Recently, I had the opportunity to attend Cetera Advisors' "Fast Forward" conference in Houston, TX. This annual event is an advisor-led conference, along with some of the key members of Cetera Advisors home office staff. The conference featured many great sessions, including having the opportunity to hear from RJ Moore, CEO of Cetera Financial Group, listening to Mimi Bock, President of Cetera Advisors and First Allied Securities, share the story of her experience during the 9/11 attacks, and learning more about some of the new technology coming out in 2019 and beyond to help create a better experience for our clients.

As a first-time attendee, I was honored to have the opportunity to speak at the conference along with my fellow Simplifynance Advisor, Rachel Stewart from Horizon Financial Group in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Next-Gen advisors who are passionate about working with our generation of clients, Rachel and I were asked to share our thoughts on how advisors can best reach and serve younger clients, and how we think Simplifynance is a great tool to help them do so.

Jesse also had the opportunity to lead a session at the conference along with fellow advisors Clint Gault and Trevor Wilde entitled "When Life Happens" on how to help clients through difficult life transitions. Jesse, Client, and Trevor were able to share stories and best practices with the other advisors on a wide range of topics, including helping clients transition from their careers into retirement, how to manage the tax complexities surrounding the sale of a business, and helping a client through the loss of a spouse or close family member.

One of my favorite sessions at the conference was hearing fellow advisor Mark Bass, whose practice is in Lubbock, Texas, speak and provide insights into some of the things that have allowed him to be so successful for more than 40 years in the financial planning industry. One of my key takeaways from his session was the importance of building a close relationship with clients. Helping clients make difficult financial decisions is best done when you don't have an "arms-length" relationship with the client, but rather when you have one where you can have them over for dinner. Hearing from someone who has been in the industry for longer than I have been alive share his wisdom on building client relationships was invaluable to me.

Overall, "Fast Forward" was a great experience for Jesse and I to listen and learn from some of our peers at Cetera Advisors, and it was an honor for us to be asked to speak at the conference as well. We hope that by attending these conferences, we will continue to bring back insights and experiences that will help us better serve you as we "Move Life Forward" together.

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Written by:

Nathan Ollish, CFP

Financial Advisor