TRANSITION TALK

The last thing any business owner and professional needs is to deal with more ambiguity and uncertainty than the global situation has already dealt us. In our highly regulated industry, many advisors are asking questions about how to keep their teams safe and do their part to "flatten the curve" while remaining compliant in operations and client communication. Many industry experts and institutions are weighing in on how to maintain business continuity, protect your clients, and remain compliant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are some of the resources we found most valuable on these subjects:

Ongoing developments with COVID-19 have prompted a number of advisors to contact us and make sure their death and disability continuity plans are up to date. It’s worth noting that only about 30% of advisors have any type of formal, written death and disability agreement in place. That leaves 70% with little to no protection for their business and clients.

What is Continuity Planning?

Business Continuity Planning is required by most regulatory organizations in the financial services industry. The common objective is preserving client service and asset management continuity in the event of natural disaster, national emergency, or exit of the licensed principal. Death or disability agreements provide a contingency plan that ensures a seamless transfer of control and responsibility for the business in the event of an owner’s unplanned and abrupt departure.

In the wake of COVID-19, we’ve seen many of these operational contingencies enacted by advisory firms nationwide, and that the preparation for a sudden exit is equally as crucial. Highly transmittable and difficult to predict respiratory viruses aside, you never know when an unexpected event will prevent you from performing your role as owner and advisor.

Many things are up in the air right now, and we’re all experiencing major changes to the way we live our lives. It’s no wonder that investors—and advisors—are wondering the best course of action as markets fluctuate and many businesses can’t operate as usual. Many industry leaders (including our own experts) are sharing their advice on how to mitigate uncertainty and provide valuable guidance to investors. Below you'll find some of the articles we've found most impactful:

The last few weeks have been eerie. The markets are fluctuating, schools are closed, streets are deserted. The Portland area had a run of 65-degree sunny days followed by two days of snow. Our office is down to a skeleton crew, and the rest of the staff are working from home.

At the beginning of March staying away from the coronavirus seemed as simple as keeping anyone sick at home. Now the ambiguity of who might be carrying the virus has sparked fear of the unknown and driving us to make drastic, unprecedented changes in our lifestyles to protect those at highest risk for severe infection. The situation and preventative measures seem to change daily and vary state to state.

But, this, too, shall pass, and we are all trying to stay productive and maintain perspective on the current situation. Twelve years ago, we experienced a similar market shock. Though the circumstances and drivers are different now, the way the industry adapts and manages investor uncertainty to find our way to the other side of this, as innovators and entrepreneurs, we will have to think similarly.

Be a Resource

The biggest piece of advice I can give to advisors who expect to make it through is this: be a resource.

Be a resource for your clients and their communities. They’re all searching for guidance right now. Even if you can’t give them concrete answers, you can give them context. Nobody can predict exactly what is going to happen in the next few months, but you can support your community by sharing your knowledge of the financial system.  

Things have been changing for years, more and more people work from home and do so productively. Gone are the days, for many industries, where being in an office is a requirement. As technology continues to improve and online communications have become a daily occurrence, full-time employees around the country have had more freedom and flexibility, often able to work from any location.

Businesses around the world are asking employees to work from home in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. This is an excellent policy for public health, but how do you work from home without sacrificing productivity and client satisfaction? We've culled the internet and found helpful advice from people who know how to do it right.

With school closures across the country and many parents working from home, we asked a seasoned, work-from-home pro, our Marketing Director Elise Rogers, how she’s adapting to working remotely with her three boys full time. Below she shares a tool she’s created to keep her oldest son productively engaged and everyone else on task.

This new change in my family’s lives is causing my managerial mentality to go into over-drive, and like any manager, I am tackling this new homeschool lifestyle with a plan.

I have three kids (12, 2 ½ and 7 months old) and while my husband and I are tag-teaming the little ones, we want to be sure my oldest son is engaged and completing his online learning and not spending all his time watching TV or playing video games for the next month or more. Here is some insight I have gathered from creating this process for my own family.

This week our President & Founder, David Grau Sr., J.D., is traveling to NYC to receive an Icons & Innovators Award from Investment News along with 19 other incredible industry visionaries and thought leaders.

We are incredibly proud of David and our team who continue elevating the industry with new ideas for long-term business growth and sustainability.

Please join us in congratulating David on this honor!

Rough Seas

In the heyday of maritime exploration, traveling the world’s oceans promised adventure and immense risk. Turbulent seas and unfavorable weather endangered crews, threatened ships, and spoiled the best-laid plans. Seasoned captains applied skill and experience to determine whether to proceed with caution or seek haven; decisions that couldbring adverse consequences or reap rich reward. 

As the captain of your business, you’ve undoubtedly surveyed the course ahead and evaluated the inherent risks and rewards. Are you prepared to weather these seas? Or is it time to pull into safe harbor? 

In the past month it seemed like our inboxes and Twitter feeds exploded with articles on “robo advisors.” Not necessarily a new technology, these automated platforms are setting off some threat alarms in the financial services industry.

It seems robo-advising can’t be avoided, which shouldn’t come as a surprise in our world of evolving technology and “gotta have the next big thing,” “how can I get the most bang for my buck” mentalities.

I dove into as many of these articles as I could in order to compile a list of the ones I think offer the best insight into the rise of robos and how traditional advisors can meet the challenges they pose head on.