Secrets to Becoming an Elite Advisor

That's the thought that raced through John Bowen's mind as he climbed the stairs and made his way across the stage in front of thousands of his peers to accept his award and engraved Rolex watch as top advisor. To the outside world, Bowen was a hugely successful financial advisor at the top of his field

But inside, Bowen was suffering. He was working 60+ hours per week with little to no time to spend with his family. No matter how hard he worked, the valuation of his business wasn't what it could be. Bowen was desperate for a change. With the help of a coach, he implemented a business model that allowed him to be home almost every night and take a minimum of six weeks of vacation a year. He sold his financial advisory business for $25 million in the 1990s. Bowen had become an elite advisor.

Bowen, founder and CEO of financial advisor coaching firm CEG Worldwide, revealed the secrets to joining the ranks of elite advisors—those advisors who earn at least $1 million a year by taking exceptional care of their clients--at TD Ameritrade Institutional's National LINC 2020.

Bowen shared his vision for what the career of an elite advisor can look like. “We believe that advisors can build an amazing life of significance by serving fewer, wealthier clients extremely well," said Bowen. “We also believe you can do it faster and with less effort than you ever thought possible."

A Hierarchy of Advisor Success

Bowen categorized advisory firms into four buckets which he calls the hierarchy of advisor success. At the lowest level of the pyramid are the technicians. These advisors earn up to $300,000 per year and serve mass affluent investors. But their approach is very investment-centric and restricts growth.

“Investments have been commoditized," said Bowen. “It's table stakes, especially as you move up market. No one is chasing returns anymore."

Experimenters understand the importance of moving from an investment-centric to a client-centric practice and have boosted their earnings to between $300,000 and half a million dollars per year. But while publicly successful, experimenters are privately stressed out.

The third level, rainmakers, have broken through the $500,000 earnings ceiling and continue to push hard. The problem is that they are unable to attract the clients with more than $5 million in investable assets that they need to move to the next level of the hierarchy. They've hit the “good enough" ceiling, said Bowen.

At the top of the pyramid are the elite advisors who lead a life of significance. These advisors have earned more than $1 million a year for three or more years in a row. They receive at least five referrals for ultra-high-net-worth clients from centers of influence a year.

“Elite advisors live the life they want supported by the business," explained Bowen. “They are dedicated to building simple, elegant practices that are indispensable to the right affluent clients. As a result, they can help the causes they care about and are able to make a difference in the world."

Getting to Elite

No matter where you currently land on the advisor success hierarchy—technician, experimenter, or rainmaker—you can move up to the elite level in 36 months or less, said Bowen.

Getting to elite requires pulling three levers of success:

• Clarity of Intent. You are clear about what you want to achieve, are confident that your current business model will achieve the results you want, and you've identified your ideal clients.
• World-Class Client Experience. You've differentiated yourself from the competition by positioning yourself as the go-to advisor in your community. You also emotionally connect with clients and clients feel that you “get them"—something important to 84% of clients, said Bowen. You work with other professionals such as CPAs and estate planning attorneys to address your clients' advanced planning needs.

• Wealthy Client Pipeline. Clients seek you out as a talented expert and centers of influence are motivated to work with you over the long term. Rather than providing revenue sharing, you've found ways to help these centers generate more revenue out of their own business so they are incentivized to introduce you to their best clients.

Regardless of which level you are at, there's big opportunities ahead. “Change is accelerating in our industry and you can't stay doing what you are doing," said Bowen. “You need to differentiate yourself and take decisive action now." As a wake-up call to the advisors in the room, Bowen cited the statistic that the majority (94%) of affluent clients have at least two financial advisors, and those with more than $5 million in investable assets have 5.7 advisors.

Bowen suggested that everyone can become an elite advisor and enjoy the quiet confidence that comes from having a steady stream of pre-qualified and pre-endorsed clients coming to them provides.

But the rewards of moving into the elite level are more than just monetary, explained Bowen. Imagine the impact you can have as an elite advisor on the lives of your clients. “You can help clients make smart decisions about their money, mitigate taxes, take care of their heirs, protect their assets from litigation, and magnify their charitable giving," said Bowen.

Bowen emotionally told the story of his own father who, due to lack of solid financial advice, lost the family business. A financial advisor would have made a world of difference in his father's and his family's life. “Your clients deserve a trusted advisor to help them to take care of the people they love, the causes they care about, and make an impact."

TD Ameritrade, Inc. and CEG Worldwide are separate unaffiliated companies and are not responsible for each other's services or policies.