Adviser profile: Luella Keeley reaches for a higher service
by Tim Cooper

Citywire
November 05 2010

Strategic Asset Managers to train staff as life coaches
By William Robins

Strategic Asset Managers (SAM) is planning to train advisers planning to leave the sector in 2012 as life coaches under a ‘lifetime planning’ programme to be launched next year. Read more

October 2010

Thought Leader Round Table - Rebuilding Trust

Every year, in conjunction with the FPA National Conference, I invite a select few industry thought leaders to join me for a round table discussion. The topic varies from year to year, based on perceptions of what’s important for RIAs and other independent financial advisors to hear and think about. The most recent Thought Leaders’ Round Table, held October 10, 2010 in Denver, Colorado, did not disappoint. Download the round table discussion On Rebuilding Trust: Download PDF

October 10 2010
AdvisorOne - FPA Thought Leaders

Defining Advisor Value and Rebuilding Trust

An all-star panel of industry personalities gathered at the FPA annual conference for a frank discussion of how new fiduciary standards might impact the advisor industry and day-to-day business. Read more

October 06 2010
New Model Adviser® Edition - Citywire

Why FP shouldn't be just for Wealthy
By Diane Weitz

The misconception that financial planning is only for the wealthy leaves too many people floundering about like Dickens’ Mr Micawber – people who rely on some kind of good fortune just ‘turning up’, says Diane Weitz of Ashlea Financial Planning. Read more

October 01 2010
Financial Advisor mag

Quietly Contrary: Some advisors find success by scorning conventional wisdom about size, growth and clientele.
By Mary Rowland  

When Bloomberg Wealth Manager magazine was launched in September 1999, I wrote a cover story called “How To Fire A Client.” This idea certainly didn’t originate with me. But over the last decade, it’s become what I call, for lack of a better word, one of the “truisms” of financial planning: Every year you should fire your least profitable clients. Read more

June 1, 2010
Bank Investment Consultant

Examined Lives
By Roger Wellington

Let's compare two different people: one wins $1 million in the lottery, the other has an accident and loses the use of his legs. Which one will be happier with their life 12 months after these events? That's easy. The lottery winner, right? In fact, research of actual Illinois State lottery winners and new paraplegics reveals an astonishing result. Members of both groups are equally happy with their lives a year later. Honestly! This wasn't just one quirky bit of research, either. Dozens and dozens of well-designed studies have reached the same conclusion: We don't have a very firm grasp on what truly makes us happy. Read more

________________________________________________________________________

March 12, 2010
San Antonio Business Journal

Getting to know you, better
By Richard Erickson

Financial planners placing bigger emphasis on client’s values, life goals
Finance may be all about the numbers, but over the last 15 years, more and more financial planners aren’t starting with spreadsheets. Instead, they are delving into their clients’ emotions, values and hidden goals in a process that has become known as “life planning.” Read more

________________________________________________________________________

April 1, 2010
Financial Planning Magazine

The Philosopher
By Donna Mitchell

January 23, 2010
Financial Times

Enough money for a nice life
By Vincent Strik

You’re at the stage of life when you’re thinking of hiring someone, or someone new, to help you with your money. Set your standards high. You want a no-nonsense person or group that has years of experience working for savvy people. You want sound judgments, sensitivity—and a track record of results. Take the growing area of “life planning” or “holistic financial planning.” The emphasis is on your personal priorities and well-being. Your investments are part of the program, but their role is to support whatever you want to achieve, such as retiring on schedule, changing your career, owning rental property, keeping an old beach house in the family, endowing a scholarship fund, buying into a baseball team, or anything and everything else. If instead you want you and your family to be the focus, invest in the services of a planner who thinks that way. Look for a registered life planner with the Kinder Institute, whose founder, George Kinder, was one of the first people to distinguish matters of the portfolio from matters of the heart and mind. Read more.