as the human and technology elements of the industry and navigating post pandemic.
When it came to kick off Season 3 of In The Suite Podcast, I knew it was time to act bold and take risks, like so many of our guests from Seasons 1 & 2. So I abruptly canceled my December trip to Cabo, and moved by beach chair and blanket literally to Podcast Row at The MarketCounsel Summit, in the Fountainbleau in Miami Beach. And let me tell you, it was well worth it.
