For Samuel Deane, the decision to build New York's
When he got his start, Deane simply set out to be a financial advisor for millennials. As a millennial himself, he wanted to apply lived experience to his profession, unlocking the ability to relate to potential clients on a deeper level.
The endeavor sounded simple enough. But Deane soon realized that even the millennial niche could be drilled down to more specific sub-groups that have their own unique set of needs — and their own unique set of challenges from an advisory standpoint.
But Deane has embraced the process, refining his independent investment advisory firm's focus over the course of nearly five years to strike a balance that speaks to his personal passions and energizes him to go above and beyond for his book of business.
"Someone that's 25 or 26 and someone that's 45, they're both millennials, but they're experiencing totally different things in their lives. With my goal of creating content as a way to grow my firm, I found that challenging because I wasn't able to write things specific enough for those folks to reach out to me because they're in two different places in their lives," Deane told Financial Planning. "As I started working with millennials, my wife had started working in tech, and I started to see what those offers looked like. And I said let me get more specific, narrow it down and work with millennials in the tech space. And as I started working with those folks, I learned and saw that an engineer at Capital One has completely different benefits than an engineer at Facebook. So where you work plays a role. Whether you're in an entry level role, or a software engineer role plays a role."
That experience gave Deane the opportunity to get even more specific and tap into what drives him. So now, years after initially positioning himself as a financial advisor for millennials, Deane is now an advisor for tech professionals at pre-IPO companies with equity compensation.
"As I started working with more of those folks, I enjoyed that work more and realized that that's where a lot of the planning needs to happen," Deane said. "Once you identify who you want to work with, it's then important to figure out what type of business model best serves that person. What type of technology best serves that person? What type of workflow best serves that person? And kind of go from there."
Deane is one of the many wealth management veterans, innovators and leaders who will share their experience with tech-minded wealth managers at
INVEST 2023 speakers will spend two days helping decision-makers at advisory firms understand how technology can improve advisor efficiency and effectiveness. Advisors will also learn how to better utilize technology to improve client interactions, investment strategies and other practice and client management skills with a focus on topics like AI, compliance and prospecting.
On day one of INVEST, Deane will take the stage to tackle the topic of how technology can make a firm's niche practice dreams come true while also putting growth first. His session will analyze the pros and cons of having a niche focus; the challenges of solving problems for a specific set of clients; and what it means to tailor your practice in pursuit of an ideal client avatar.
A member of the
"I think the interest just has to be there. I was not interested in doing the normal max-out-your-401(k), contribute to a Roth IRA, save-more-than-you-spend type of planning. I felt like that was a little boring for me," Deane said. "I'm interested in equity compensation, the world of startups, tax planning around those things, liquidity events, helping people plan for those. So I don't know that there's a particular skill set you need other than to just be interested and to put the time in to learn what you need to learn to be a good advisor. I think all the other things that make you a good advisor could apply to any niche."
Deane added that when looking at the pros and cons of taking such an approach, things like being able to have a marketing style that doesn't rely on cold calling; seeing strong referrals from his crafted client base; and the ability to be more efficient are listed as major pluses.
"There's certain things that go on in the industry that I just don't have to worry about because it doesn't apply to my niche. So like when the SECURE Act passed, I probably could name one or maybe two things from the SECURE Act because most of it is retirement focused. Not that my clients aren't focused on retirement. But I think there's like one or two things that may apply to my demographic," he said. "It enables more of what I refer to as an information diet. There's no shortage of information out there. And I think as advisors, we can tend to be grounded in that information. But knowing whether or not something applies to your clients, I think helps you be more efficient. And if all of your clients or most of your clients will look the same, I think that just helps you pay attention to what's really important."
Deane's day one INVEST discussion will be part of the event's education track focused on how technology can be leveraged to improve the client experience. INVEST also features tracks on future proofing your advisory practice and understanding current compliance and regulation requirements.
Here are some of the other highlights of this year's show. And for more information about how you can be a part of INVEST 2023 in NYC, visit
Preparing advisors for the future
The pace of innovation in and around wealthtech is staggering. With each passing day, new capabilities make their way into our trusted devices, and questions emerge around how those innovations will impact the business. At INVEST, Altruist CEO and founder Jason Wenk will deliver a keynote speech that explores the cutting-edge technologies making their way to the advisory landscape and demonstrates how leveraging these tools can help you scale your practice while adapting to the changing expectations of the next generation of clients.
Taking a new approach to the next generation
The great wealth transfer is upon us, but are advisors truly ready for the changing of the guard? There is a great deal of talk about the trillions poised to change hands in coming years, and discussions often center around how technology will allow firms to bolster their value propositions among next-gen clients. In this session, Former JPMorgan Asset Management head Anne Lester will dish out tips on how to drive greater engagement among younger customers and explain the kind of wins that follow when advisors take the right approach to courting new clients.
Being human-first in the AI age
The rise of AI has become a major talking point in 2023. But with so many AI tools positioned with the goal of replacing or replicating the work previously powered by real people, where does the human touch factor into the modern advice landscape? In this engaging presentation, Orion Chief Behavioral Officer Daniel Crosby will make the case that AI will actually increase the impact and importance of human advice and demonstrate how tech can work hand in hand with a deep understanding of human psychology to bring about better client outcomes.
