Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent study from The Ensemble Practice finds that while surveyed advisory firms posted profit margins in excess of 38% for fiscal year 2025 (a figure up nearly 15 percentage points over the past decade), organic growth rates have lagged, with strong market performance being a key contributor to both (serving as a revenue driver for AUM-based firms, but also leading some consumers to continue managing their own investments). Which suggests that during a future market downturn, firms that do invest in pursuing organic growth (e.g., by engaging in multiple tactics and creating a structured marketing and sales process) could be better positioned to reach consumers who are newly incentivized to seek out an advisor, ultimately weather the storm that could otherwise significantly erode their revenue, and emerge even stronger when the market eventually recovers.
Also in industry news this week:
- NAPFA announced a new fiduciary standard for its registered advisors this week, going beyond SEC and CFP Board fiduciary requirements, particularly when it comes to advisor compensation
- A recent survey indicates that financial advisors on the whole are largely upbeat when it comes to their growth prospects over the next few years and are leaning into the human element of advice as they prepare for greater competition from AI-powered self-directed advice tools
From there, we have several articles on retirement planning:
- A rule from "SECURE Act 2.0" restricts the type of catch-up contributions that can be made to workplace retirement plans for certain high-income earners, though these contributions could still be valuable despite the absence of an immediate tax deduction
- How individuals can gain early retirement flexibility using the "Rule of 55" to make penalty-free withdrawals from their workplace retirement plans
- A study finds that married couples sometimes don't maximize the employer matches available to them, in part because of concerns about how workplace retirement plans would be treated in a potential divorce
We also have a number of articles on insurance planning:
- When long-term care insurance might (and might not) make sense for clients in the current challenging environment for the product
- How financial advisors have responded when clients face sharp premium hikes on their long-term care policies
- Why individuals might want to seek out insurance policies that are expected to lose them money (on average)
We wrap up with three final articles, all about the future of content in a "Zero-Click" world:
- 17 types of content that could continue to perform well at a time when fewer individuals are actually clicking through to websites from Google searches
- Why nurturing a highly tailored audience could help content creators (including financial advisors) succeed amidst the centralization of information
- While "how-to" books have experienced a sharp decline in sales amidst the growing popularity of AI chatbots, those dedicated to consuming long-form content (and/or who have an accountability partner) might be more likely to succeed in their fitness, financial, or other goals
Enjoy the 'light' reading!
