• How does anyone begin to find their personal intention in the financial service industry?
• Where does your passion come from? 
• What advice would you have for anyone who feels lost in their journey?
• How can financial planners deal with imposter syndrome? 
• How can financial professionals face their challenges and cope with failures? 
• What are some steps anyone can take to find their “Tribe”? 
• How does DEI play a crucial role in the financial services industry?
• How does a company go about inclusion of diverse professionals to be welcomed into the firm?  

Guest:

Angie Ribuffo was born in Augusta Georgia, the child of a military family and lived in Germany and Thailand.In 2008 she decided to move into the world of financial planning by becoming a financial advisor and in 2019 opened her own firm Raion Financial Strategies LLC. She holds 6 designations CFP®; RICP®; ChFC®; CDFA®; CLTC® and WMC®. In 2018, Angie was recognized by InvestmentNews ,Women to Watch and inducted into the Anchorage Athena Society. 2017-2018 , the National President of Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS). In 2012, she was awarded the Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS) ANGEL award recipient. From 2012- 2021 she has been recognized as a WIFS Circle of Excellence recipient. Angie is married to her husband of 40 years, Steve, has 2 adult sons, Stephen and Daniel, a 8 year old granddaughter, Tahli and 4 year old grandson, Malcolm and her golden retriever, Abby.

Host: 

Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Financial Planning Program of California Lutheran University. Before her academic role, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®). Chia-Li Chien is pronounced Jolly Jan.

Guest:

Julie Fortin, CFP®, FBS®, CeFT®, is a Partner and Wealth Manager at Northstar Financial Planning, a women-owned, holistic, financial planning firm dedicated to enriching the lives of women and couples by helping them use their money to achieve their life, family, and legacy goals. Julie holds an MS in Finance degree from Suffolk University and a graduate certificate in Financial Psychology and Behavioral Finance from Creighton University. She is a Certified Financial Planner professional®, a Certified Financial Behavior Specialist®, and a Certified Financial Transitionist®. She has been quoted in publications including the New York Times and Nerdwallet and published in the Journal of Financial Planning. Julie volunteers with the programs Junior Achievement and Invest in Girls. She serves on the board of the Financial Therapy Association.

Host:

Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Financial Planning Program of California Lutheran University. Before her academic role, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®). Chia-Li Chien is pronounced Jolly Jan.

From consumers to financial planning practitioners, everyone needs to understand what financial behaviors are. However, very few know how to apply them when working with clients. In this interview, Dr. Chien will discuss Mr. Franks’ renowned podcast FinWizdom and how his wisdom can help financial planning practitioners serve clients better.

• What are obsessions with possessions?
• How to avoid temptations?
• Can niches reveal financial motivations?
• “I’ve been framed,” is that a good thing?
• Have my employers “anchored” me away from saving for retirement?

Mr. Franks suggests visiting the following resources before this interview:

• Financial DNA – Behavioral Finance Resources
• CFA Institute  Enterprising Investor – Behavioral Finance

Register now, and you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This is a webinar you won’t want to miss!!

Guest:

Joel Franks has diversified business roles and his strong financial marketing background has enabled him to combine both the science and the art of creating innovative storytelling that is relevant, engaging, and shareable. With extensive financial marketing experience in banking, investments, and insurance, along with his behavioral finance and content marketing skills, he offers a unique perspective on financial literacy.

Mr. Franks has a proven record of accomplishment in the area of marketing strategy, social media, innovation, team building, partnership development, influential communications, and the ability to cultivate an organization’s initiatives. He has extensive knowledge and familiarity with a digital presence, public relations, sales and service training, executing through multiple distribution channels, and value proposition implementation.

Host:

Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Financial Planning Program of California Lutheran University. Before her academic role, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®). Chia-Li Chien is pronounced Jolly Jan.

Peer-influencing has dominated how consumers seek advice. Many financial planning practitioners navigate popular social media platforms with compliance guards.  Ms. Williams will share with us how to best leverage social media platforms with leads in emotional triggers.

• The best social media platform for financial planning practitioners
• What are the do’s and don’ts in social media to be evergreen compliance?
• What are the emotional triggers that could generate leads?
• What are the best practices for marketing in social media?

Register now, and you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. This is a webinar you won’t want to miss!!

Guest:

Sarah E. Williams, VP, Marketing Communications at CreativeOne. With almost 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, advertising, and public relations, Sarah leads the company’s outreach efforts, showing financial advisors and independent insurance agents exactly what they can accomplish through branding, lead generation, and social media. She has helped hundreds of producers expand their businesses, showing them how to grow revenue while positioning them as an industry of thought leaders since joining CreativeOne in 2011.

As CreativeOne’s chief ambassador, Sarah communicates how marketing and practice management can help agents and advisors expand their practices. She leads the education channel, recruiting prospective agents and advisors who want to join CreativeOne. Her knowledge of marketing, combined with her embodiment of CreativeOne’s philosophy, makes her a formidable leader in this ever-changing industry.

Host:

Chia-Li Chien, Ph.D., CFP®, PMP®, CPBC, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Financial Planning Program of California Lutheran University. Before her academic role, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies, including Diageo, ABB, CIGNA, and RSA Insurance Group. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession planning at national conferences and has published three books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” She publishes research on succession topics in a variety of academic and practitioner research journals. Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®). Chia-Li Chien is pronounced Jolly Jan.

Returning to His MBA

Fast forward to the present and Padilla has now had his CFP® for about seven years but he did not finish his MBA. After COVID-19 began, Padilla decided it was time to return to California Lutheran University to finish the program. “I’m so glad I did return. I’ve seen a difference in the program on what I had to learn the hard way with clients and employees. There’s a lot of soft skills, selling skills, and empowering associates and employees skills to help you with what to do. It made me really want to finish my MBA!” he said. 

Padilla’s Key Values of the Program

Working in the financial service industry for over 20 years, he sold his practice and naturally found himself going down the route of entertainment and sport through his young children and their activities. Previously he earned an undergraduate degree in business administration, marketing at California State University, Northridge. “I went back to start my MBA as I only had a few classes left. I see the value in the program. If I was just starting out or starting another financial service practice, I would definitely want to do this program. It provides value and it’s really practical. I highly recommend anyone in the financial services to go through this program,” he said. 

One of the key values that Padilla found in the program was the topic of financial counseling. “As an advisor and business owner, I never thought about financial counseling. I didn’t know you could earn a certification in it,” he said. Padilla also mentioned that he recently started thinking about succession planning due to a class and wished he had known more about it to use in his previous financial services business. 

Padilla also found value in the practical learning and skills that he developed from the program. “Before I was going through the motions to get the piece of paper, but now I’m really finding a use for it and I’m learning from it. I wanted to go back and get my MBA to also show my kids there is value in education,” he said. 

Earning an MBA and CFP ® 

California Lutheran University meets the CFP ® education requirements and students can earn an MBA at the same time. This was the main reason why Padilla chose the program, what’s more, the classes were convenient for his schedule and also local to where he is based. To Padilla, it was important for him to earn the CFP® to help clients and be respected in the financial services industry. 

To the Future

In five to ten years time, Padilla sees his company, MVP Sports & Entertainment Management, as one of the biggest firms that provide a variety of services for athletes and entertainers. “I feel the program is very revolutionary and it provides a lot of value to relay the direction that financial planning services are going. This program gives people the tools to go in the direction of an ensemble practice,” he explained. An ensemble practice is a type of practice where multiple partners come together to provide more values to the clients instead of the traditional idea of just one advisor in a practice acting as a lone ranger. 

Advice to Others

Padilla’s advice to someone who is starting a career in financial planning is to find someone who is successful and to learn about what they do. “Continue to educate yourself, whether that is a program at California Lutheran University, getting coached, going to conventions to learn more and make connections. Model from those who know what they are doing,” he said. He also mentioned the importance of finding mentors that you can model.

Making Time for Sport

In his free time, Padilla enjoys coaching volleyball and being active in his children’s sports. He also enjoys traveling, particularly to cold, snowy places where he can snowboard. 

About Don Padilla: 

Don Padilla is CEO of MVP Sports & Entertainment Management, a Talent Manager, Certified Financial Planner™, public speaker, and published author of “Not Another Broke Athlete.” He was former National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Registered Player Financial Advisor. Don has taught and lectured retirement and life planning courses at various universities and colleges. He has been in the financial services industry for over 20 years and has managed over a quarter of a billion dollars. He has two children, Naiya (10) and Elijah (8), and enjoys coaching volleyball and snowboarding during his free time. 

About the Author:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing in PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

When Anne Wittig was in second grade, her father taught her sister and herself how to budget. This is a skill that Wittig used as an undergraduate at college and the jobs that followed. “I learned how much of a privilege it was. I saw friends and co-workers struggling to try to learn how to budget when they were in the midst of a financial crisis,” she said. Since then, Wittig has found a passion for helping others understand budgeting better and even came second place in the California Lutheran University PRiME competition for her submission on it.

Wittig discovered her passion for helping others with finances after volunteering for a year with LEVN (Lutheran Episcopal Volunteer Network).  “My experiences during my year of service led me to begin budget coaching, which is like life coaching for budgets,” she explained. Realizing she wanted to gain more knowledge and more experience with finances, Wittig looked for a financial planning program. With family connections to PLTS (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), California Lutheran University was an “obvious choice” for Wittig to further her education in a Master of Science degree, saying she “didn’t even look anywhere else.”

Following Her Financial Planning Passion

Currently studying at California Lutheran University for her M.S. in Financial Planning, Wittig is planning to take the CFP ® exam in November 2021. She wants to earn her CFP ® designation to help others better their financial management and change it from being a roadblock to being a tool to achieve their goals. During her time as an undergraduate, Wittig studied Ethnic Studies, Economics, and Philosophy at Mills College, Oakland, CA. A fun fact about her time as an undergrad is that Wittig was president and co-founder of Insani-Tea, a tea club where students could study and have tea together. 

Wittig currently works at Abacus Planning Group due to help from faculty member, Dr. Chia-Li Chien. After Wittig spoke with Dr. Chien about seeking part-time work to begin gaining the necessary experience for the CFP ® certification, Dr. Chien helped her make an introduction to Abacus Planning Group. “I want to be like her in the industry, she’s awesome. She wants what is best for the students to help them achieve their highest potential. I would not have applied to the PRiME competition if I had not been encouraged,” Wittig said. 

PRiME Competition

Wittig won second place in the third annual PRiME competition held by California Lutheran University. According to the California Lutheran University website, the PRiME competition is described as, “bringing the vision and spirit of the global Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) into our local school-wide initiative aiming to build awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through our School of Management PRiME Competition! We are proud to say we significantly increased our worldwide exposure by more than doubling our voters who participated in the People’s Choice Award virtual voting!”  

Originally her submission started as a research proposal from her behavioral finance class. She began designing a financial product to help train and motivate beginning savers who are starting their journey. Her submission to the PRiME competition explored the reasons why individuals don’t always use rationality to make financial decisions and why changing financial behavior involves more than increasing financial literacy. “I want to continue the research. I actually have an outline for the rest of the paper up until the point at which I will need to be gathering data,” she said excitedly.  

Advice to Others

Her advice to others thinking about taking the financial planning program at California Lutheran University is to “take the opportunity to network at CLU. My experience of the program is that people are interested in helping one another succeed. I’ve made a lot of connections that I will stay in touch with, they are really fantastic people,” she said. 

“Overall, it’s been such a fascinating and empowering process to be able to be a part of; I’ve enjoyed working with people from all over the country and world who come together for this common purpose,” she said. 

About Anne Wittig: 

Anne Wittig graduated from Mills College with majors in Ethnic Studies and Economics. Since then, she has worked in various roles but most recently she works at Abacus Planning Group. She is currently studying for her M.S. in Financial Planning and plans to sit for the CFP ® exam in November 2021.

About the Author:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing in PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

Davis’s Passion 

“My passion is to ensure that the personal financial planning gift is accessible, competent, and ethical for all people irrespective of their income and wealth,” she said. Davis is the Founder and Executive Director of Sage Financial Solutions, a San Francisco Bay area-based organization that develops comprehensive financial capability programs for low- and moderate-income communities internationally and throughout the United States. Her goal is to have both professionals and consumers work with their wealth at all levels. She wants finances to “no longer be a burden or a barrier.”

Her role involves training financial planners, helping consumers find people who can help them, and building and developing programs for low and middle-income communities. She founded her company after working in the non-profit sector for 25 years or so. “People who were getting help from community-based organizations were not getting long-term help that was sustainable. They weren’t getting comprehensive support,” she said. Her role is to “make complex financial topics accessible for all people.”

Her Passion for Teaching

Davis is currently in her first semester of teaching at California Lutheran University, however, she has been teaching since 2006. She is recognized as a distinguished professor at Golden Gate University and she also teaches at the American College. “I teach because I want people to see someone who does something other than the traditional financial planning path. I want them to have the opportunity to broaden their perspective on what a financial planner is” Davis said. 

Teaching Experience

Davis enjoys watching students reconcile something they thought they already knew. “I am a believer that students can’t learn something they thought they already knew,” she said. Learning these skills enhances their whole life, she explained, not just their work. Davis recalled a time when one student told her how the class material helped her at an annual family event. Usually, she would find it stressful, but this time around it was enjoyable and she was able to engage with people in a different way due to what she learned. 

Davis’s Favorite Part of Teaching

“I teach by example,” Davis explained, “all of my classes are practicum based. The students actually have to practice what they are learning. My favorite part about it is taking academic concepts and making them practical through practice,” she said. Davis wants her students’ time in the classroom to be hands-on and for them to learn by doing, not just by reading from a textbook. 

Instead of being a teacher or professor, Davis describes herself as a facilitator, “I have information and I lead with curiosity,” she said. She doesn’t want her students to repeat what the book or lecture said but she wants to hear what they think about it.

What Makes a Good Professor and Student?

To be a great professor Davis believes you need to be a lifelong learner. Along with allowing students to have the space to share and learn from their own experiences. To be a great student Davis believes they should lead with curiosity. She explained that a student should be willing to question what they know and be willing to explore beyond what you already know, allowing yourself to be uncomfortable as you explore rather than focus on the grade. 

Davis’s Inspiration

Davis’s inspiration was a professor who taught insurance, however, it wasn’t the typical reason you may expect. “In every class he said ka-ching,” explained Davis. This was followed by a statement when money could be made. “It inspired me to not be that way and everything I did is to be in service of the human I am working with,” she said. Davis spends her time training others to do the same in hopes that they too can find their “why” and that money isn’t the only reason behind doing what they do. 

Advice to Others

Davis’s advice to others is to be “able to connect with people where they are, whatever that means to them. Understanding their unique concerns and abilities and barriers as well as their perspectives,” she said. 

Outside of the Classroom

When Davis isn’t working or teaching she enjoys pursuing life-long learning by trying new hobbies. Most recently, she has found a passion for gardening her own vegetables during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Things I’ve learned about being a gardener is to have patience and timing is everything,” she said. Being part of a community garden she has found it as a constant learning adventure and discovers something new every day.  

About Saundra Davis: 

Saundra is a US Navy veteran, financial coach, educator, and consultant who is nationally recognized as an expert in the financial coaching field and for her work with community-based organizations. Ms. Davis is the founder and Executive Director of Sage Financial Solutions, a San Francisco Bay area-based organization that develops comprehensive financial capability programs for low- and moderate-income communities throughout the United States.

She developed and facilitates the Financial Fitness Coach (FFC®) certification program to promote the highest standard for professional services for all people, irrespective of wealth, and income. As a Financial Behavior Specialist (FBS®), her philosophy of the financial health continuum of care has shaped the financial coaching efforts around the country.

Saundra holds a B.S. in Management and an M.S. in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University where she is currently a Distinguished Adjunct Professor in the Personal Financial Planning program.

In 2020, Davis was part of the webinar “How to Use Financial Counseling and Coaching Skills to Help Your Clients with D. Chia-Li Chien. Watch it here or read the article. 

About the Author:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing in PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

HYFLEX TEACHING BEST PRACTICE    

The hyflex teaching model allows some to work remotely while others can work face-to-face, explained California Lutheran University professor Dr. Sharla Berry. Dr. Berry is an online learning expert who has been published in multiple top-tier research publications. After a year of online teaching and online meetings, the U.S. is changing its COVID-19 protocols allowing students the option of going to a classroom on campus. Hyflex teaching allows students to be flexible with their learning and decide to learn, whether it is their home or the classroom. 

How Can Faculty Adapt Quickly Into the Hyflex Teaching Model?  

Dr. Berry firstly suggested the use of whiteboards and of course wearing masks to protect others. She also suggested having a set agenda of “what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it,” she said. Setting goals for the day and having a schedule allows for breaks which the students can step away, refresh, and maintain on track for the rest of class, she said.  Another important application is using the Zoom chat box for students to interact with each other and the professor. Dr. Berry suggested question and answer periods to help minimize distractions and constant scanning of the chatbox for questions. 

Dr. Chien, the host of the webinar, mentioned that she likes to have a team captain monitor the chat and also be the co-host in case she loses her internet. The use of team captain rotation, and regularly stopping for questions to check in with students are valuable tools. Ultimately, if the chatbox becomes too distracting or difficult to maintain there is the option to disable its use.  

Should Cameras Be Off or On?

At the beginning of class, establish wanting to have the students be visible on the camera, said Dr. Berry. When students have the camera turned on they are more likely to be engaged, share a personal appeal, have accountability of focusing, and most importantly, it creates a positive impact on learning. I think many students would agree that they feel more attentive and focused when the camera is on as they can’t easily slip away or play Mario Kart on their phones. 

“The more engagement opportunities the course has, the less opportunity you have for people to turn off their video or be passive,” said Dr. Berry. For example, make use of polls, have random questions that they need to respond to, and use breakout rooms for engagement.  

What is the Best Way to Teach on Zoom? 

For the past year, Dr. Berry has used the pre-COVID flipped classroom method and instead uses Zoom to work with her students rather than lecture the material.  “Flipped classroom is when students do a lot of the direct learning outside of the classroom and they come to the classroom ready for a discussion,” she explained. This method allows students to learn or review the material asynchronously at home and then come to class ready for discussion and work on the subject where they can easily ask questions and develop their understanding more in-depth. Dr. Berry explained that hyflex teaching opens the opportunity for asynchronous teaching and can offer more discussion being more manageable. 

Dr. Chien said it can be hard for students to read ahead for discussion. As an alternative, she likes to have group presentations to highlight the main topics of the chapter of the class or encourage other activities and reading. Other alternatives include annotated readings or online discussion boards to help facilitate early prep of readings, said Dr. Berry.  “Letting people know how you’re going to be using a reading and how we’re going to be accountable for it, I think can go a long way,” she said. 

Another alternative are stations. In the break-out rooms, the instructor has the opportunity to jump into them to meet with the students whereas the in-person students can have a different assignment separately. Zoom allows groups to be more interactive with one another. “Giving yourself a schedule and also giving your students those manageable activities makes it easier so that you don’t have to be in all those places at once,” she said. 

How Can Students Warm Up and Engage More? 

Linda Clayton, a financial planning professor at California Lutheran University, said she likes her students to know that the classroom is a safe place to talk. Since day one of class she sets an example to participate, calling on students to answer if her question is received in silence. She said now they answer by themselves and even alternate who does it.  

Other options to help students warm up to participate more is by using polls either via Zoom or Kahoot and the results can be shared in class allowing for further discussion. Students can also work in pairs where they can answer together on a google document. Alternatively, questions can be shared beforehand, “if you have your agenda, questions, and discussion points listed people who do get lost can easily jump in and people that might be nervous and need more time to think about it, they will have the opportunity,” Dr. Berry said. 

Final Recommendations 

“There’s no reason for your in-person students to not be engaged in the virtual space as well,” Dr. Berry said. In-person students can participate in the chat on Zoom with the other students. Let the students determine what they need through surveys and natural evolving to adapt the classroom and teaching methods. Lastly, Dr. Berry said, “the students always value the opportunity to talk to you and each other about how they’re feeling.” Discussions allow the students to feel stronger about the courses and more connected with each other. 

About Dr. Sharla Berry, Ph.D.:

Dr. Sharla Berry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. Her research explores technology in K-12 and higher education. Topics of interest include technology and college access and online learning in postsecondary environments. Dr. Berry teaches a number of research methods classes.

About the Host:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase their firms’ equity value. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Chien is a director of the financial planning program at the School of Management at California Lutheran University. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three award-winning books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®).

About the Writer:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing in PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

How to Attract Women Clients?  

Dr. Shine Lei is one of few individuals to have a CFP ® certification in both the U.S. and China. In the webinar, “How to Attract Women Clients?” Dr. Lei shares her research and insight on working with women clients.   

Her career began as a trained typical corporate finance professional during the financial crisis of 2008. After the crisis, she reconsidered her career path to be a financial planner. In China, the CFP ® Board was recruiting financial planners, interested in the idea, Dr. Lei joined them and had her eyes opened to a different world. “It’s part of the finance world, but from a different angle. It’s working with the individual investors directly rather than the corporates,” she said when reflecting on her time working on the board. She said she worked with many professionals on the board and wanted to know if financial planners can add value to the client’s investor performance. To find her answer, Dr. Lei moved to join the University of Missouri in the U.S. 

Why Are Women Important in Financial Planning?

Based on her research, the increasing wealth of women are making the role of women in financial planning more important and relevant every day. “Women are more and more independent in their investment decision-making, which means they are not relying on their own judgment but also become the dominant role in household financial decisions,” Dr. Lei said. 

What Are Some of the Characteristics of Women Clients?

Her co-authored research found that women more likely to use financial planning services are more likely to share these characteristics: wealthy, well-educated, and financially literate. As progressive society sees more women earning careers, they are also becoming more financially literate. 

Interestingly, Dr. Lei said she didn’t find women have a gender preference with their planners. However, she noted, women planners remain to be underrepresented as they only represent a small fraction of financial planners within the industry and are paid less. 

The host, Dr. Chia-Li Chien noted the majority of her clients are women or the women are the dominant partner in the relationship. She also noticed the general characteristics of a woman being nurturing, sensitive, and detail-orientated are great characteristics to have as a financial planner when working with clients as it is a sensitive topic. 

“Women clients are more likely to go to women planners especially for divorce planning,” said Dr. Lei. “I think it is because women planners can relate more to the clients because of their natural features. I think they are more likely to attract women clients and be successful in the financial planning industry,” she said. 

How Can Financial Planners Market to Women Clients?

Dr. Lei said the following tips are important for marketing for both female and male clients as financial planning professionals.

“It’s a cliche but it’s also important to know your clients,” Dr. Lei said. Firstly, profile the women who are more likely to use the services i.e. wealthy, well-educated, and financially literate. “It’s helpful to target the right group of people to help you grow your business,” she said.

Secondly, use the right method to communicate with the women. “It’s critical to know how to speak to the audience using the right language and words. The goal is to ensure the message correlates with them but being relevant with respect to their values and beliefs,” Dr. Lei explained. 

Lastly, test and learn the techniques of communication. Why are your clients taking action and meeting you? Was it a discount? Recommendation? Likewise, why are your clients not taking action? It’s important to take note of the techniques that work effectively and those that don’t.  

How to Work with Women Clients Efficiently?

Dr. Lei suggested having a better understanding of relevant emotional behavioral factors.  “What emotions and social influences do you notice between the clients and the planners? Notice if you can share with clients your understanding and help them back to the correct financial planning path,” she said. By carefully understanding and placing detail, the client’s journey and the client’s experience of the journey can have adjustments made to improve the experience. 

Profile + Behaviour = Tailoring Business Model 

Placing the client profile with learned behaviors through conversation with them can identify the factors that are dominant and their buyers. E.g. Are they detail-orientated? Or do they prefer not seeing all the details and rather see the bigger picture? 

Advice to Future Planners About Working With Women Clients?

To close the webinar, Dr. Lei’s parting advice to others wanting to work with women clients is to “know your clients and practice your soft skills.” 

About Shine Lei:

Shan (Shine) Lei, Ph.D., CFA, CFP® is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Perdue School of Business, Salisbury University, and a member of the University System of Maryland. Before that, Shine worked as an Assistant Professor of Finance and Financial Economics at the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, and West Texas A&M University under the Texas A&M University System. She served as the Director of International Relations at Financial Planning Standards Board China and had been an adviser at PwC before joining academia.

Whilst at academic institutions, Shine held the responsibility to teach undergraduate and graduate finance and financial planning courses both online and on campus. This instructional responsibility involved designing and developing course content and assessment tasks for students with various academic and work experience backgrounds.

Shine has been an active scholar in conducting research regarding investment decision-making, portfolio allocation, and retirement preparation. She has been published by the International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Women & Aging, Journal of Personal Finance, Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Financial Planning and Counseling, and Applied Economics Letters. She has presented her research at several national conferences. She is also a peer reviewer for several academic journals. Shine is a member of the CFP Board, CFA Institute, American Council on Consumers Interests, and Financial Planning Standards Board China. Shine holds Charted Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner (both in the U.S. and China) qualifications. She holds a Ph.D. in Personal Finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a master’s degree in International Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

About the Host:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase their firms’ equity value. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Chien is a director of the financial planning program at the School of Management at California Lutheran University. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three award-winning books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®).

About the Author:

Rosie Baker graduated Magna Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in May 2021 with honors and departmental distinction. Her bachelor’s degree is in Communication emphasizing PR and Advertising, minoring in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press.

Dr. Chien interviewed Dr. Shine Lei, CFA, CFP®, on “How to Attract Women Clients?” on May 18, 2021, at 1:00 pm PST.

Many financial planning practitioners like to work with women clients. As matter of fact, many planning firms are created by women and service only women. Women clients might be your target market. You might service and plan for women. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

• Why are women important in financial planning?
• What are some characteristics of women as clients?
• What are some characteristics of women as planners?
• How do we market to women clients?
• How to work with women clients efficiently?

Reference:

Lei, S., & Kordes, M. H. (2020). Women, wealth, and demand for financial planning services. Journal of Financial Planning, 33(8), 48–55.

CAN ROBO-ADVISORS HELP FINANCIAL PLANNING PROFESSIONALS?  

Since the beginning of the pandemic, technology has progressed rapidly allowing adjustment to living and working at home. Still relatively new to the industry robo-advising is also progressing rapidly. 

In June 2019, Vanguard’s robo-advisor managed a total of $140 billion and over 10 billion U.S. dollars was managed by the sixth-largest robo-advisor (Statista Research Department, 2020).  According to Investopedia, “The industry has experienced explosive growth as a result; client assets managed by robo-advisors hit $987 billion in 2020, with the expectation of reaching $2.9 trillion worldwide by 2025.” 

What are Robo-Advisors? 

In the interview, Dr. Jason McCarley described robo-advising as a form of automation to create statistical decision aid. He described it to be similar to human interaction with technological systems that are already in place and we are familiar with such auto-pilot systems or a Tesla. Robo-advising is related to how humans interact with automated systems. “It’s to help make choices or make judgments under conditions where there’s a lot of uncertainty,” McCarley said. Robo-advisors have the ability to improve the accuracy of predictions and judgments that humans can make.  

To put it into perspective, McCarley gave another example. This type of technology is used in predicting how well students would do in a graduate program. He explained that it is usually a simple equation but it will outperform humans at predicting success. “We find people underperform these kinds of statistical decision aids. The other thing we find is even though they are better than us, we don’t like to use them or tend to ignore or override the advice,” he said. 

McCarley explained that there are many benefits to robo-advising but what is great about robo-advisors is that decisions don’t need to be made because plans can be automatically opted for. This takes away the confusion of what percentage size to contribute to savings for example as well as what investment to be involved with. 

 The Risks of a Completely Automated System

When it comes to technology, many worry about the risks and the unknowns. McCarley explained that three main things should be looked out for. The first is knowing that occasionally it makes a mistake, so human monitoring is needed to keep a check on the system. The second is that situation awareness can be lost when those become disengaged with financial planning. Lastly, people often don’t trust statistical aids but they do trust other people. However, they are more likely to trust the robo-advisor if it is accompanied by a human. 

What Does a Statistical Decision Aid Do?

McCarley gives an analogy to Spell Check as to how a statistical decision aid works. First, it Informs. In Spell Check, this would be the line to let you know something doesn’t look right. Then it Counsels. In Spell Check, it guesses suggestions for you to replace the word or grammar. Then, it Acts, which is fixing it for you. Spell Check doesn’t act until you command it to, unlike a robo-advisor. McCarley said there is a greater chance for a mistake you won’t catch if it acts by itself. “At each level, it’s taking some of the workloads off for you but it’s also taking a little bit out of the process so you have to work a little harder to keep an eye on what’s going on,” McCarley said. 

Mechanical vs Holistic Decisions

A Mechanical decision is calculated, often doing a better job in performance compared to human decisions, whereas holistic decisions are human-made, explained McCarley. “The first thing we have to recognize is that sometimes the algorithm is wrong, that is the nature of problematic decisions is that we can’t always be right. We have to accept that even though the aid is wrong sometimes, it is probably more right than me,” he said. 

Role of Trust 

When using robo-advisors there is a certain element of trust and willingness to rely on it that must be fulfilled. The first part of trust is working out how good and reliable it is. The more mistakes that happen, the less trusting the user will find it. What’s more, occasional errors can also lead to undermining trust. 

The second part is having an understanding of the process and how it works. When users don’t understand how or why the recommendations or predictions are what they are, it can lead to confusion or even frustration. It’s also important to understand why it may go wrong and that it’s impossible to be correct all the time. 

How Much Will It Cost to Get Automatic Versus Human Advice?

The hope with robo-advisors is that people who don’t have much money to spare will find it worthwhile instead of a human advisor. The hope is to make it accessible and reduce the cost of financial advising. However, McCarley said there has been less uptake than hoped for, but the younger generations remain to be interested. “Old investors and wealthier investors are actually more willing to spend money on a human advisor. They like the interaction and they trust the human advisor more,” McCarley said. 

One of the issues mentioned earlier is that users sometimes “set and forget” when using robo-advising. The best way to avoid misuse in the younger generations or those using robo-advisors is to get the user involved in monitoring the process, explained McCarley. Goals need to be changed when the user’s goals change so the predictions can reflect. Getting involved and keeping on top of updates on their progress stops any surprises, he said.  

Advice to Financial Planning Professional About Robo-Advisors 

McCarley’s parting advice to the financial planning professionals was; “having a financial planner as a liaison between the advisor and the investor fights the problems. The investor probably trusts you so they will take your advice more than they might take the advisor from a computer. Having or wanting a financial planner for human interaction, and having that liaison is valuable for the people who can’t or don’t want to have human interaction. Encourage them to take the advice but know what they are doing,” he said. The advantage is financial planners can leverage the tool and have their clients be actively engaged.  

About Jason McCarley:

Jason McCarley is a Professor in the School of Psychological Science at Oregon State University and has previously held faculty positions at the University of Illinois and Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. He conducts research in the areas of human factors and applied cognition, with a focus on attention, signal detection, and human-machine collaboration.

About the Host:

Dr. Chia-Li Chien is a succession program director at Value Growth Institute, a succession consulting practice dedicated to helping business owners increase their firms’ equity value. Before her private consulting practice, she held several senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Chien is a director of the financial planning program at the School of Management at California Lutheran University. Dr. Chien is a frequent speaker about succession and retirement planning at national conferences and has published three award-winning books, including her most recent publication, “Enhancing Retirement Success Rates in the United States.” Dr. Chien serves on the boards of various national financial service associations. She holds a doctorate in financial planning and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) as well as Project Management Professional (PMP®).

About the Author:

Rosie Baker is an undergraduate student at California Lutheran University, graduating in May 2021. She is studying Communication with an emphasis in PR and Advertising and has a minor in Creative Writing. In July 2020, she published her first book, Mirrors & Windows: Unlocking a New Framework to Envision Your Success, with New Degree Press. 

References:

Statista Research Department. (May 4, 2020). Value of assets under management of selected robo-advisors worldwide as of March 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 05, 2021, from https://www-statista-com.ezproxy.callutheran.edu/statistics/573291/aum-of-selected-robo-advisors-globally/

Frankenfield, J. (2021, May 7). What Is a Robo-Advisor? Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/roboadvisor-roboadviser.asp

Dr. Chien interviewed Professor Jason McCarley, on “Can Robo-Advisors Help Financial Planning Professionals?” on April 20, 2021, at 1:00 pm PST.

The growth of FinTech helps both consumers and financial planning professions in many ways. Financial planning professionals established relationships and trust over time. They guide their clients through their financial journeys. The use of Robo-Advisor is on the rise and is a part of many financial planning professionals’ offerings. In this session, we will discuss the following questions:

• What are some inherent biases that could harm consumers?
• What are the variables that influence automation trust and dependence?
• How to overcome these biases?
• How to prevent these biases?

Reference:

Bartlett, M. L., & McCarley, J. S. (2019). Human interaction with automated aids: implications for robo-advisors. Financial Planning Review, 2(3-4). https://doi.org/10.1002/cfp2.1059