“A small but growing minority group of advisers are developing incentive compensation based on performance, usually based on performance of the firm and performance of the employee,” said Philip Palaveev, chief executive of The Ensemble Practice. “For that to work well, the firm needs to have a mechanism for evaluating the performance of the employee.” Read the full article here
How advisory firms can enhance their performance benchmarking skills By Brandon Odell
Benchmarking is an important part of planning for the success of your business. Currently, we use expected financial results as a tool to exercise good managerial sense and assess risk. However, advisory firms struggle to make accurate statements about the future of their businesses. Read More
Philip Palaveev and Bob Oros create Hunger Games-style RIA high jinks for Fidelity execs, then release it for wide consumption
Medical interns get cadavers to practice their scalpel skills on. Law students have moot court to hone their oratorical skills. But there are no such dress rehearsals for aspiring financial advisors. Philip Palaveev has teamed up with Fidelity in order to remedy that situation. Fusing fantasy baseball and reality TV, Palaveev is creating a program in which advisors, divvied up into teams, compete against one another and in the process deal with real-life situations facing RIAs. Read more
The Makeup of Independent Advisory Firms has Fundamentally Changed. By Philip Palaveev and Brandon Odell
Employee advisers now outnumber firm owners at independent advisory firms — but warning signs persist The following is an excerpt from the Executive Summary of the 2015 InvestmentNews Compensation & Staffing Study, which will publish next Monday.
Alessandra Malito's article: Advisers wasting time and money by underutilizing tech
“It’s very important to spend time and money to train [personnel], and not just to buy the package and let it be,” said Philip Palaveev, chief executive of the Ensemble Practice, a business consulting firm for financial advisers. “Technology is a tool — it’s not a magic wand.” Read the entire article here
Veres: Here's What Top Firms Are Doing Right
Read Bob Veres’ April 27, 2015 article in Financial Planning here
Getting your firm's employees to perform is about more than just compensation. By Brandon Odell
Advisory firms that outline clear objectives with measurable gains regarding staff performance and productivity tend to grow faster. Read more
Industry Expert Brandon Odell Becomes Partner in The Ensemble Practice LLC
SEATTLE, March 23, 2015 – The Ensemble Practice (Ensemble), the premier business consulting firm for the financial services industry, announced today that Brandon Odell has been promoted to Partner. Prior to the announcement, Brandon Odell served the firm as Director of Business Consulting. Odell has been responsible for the firm’s marquee benchmarking and compensation reports as well as key client relationships. Brandon Odell is also increasingly recognized in the industry as one of the foremost experts in financial management of advisory firms and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and forums. Read MoreOdell Partner_final
Can Internal Succession Succeed? By Philip Palaveev (Jan 2015)
Consider your neighborhood. Some houses are rented, some houses and lots will be bought by builders and a few condos will go up. Some houses have fallen into disrepair. What you hope for, though, is that the majority of houses in your neighborhood will be occupied by the owners. Homeowners are the ones who make sure that the schools are good and the streets are clean. Owners will plant trees and throw a good block party. Builders may provide liquidity to the market, but they can’t maintain the spirit of the neighborhood. Read more
The Ensemble Practice Adds an Industry Expert to Drive Growth and Deepen Client Relationships
Doug Johnson Joins Ensemble as Senior Consultant Seattle, WA – October 22, 2014 – The Ensemble Practice, the premier business-consulting firm for the financial services industry, announced today that Doug Johnson has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant. The addition of Johnson allows Ensemble team to continue its growth and work with financial advisory firms on growing and improving the profitability of their organizations. Johnson’s experience and background in Operations and Business Development will also add to the expertise of the Ensemble team. “We look to bring to our clients premier experience and expertise. We want to be able …