There is a part of old Wall Street culture that is bombastic and bold. I would argue it’s still alive and well.
It’s power suits, red Ferrari’s, and New York power lunches.
It’s weekend trips to the Hamptons and summer trips to Europe.
To quote a classic:
However, within the independent advisor channel, it seems to be more subdued.
I’m talking beige khakis and Champagne Honda Accord vibes.
There is an unspoken fear of not giving clients the impression you are making too much money.
Since technically we are all making money off the clients’ money, the fear is that it will smell like you are charging too much.
I don’t get it. We should be proud of our work, and – those who do great work get financial rewards.
Talk About Your Assets Under Management
The reason why so many people have reached out to congratulate us on our exponential growth is because we are VERY vocal about it.
The humble brag of assets and growth has been all over the media like here, here, here, and here.
My personal LinkedIn page is also no stranger to these AUM/Growth announcements like here, here, and here.
I have taken a lot of flak from people, both online and (somewhat impressively) face-to-face:
- Be humble.
- Maybe you are charging too much If you keep talking about assets and money.
- Current clients don’t care about how many “new” clients you are getting.
I call bullshit.
Clients are attracted to success. Clients want to work with winners.
We were just as loud when our assets were at $200 million as we are now that we are north of $1.5 billion.
The absolute level doesn’t matter; what matters is that you own it and say it with your chest.
I am sure the “psychology of feelings in French new wave cinema” majors won’t agree with the way I judge success, but to each their own.
Your Long-Term Success Matters
Clients should have the confidence that their Advisor’s business is successful, profitable, and sustainable.
Why?
Because while you are planning for their long-term success, they need to have the confidence that you will be around for the long-term.
It is important to be open about the underlying health of your practice.
YOU should discuss your companies’ financials with your clients because that is part of YOUR financial plan.
At our annual financial advisor due diligence conference, I typically spend the first 30 minutes giving a “State of the Company” presentation where I discuss our income statement and goals of the company.
We are very open about how we structure the financials of the company, as a hyper-growth company, which is broken into thirds.
33% Salaries
33% Expenses
33% Owners K1 (I don’t run a f/**ing charity)
I don’t owe it to anyone to discuss how the business is run but I do believe our advisor clients should be privy to this level of detail.
I think this concept of extreme transparency is a big reason we have been able to 10x our business in 4 years.
We are asking advisors to trust us with their client’s hard-earned money in the long term. We owe it to them to discuss how we manage the company for growth and sustainability.
Financially desperate people make stupid decisions.
Image matters
In my now closed Twitter account, the tweet with the most engagement and divisiveness was “Clients want to work with winners and not someone who drives a Honda Accord.”
Oh man, the number of dorks that came at me hard to voice their opinion that frugality shows financial responsibility was astonishing.
You think a client really wants the person in charge of giving them financial advice to look homeless and hold meetings at Taco Bell?
I will take the other side of that bet.
Buy a decent suit, join a country club, drive a nice car.
Your job relies on the other person having some semblance of confidence that you are successful.
Of course, substance matters more but you would be a fool to think that the image you portray is meaningless.
Conclusion:
We live in a world of instant information. If you don’t control your narrative, then someone else will.
Talk about your business to everyone that wants to listen. Talk about your future growth plans and be excited about the future.
We get asked all the time about the future growth plans of Potomac.
It can be summed up in one word, “more.”
Potomac Fund Management ("Company") is an SEC-registered investment adviser. SEC registration does not constitute an endorsement of the advisory firm by the SEC nor does it indicate that the advisory firm has attained a particular level of skill or ability. This information is prepared for general information only and should not be considered as individual investment advice nor as a solicitation to buy or offer to sell any securities. This material does not constitute any representation as to the suitability or appropriateness of any investment advisory program or security. Please visit our FULL DISCLOSURE page. The company does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to the Company website or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility for any of this information. The views of the Company are subject to change and the Company is under no obligation to notify you of any changes. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy will be profitable or equal to any historical performance level.
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