Nate Fisher: Stay Focused on the Client Relationship | Next Gen

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Welcome to Barron's Advisor: The Way Forward Next Generation, a special series spotlighting the emerging leaders shaping the future of financial advice. Twice a month, we'll be digging into the strategies, insights, and game-changing moves that will help you take your practice to the next level. I'm your host, Allison Tucci, and today with me is Nate Fisher, managing director from Carson Wealth at the Hanover office. And today we're going to be talking about building his practice in a small town in New England, going from coaching skiers to coaching his clients. Thank you for coming all the way down from Vermont, right?

Vermont. That's right.

Can you tell me a little bit about where you live, your background, your career?

Sure.

Just hear about it, because I know Vermont is close to New York, but it's a lifestyle away. So tell me a little bit about it.

Yeah, I'm a little on the other side of the state, so about halfway up the state on the New Hampshire border, town called Norwich. The office we work out of— I work out of— is in Hanover, New Hampshire, which is basically on Dartmouth campus, essentially just on Main Street. Yeah, my background, I grew up there in a small sort of rural town, Lyme, which is a town just north of Hanover. And I grew up doing what rural New Englanders do, a lot of skiing and a lot of other outdoor sports.

Sounds like you grew up in a rural area. So for someone who's maybe listening who wants to get into wealth management or doesn't really know too much about the industry in not a city. How did you get into wealth management?

Sure. Yeah, I think my path is pretty unique. It was not something that I'd had thought I would get into, but I had a father who was in the industry as a financial advisor, retired now, but 30 years, who sort of kept trying to get me into the business. But before that, I had a variety of different sort of goals, I was a wildlife biology major for the University of New Hampshire. And one of my main passions was wildlife. My other passion was ski racing, and I was a competitive ski racer and raced for the University of New Hampshire. So I raced Division I, and that was a really big part of my life. I began coaching soon after college, and I loved it. And it took me to a lot of amazing places, meeting a lot of amazing people. And teaching me a lot of life lessons, a lot of which has helped build sort of my identity as an advisor, actually.

So what are some of those parallels between being a coach and being a financial advisor? Because I feel like there are a few.

Sure. As a coach and as an advisor, you need to get to know those people and learn what their actual main objectives and goals are. From there, either as an athlete or as a coach, you can then work backwards, essentially. So if your goal is to retire with $1 million, or whether it's your goal is to become an Olympic skier, how do you get to that stage? How do you get there? And it takes a lot and it takes years to, to be either good at saving or really good at staying on, being disciplined as an athlete training for those events.

I'd love to hear a little bit more about your client base and, and what you do day in, day out. How did you grow that client base to get them to a place where you're having those conversations of, How many gates did you pass or how many dollars did you save by a certain period of time?

When I first got into the business, I knew at one point I would likely take over the firm that my father and I built. And I thought, okay, well, this succession plan, this transition will take a few years to get to know these clients and work with them. It turned out that it takes more than that. And I think what young advisors need to realize, or when they're thinking about a succession plan, is how long it takes to have a relationship with your clients. You're not seeing them every day. Some you do. But you may be only seeing them a few times a year. And so you need to really maximize that engagement for those clients. And it can take a long time to gain that trust and build those relationships. And time is a big factor.

So how do you maximize that time? Let's say you only see that person twice a year.

Well, I think I'm lucky in the town that we live in because I do see them pretty regularly. And a lot of them are close friends at this point and family, really. We see them at the outdoor Nordic Center or the Dartmouth Skiway or in the hardware store or the famous Dana Whits in Norwich, Vermont. So we see them pretty regularly. And we host client events and we used to hold lecture series too, but as often as we can. You need to get out there. Your face needs to be out there. You need to be out shaking hands and meeting people. That's a big part of the business, of course. And like I said, I'm fortunate that I end up spending time with my clients outside of the office. So this could be overnight backpacking, this could be skiing, this could be hunting or fishing or something along those lines. I do spend a good amount of time with my clients out of the office. Golf is also pretty common, but it's actually more so for outdoor sports and biking. Cycling is a big activity in our area. I'm also a board member. And I think that helps too, to help just be part of the local community and be part of some nonprofits that are really vital to the health of our community. Being part of, of their lives has, has helped expand my client base.

I mean, that makes complete sense. It sounds like it's a very different sort of marketing reach out to gather those referrals than in a big city or a more populous location, being immersed, having deep roots, being visible is important to your clients, it sounds.

Sure. And I think it's also fortunate that I grew up right there. I grew up right there in that town. My father has been in that area since the '70s. And, you know, he was a big presence. And so it was, you know, amazing to work with him and build the firm that we did. We started off working together in 2015 and we created our own firm in 2017. It was sort of evident that we were off and running. We had goals and we had momentum and we worked really well together. He's an amazing coach, teacher, and mentor of mine. Retired a couple of years ago and it was a really amazing time in my life.

Let's talk about that if you don't mind.

Sure.

2015 to 2017 working with your father. Let's tell me what you think about that time period, how you work together, how you realized it was a time for you all to go out on your own and build your own firm.

So for me, I'm naturally an observer, I think, most of the time. So when I first got into the business, a big part of my job was to observe, to learn, to listen, to go back to school and get my securities license too. Yeah. And leave a world that I was so passionate about, ski racing, on the hill, traveling the globe, chasing snow, and now I'm sitting in an office listening to families talk about their financial successes or woes.

That's a tough pivot.

And really getting to know their situation. And like I said earlier, it takes years to really get to know somebody. And so that was those first couple of years was sort of learning that business, the client side of it, and then being in a fiduciary space, what that meant. And where the industry was going. Being in a rural town has strengths and weaknesses, and one of those was actually finding talent. And so it's tricky to find talent in a small rural town. And we always knew that we wanted to wear all those hats and do all those wonderful things— estate planning, taxes, insurance— and make sure that the client was well taken care of. So as we grew, and we grew over those years quickly, and with that came some need for, you know, some capacity issues that we had. And so that's when we sort of started thinking about how do we hire other young talent, or do we actually partner and work with another firm? How can we do this and what is going to make the most sense for our clients? How do we take care of them in the best way?

You're listening to Barron's Advisor, The Way Forward: Next Generation. We're going to take a short break. Stay with us.

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Welcome back to Barron's Advisor: The Way Forward, Next Generation. Let's get back into the conversation. So you decided that you were going to partner with Carson. How did you make that decision?

It took us, it took us quite a long time, and I think —like years, months? —Really, years.

Years. Wow. Okay. So I think a lot of advisors think they can just make a decision in a couple of months and jump because they see the headlines. You can. Candidly. And they go, oh, I could just, you know, move tomorrow.

Yes. Snap my fingers and— Exactly. No, it's a heavy lift when you do it. And we could talk about that. But I think for us it was a few of those factors that, like I mentioned, so taking care of the clients, having that holistic sort of view on their lifestyles. And then my father's retirement, the succession plan. How is that going to look? And so we were a small, pretty lean shop. You know, it was just my father and I and another associate, Diane, at that time. And so we thought, you know, how is this going to look and feel and what sort of debt is this company going to take on essentially to have my dad retire? And so we started thinking outside the box., and then we ended up working with a third party that looks at other firms and sort of helps to shop us out and help us learn more about what is out there in the world. And so we took our time and we discovered firms in our area, and we also found firms nationwide, and we started basically interviewing them.

Now, folks who are maybe going through that transition right now, any advice for them?

Yeah, great question. When it is time to— when you have made that decision, either to buy out the business or to merge or partner with another firm the same way that we did, you're going to want to make sure that your team that you have in place now is ready for that lift. There's the compliance and the due diligence, of course, that you're going to go through as they transition everything. And there's privacy policies and lots of small details. But your team is going to want to be prepared. They're going to want to know that they are going to have to work extra hours. Are going to have to get through it together. And sometimes you change a lot of just software, for example. So if you're changing all of your software that you had in your company, there's a learning curve there too. And so it's just you want to make sure that everybody's excited and prepared and that you're all pulling the rope in the same direction.

So now that you're on the other side of the transition, anything that you wish you would have known previous that you know now?

Knowing that the transition takes time. And then there's the whole piece with the communications with the clients. And so I think that's probably something we could touch on. I don't think that it's a concern, and I don't think it needs to be. It was for us. We were stressed that the clients were not going to take this news well. So that's the other piece of the communication. So it's not just the team. It's finally deciding and telling the clients, and that's an undertaking. Of course, that's a lot of meetings. That's a lot of phone calls and questions to answer. So as much as you can be educated with the new partner firm and be on the forefront of discussing it with the clients, the better it's going to go. And being honest, you just need to be honest that this is what we're doing. We're excited about it. And I'm so fortunate that it was a great transition. But you need to, you need to tell them, and it was not an issue. And that was wonderful.

Yeah, let's touch on that a little bit more in detail because I often hear that, especially from smaller firms that go part of a national firm. They have this fear that they're going to be a small fish in a big pond. They feel that their clients are going to feel like they're going to be a small fish in a big pond. And when I'm talking candidly in the industry, that's the number one thing that advisors say is, I don't want to lose that relationship with my client. My client's going to feel like they're no longer as important as they previously were. I'm a sellout. Sorry for saying it, but there's some thoughts that I've heard that people feel that way. And then oftentimes on the other side, to your point, that's not actually the case in a lot of these. They actually don't feel that way. Can you give me an example or explain that a little bit more from your perspective of the why behind that?

Yeah, and I think this comes back to why we chose to work with Carson Wealth. They were the fit for us because of— for that reason. We did not want our clients to all of a sudden feel like we changed, like we are not the same advisors and it's not the same services or the same feel when they walk in the office and meet and work with us. And so it is the same way. You know, we have more to offer the clients now. There's more services and those keep expanding, which is wonderful. But the look and feel and the relationship we have with our clients has not changed. And that was ultimately, you know, one of the biggest things for us to gauge.

And I love how you just underscored that. And I must say it again just for the audience, because I think a lot of times during the transition, people focus on the net new, all these net new services that the new firm will bring to you. And they kind of lean into that communication of, I did this because I'm now going to give you direct indexing. I'm just— I'm now going to give you access to more private markets. But what you just said is it's more about the relationship that you have with the client and that it's not actually going to change. If anything, that's going to stay the same. Is that correct?

That's correct. And I think that's one you want to lean into. OK. I would— exactly the way you said it. I would not push the fact that if you're going through this transition, keep hitting those bullet points of, oh, this is going to be it and this is going to be great and we're going to offer this as well. Listen to the clients and see what questions they have and what concerns they have so you can answer those. You can talk about those other things. Wonderful pieces, but you want to talk about how your relationship is not going to change, that you are there for them before, you're going to be there for them now. And that's why they work with you to begin with, because they can get a hold of you. They know that you care about anything that changes in their lives, whether it's positive or negative. And when they want to talk about those other components, that's, that's wonderful.

So let's talk about all the different offerings that you have for a client right now. I mean, investments are always brought up in the context of wealth management, and sounds like you do talk about them, but maybe not as much. Can you explain a little bit about your philosophy with investing and talking to your clients about it?

Sure. So we absolutely utilize the investment team, research team with Carson, and they're an impressive group of people, and they run wonderful strategies, and we are benefiting from those. And so I'm thankful for that. We have the opportunity to have the clients, you know, get on these calls or actually have, you know, one of these economists or one of these strategists come in and meet with the clients or do talks. We don't really ever have that push to do so. It's not often that they're really diving deep into the investment strategies. I think they're happy with how smooth and efficient they're running, for sure. Again, it comes back to those clients that are trusting this relationship. And that was another thing that I think a lot of young advisors will learn over time is that you'll spend less and less time talking about investments. You'll talk more about how their family is doing, how their clients are doing. Once they trust you and you're doing a good job, of course, and the portfolio is growing, you won't likely talk about investments as much as you thought you would when you entered the business.

I think that's such an interesting point because at least talking to younger advisors, they really are myopically focused on investments. So then what do you talk about with your clients?

So to be clear, we do talk about investments. Thanks for the modification. Yes, but it becomes less part of that conversation. And we always touch on that when we're having client reviews and we talk about how their portfolio is doing. Absolutely. That's very important. We are managing their wealth and they do have, you know, goals that we have a process for. And so In a few different ways, but it comes back down for me as that coach to talk about them with what those goals are. And the investments need to fit the right goal and the right time horizon. So depending on what stage they are in their lives, whether it's accumulation or actually dispersing funds on a regular basis, they need to have an understanding that we have them in the right investments and they're in the right place and they're ready for market volatility. Because that's just always going to happen. So if they have an understanding that, okay, these dollars, this bucket is for this sort of goal going forward and this is for this one, I'm in the right strategy and this all makes sense to me. If they need to draw funds, a few hundred thousand dollars for a house or something that's up and coming, those dollars are earmarked in a specific way and they know and they feel that they're safe and ready for to be deployed. A goal without a plan is just a wish, right? So unless you have the process ready, you're not sure what you're going to get.

Is there anything else that you want to leave for the audience, any piece of advice or tidbit?

One I'll leave you with, I think, is that the market will have corrections, and we know based on statistics how often that will happen. How many times a year do we have little ones and how often do we have larger ones. And as a young advisor, it can be challenging to pick up the phone when you have that correction and call the clients and ask how they're doing. You don't want to overly panic them, of course, but you want to be there for them. You want to make sure that you're not running away. You're not hiding under your desk. Let's talk about this. Before that happens, I think those young advisors need to really, in most meetings, discuss the fact that, okay, We're in a bull market. Again, this has been a wonderful couple of years here. We should expect a correction statistically from, you know, 10% to 30% over the next 18 months. It logically could happen. I just want to make sure that you're prepared for that. And that we've worked on the financial planning piece. We know what cash needs are wanted in the next, you know, short term, and that there are no surprises. Clients, you know, they don't want surprises. And so if they're prepared for corrections and they— we knew they were coming, it's an easier conversation to have with those clients. So I think that's really important for young advisors.

I think that's great advice for, for anyone sort of tuning in. So thank you so much for being here today and coming all the way down from Vermont.

Yeah, it's great to be in the city.

Thanks for having me on. The production team for Barron's Advisor: The Way Forward Next Generation is Ellie Ismailidou, Rebecca Bisdale, Paul LeBlanc, and Alexis Moore. Jenna Mathis is the Director of Programming for Barron's Advisor Programs. Greg Bertollis is the Editor-in-Chief of Barron's Wealth and Asset Management Group. Allison Tucci is a freelance host for Barron's Advisor and SVP at AssetMarkt. We'll see you next time.

This podcast was brought to you by Wells Fargo Advisors. Looking for a firm your clients can't outgrow? Wells Fargo Advisors offers financial advisors full balance sheet solutions with wealth planning, investment products, banking, and lending that meet the needs of affluent to ultra-high net worth clients. Build your practice your way and on your schedule with independent and employee model options designed to meet your needs today and tomorrow. Learn more at joinwfadvisors.com.