The Best Question to Ask Clients – And Yourself

Much has been said about the rise of robo-advisors in the financial services industry. With tens of billions of dollars being invested in these online platforms, it is undeniable that consumers are craving the speed, efficiency and data that they can provide. While many of us agree that no computer can offer the one-on-one relationship that a client-advisor relationship can, we would be remiss to ignore this growing trend.

Some advisors react to the rise of these platforms by dismissing the trend and lamenting about the good old days when an account application could fit on a postcard. What they should be doing is exploring why robos are so appealing and what aspects of that technology could be incorporated into their practices.

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Trilogy Financial, with over $2 billion in client assets one of the largest financial planning firms affiliated with National Planning Corp., said on Thursday afternoon it was joining LPL Financial.

LPL in mid-August said it acquired the assets of National Planning Holdings Inc., an independent broker-dealer network with 3,200 advisers and $120 billion of client assets. The firms in the NPH network are: National Planning, Invest Financial Corp., Investment Centers of America Inc. and SII Investments Inc. Combined in 2016, they generated $909 million in revenues, according to InvestmentNews data.

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