As the full impact of COVID-19 continues to unveil itself in the financial services industry, many advisors we are hearing from have begun to plan for a long-term remote practice. If you are contemplating a similar shift for the future, it is important to understand the limitations of the methods you used in the past to get to know prospects. Two of these methods, (a) judgment based on direct interaction and (b) forms with …
If you have ever taken a quiz entitled “How to tell if your boyfriend is cheating on you” or “Answer these five questions to learn to see if you’re a good friend,” then you’ve probably taken something akin to what we call a “Cosmo test.” Your answers to just a few questions will result in a detailed analysis of your personality, along with a lengthy set of advice on improving your life (or a …
The financial technology (or fintech) landscape is evolving rather quickly, and some are calling it the “golden age of fintech.” I recall thinking only a few years ago that DataPoints didn’t quite fit in any of the categories of the various fintech maps that were published. The groupings of CRMs, financial planning software, re-balancing tools, etc. were clear enough. But there really wasn’t a place for psychology and behavioral science in the mechanics of financial …
All of the studies and resulting data that have looked at the issue appear to agree that client behavioral management is one of—if not the most—important functions of financial advisors. In one of the seminal research studies—although not technically an inquiry into the role of financial advisors in relation to client behavioral management—the researchers concluded that of all the activities undertaken by large corporate pension fund managers, strategic portfolio allocation accounted for on average 93.6% …
We recently acquired a so-called Lazy Susan. You know, one of those devices that you set on a dining table to spin around and send the salt and pepper to anyone at the table. At the risk of encouraging laziness, with so many people around our table at dinnertime, it seemed to be a net gain. And to my knowledge, there are few substitutes for this simple device. There isn’t an app on my phone …

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