The September Financial Counseling call with AFCPE and FPA will be held on Thursday, September 16th at 12 pm ET.
Guest speaker Greg Sloan will be presenting, "Building Trust in a Remote World: Technology’s Role in the Counselor-Client Relationship."
COVID-19 transformed our traditional face-to-face relationship model overnight. Clients that were hesitant to meet virtually, have learned that a zoom session and live webinar is not as bad as they expected, and prospects recognized they no longer need to shake hands before becoming clients. Some would say that the advancements in Blockchain, Machine Learning and the Digital Client Experience needed a perfect storm to achieve mass adoption. 2020 may have offered such a critical test. The financial technology industry was prepared to meet the challenge. The future of the advisor-client relationship will be grounded in the digital client experience. Advisors that strategically build their tech-stack will win the day.
A serial founder, Greg started his first business leasing cell phones in the early nineties. After graduating from Georgia State University in 1995 with a degree in finance, he began his financial services career as an agent with Prudential. As he aspired to focus on a client-centric service model, Greg joined a national RIA firm, providing executive financial counseling to Fortune 500 senior leaders. A few years later, that firm was purchased by Goldman Sachs accelerating his career to new heights. After four years with Goldman, he recognized his passion for entrepreneurship and resigned to launch his own RIA firm. The year was 2007 and his timing was awful.
The following 2 years including terminating half of his staff to survive the financial crisis. This was a low point in his entrepreneurial journey. A saving grace for his firm was the advancement in financial planning and portfolio management technology, allowing him to grow his practice with fewer support staff. In 2020, after 25 years as a financial advisor, Greg sold his firm to a national RIA firm that currently manages $7B+ in assets. Today, Greg is the co founder of a WealthTech platform that improves relationships by improving financial decision-making during financial crisis.