DAY ONE: FRIDAY, JULY 25^th:

At the 2008 annual NexGen conference 120 financial planners (including 80 new and 40 returning attendees) packed into the dorms at St. John's University in St. Cloud, Minn. Admittedly, I was a bit dubious to jump back into campus living, but it turned out to be the perfect setting to bring this young crowd together. The conference's task force, including 2008 NexGen president Michael Branham and chair and past president Sabrina Lowell, brought in industry leaders to discuss the history of the financial planning profession and the responsibility that NexGeners hold for its future.

Something to Think About:

In the conference's opening address, "The Ten Big Things for Advisors to Think About," managing director and CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, Mark Tibergien, described the rapidly evolving industry and how young planners can and should take advantage of this growth. Here's the top 10:

1. Managing growth
2. Deploying technology effectively
3. Managing professionally
4. Building value
5. Differentiation
6. Attracting and keeping people
7. Sales and marketing
8. Margin management
9. Clients demanding more and different
10. Pricing strategies evolving

Do's: Mark's advice to NexGeners included "find a niche specialty"—noting that niche-oriented practices are growing 3x faster than the average practice—and "develop technical superiority as advisors." He discussed some of the challenges advisors face in obtaining client referrals, and instructed the group to spend more time focusing on their client relationships and centers of influence. He told NexGeners to build these centers early on to avoid having to "sell" in the traditional sense or rely on passive referrals.

Don'ts: Mark's list of practices to avoid: poor pricing, poor productivity, poor service mix and poor client mix.

Rising Fees: More than half the audience raised their hands when asked if their firms had increased their fees in the past year.

Talent shortage: "If we're clear about the nature of work, the nature of the worker becomes clear. When employers look for talent, they need to understand ability, motivation and interest. The biggest reason for turnover in a practice is poor selection of talent at the start. Your aim should be to match the right, motivated people to your practice."

Another great tip Mark gave NexGeners was to be aware of how they position themselves. Many boomer clients, for example, have confidence in their advisors during the accumulation phase, but look elsewhere when it comes to the distribution of their wealth.

Summing things up Mark reminded the group to continually ask themselves the following questions:

• Is my strategy is still relevant?
• Who is my optimal client that I'd like to replicate?
• Do I have the right, motivated people working with me?
• Is my compensation structure aligned properly?
• Am I building my practice to last or to sell?
  

NexGeners & Ownership:

In the afternoon panel discussion, "Straight Talk on Ownership," moderated by Mark Tibergien, young financial planners Sarah Bailey, CFP® and Jason McGarraugh, CFP®, reviewed the various paths to ownership and weighed the involved risks.

Sarah, of San Francisco's ASPIRIANT, described her career progression from a financial analyst to an investment operations specialist, and later to an associate wealth manager. She attributed becoming an owner to her demonstrated client experience, her passion for the profession, and to being in the right place at the right time (when Kochis Fitz merged with Quintile Wealth Management LLC, adding seven new shareholders, including Sarah, in the process). Sarah first got the ball rolling by conveying her interest in ownership to her boss prior to the merger.

A very different set of circumstances led Jason McGarraugh, CFP®, to an ownership position at Neal Financial Group. He began working in the financial services industry in 2003 at Waddell & Reed as a financial advisor and struggled for a few years to earn a living while working with his "natural market." Accordingly, when he met Deena Katz, CFP®, who was running a career development course at Texas Tech, he asked her for assistance. Deena gave him the encouragement to approach Wynette Stuntz, CFP®, who, at 68, was on the lookout for a young CFP practitioner to ultimately inherit her practice. Wynette was able to offer Jason some much-needed security, and he in turn began working with her client base and dove into ownership much earlier than he expected.