Tom Rieman on ensuring clients never have a 'meh' experience

As 2024 begins and temperatures on Wall Street plummet, allow Financial Planning to transport you back to warmer days and one of the hottest wealth management events of 2023.

Financial Planning is taking a special look back at the Future Proof Festival, a one-of-a-kind industry gathering that attracted nearly 3,000 financial advisors, wealth management executives, fintech leaders, emerging startups, rap icons and more to Huntington Beach, California, during the second week of September.

Our walk down memory lane is a series of exclusive interviews with insiders and newsmakers conducted by Financial Planning Wealthtech Reporter Justin L. Mack, who also served as a panel moderator during the event.

In this clip, Mack chats with Tom Rieman, CEO and founding partner of Practice Intel, a data- and research-driven platform that aims to help financial advisors drastically ramp up the quality of their advice — and client satisfaction. Rieman was at Future Proof to spread the word about the new venture, which at the time of the interview was called Practice Intelligence. (As Rieman told Mack, "It's fintech — we never stop dialing it in.")

Rieman, who founded Practice Intel after stints in J.D. Power's wealth solutions vertical and decades in the broker-dealer realm, said that his new tech platform had "cracked the code" when it comes to figuring out how to identify and deliver what clients really want from their advisor.

"The reality is a very, very small subset of clients say their advisors deliver a really good advice experience," Rieman said. "The majority of clients kind of go, 'Meh.' And that's not good, because financial advice — done well — has a profound impact. So what we really are all about is moving the needle, helping more advisors deliver better advice to more clients."

An avid surfer who'd gotten into the Pacific the previous day, Rieman said that the platform delineates between client experience and advice experience.

"If there is a high retention rate, that could be good. Or it could just be a sign that there's a tremendous amount of attrition embedded in the practice. We can measure that attrition rate. So that's great for an advisor, but it's also great for an RIA, great for a broker-dealer, great for larger firms, so they know where that risk is."

Watch the full clip below.

Future Proof, an event billed as the first wealth festival, is making its return next summer and dates for Future Proof 2024 have already been announced. The event is slated to return to Huntington Beach Sept. 15-18, 2024.

Future Proof is also expanding in the new year with the addition of Future Proof Retreat, an additional event for wealth management leaders that will take place March 24-27 in Colorado Springs.

And while you're here, make sure to check out more videos of FP @ FP:

Justin L. Mack

Former Wealthtech Reporter, Financial Planning

Editorial Staff

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