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The wealth management industry is changing fast, but many financial advisors are still using the same old playbook. Join hosts Sean Allocca and John Manganaro, along with leading industry expert guests, as they break down the trends shaping your business.
Each week, we'll cover critical topics while also having a little fun. It's all on the table, from retirement income planning and Social Security to the behavioral side of investing and what clients are hearing elsewhere. We've created The Advisor Upside Show because staying informed isn’t enough anymore. You need to stay ahead.
New episodes every Wednesday.
#FinancialAdvisor #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning
John (00:00)
This episode is presented by Fidelity. Independence, it's your move. Fidelity's unbiased expertise helps you understand all your options. Fidelity works with many types of wealth managers, so you can select the business model that best fits your future. Their consultative approach helps you choose how much control you want and how much support you need. Everything on your terms. After all, isn't that why you want independence?
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Michael Kim (00:32)
last year in 2025, every single day there were 1200 millionaires, that were minted every single day, when I hear stats like that, it's it's mind-blowing.
Sean (00:47)
All right, everybody, welcome to another episode of the Advisor Upside. My name's Sean. I'm executive editor here at the Daily Upside. We have John, as always, with us, our senior retirement reporter. Hey John, how you doing today?
John (01:00)
Good. Howdy folks. Thanks for tuning in to another episode. We we love the engagement with the podcast so far, so appreciate all your time.
Sean (01:07)
And we got a great guest this week on. We have Michael Kim, he's CEO of Asset Mark. He's been with the company, I think 16 years or so, been through a lot of iterations of the company, has a lot of insights to share, not only on asset mark and the camp industry, but also just wealth management in general. So let's dive right in, John.
John (01:25)
Let's do
John (01:26)
We're joined today by Michael Kim, who's the chief executive officer and president of AssetMark. With more than 30 years of industry experience, he's set the strategic vision for the firm, which encompasses AssetMarkt's platform of curated investments, technology solutions, business consulting, operational support, and MA that serve the interests of the financial advisor community, who we hope are listening along to the Advisor Upside Show.
Michael Kim (01:49)
Yeah, yeah,
yeah.
John (01:51)
so this this year, I believe, Michael, Asset Mark will celebrate its 30th anniversary. So we wanted to start with a bit of a history lesson about the company's ownership journey, especially in you know, recent times under your leadership. I think it's super interesting that Asset Mark has basically experienced almost every major operating model corporate parent, private equity, strategic international owner, public company, and now private again.
I think most relevant for this conversation, Michael, was that in 2016, the Chinese financial services firm, Waitai Securities, acquired Asset Mark and later took the company public. And that brings us more or less to the latest transaction that you were involved with. in 2024, the Chicago-based private equity firm, GTCR, acquired Asset Mark in a transaction valued at approximately $2.7 billion, taking the company private once again. By this point, you had become CEO, so you were
in the trenches of that deal. So we're we're really interested in hearing how that came together. my biggest question though is how did the transaction impact the business
Michael Kim (02:52)
Yep.
John (02:52)
and how has it affected the financial advisors you serve, if at all?
Michael Kim (02:56)
Well, first of all, John and Sean, thank you for having me here. I'm looking forward to our conversation. I've been a big, big fan of your podcast. So thank you for allowing me to join you here.
John (03:05)
Thank you.
Sean (03:06)
I'm blushing, Michael.
Michael Kim (03:08)
and and John, my goodness, as you were walking us through the history, it's definitely been quite a ride here. I've been with the firm for 16 years and we've had five different owners of the company, and so
Just getting tired just even thinking about all the different changes. But yeah, to your point, 2024 was a remarkable year. That was a year where we took the company private. we partner with a major private equity firm called GTCR. They're headquartered in Chicago. They have also have a large presence in New York and in Florida as well. But these guys they are great partners. In fact,
You know what's funny, John, is we've actually known GTCR for a number of years, even before the transaction. And we kept in touch over the years. we've always had a great relationship. folks like Colin Roche, who's a co-CE over there, Mike Collander and the whole team. they've just been incredible partners. And you know, one of the key things that we were trying to accomplish was really take the company private so that we can have even a longer term perspective.
On the business. And we'll get into a lot more of these details later. But at Aston Mark, we are all about creating value and supporting our advisors. And we want to do it, you know, with a very long-term perspective. I feel like we're kind of in a long ball business here, John. And we want to make sure that we weren't constrained with the public company, sort of the quarterly results cycle that I think your audience is quite familiar with.
And also being and take the company to being a hundred percent US owned private company. And so we were very fortunate to partner with GTCR. They provide an incredible package not only to our key employees, but also to the advisors, and really they made a case for how AssetMark can continue to be a a winner in this space and really provide the incredible services to our advisors.
Sean (05:15)
So Asset Mark has has certainly evolved, right, alongside those those transitions, as you as you said. And on your website, it says Asset Mark serves about 10,000 financial advisors over 30, 340,000 investor households.
Michael Kim (05:30)
Yeah.
Sean (05:30)
so specifically, can you talk about how the company kind of changed most recently, like from a from a TAMP to more of a wealth, you know, comprehensive platform that provides different services, and just
Broadly,
how's the advisor tech sector changing over the years or more importantly, maybe where do you see it moving forward and how are you trying to stay in on top and in front
Michael Kim (05:51)
Yeah.
Sean (05:51)
of some of these tech changes?
Michael Kim (05:52)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Sean. Great question there. And and maybe a good place to start would be on the comment earlier from John about the 30th anniversary that this year represents. And and just a little bit of context and history, guys, here. so 30 years ago, three advisors, three independent financial advisors, they got together and they said, Hey guys, there's gotta be a better way to serve not only themselves and their practice, but
fellow, you know, other independent advisors. they happened to be college buddies, they all went to school together, they went into the business together, and literally they got together and said, Hey, there's gotta be better ways to support independent financial advisors. And so that's how we got started 30 years ago. And and Sean, to your point, you know, really the the original, the heritage of Aston Mark was to bring
the best investment strategies to our advisors through a highly curated institutional due diligence process. And obviously we still continue that service today and then some. At the same time, Sean, what's been fascinating is really the watching the evolution of the entire industry, the independent wealth management industry, and for asset market to be part of that evolution.
Sean, you know what's interesting is the our advisors are such incredibly so trusted financial advisors, kind of wealth counselors to their family. At the same time, they need help in really sort of running their firm as that ongoing enterprise and really being the CEO of the business. And so that's one of the areas, Sean, that
We actually spend a lot of time in in terms of helping our advisors become not only that continue to be that trusted advisor, but being that CEO of their business. And then of course, making sure that we never lose sight of the day-to-day experience that our advisors have, whether it be service and operations, whether it be consulting out in the field, making sure that we are that true extension of that advisor's firm.
Sean (08:02)
well said. And I think advisors, you're right. They get into the business to, you know, take care of clients, wealth strategies, and kind of running that business, being an entrepreneur is kind of tough. But going back to something you said, Michael, on on the tech side too, we where we're seeing just massive evolution of tools and obviously AI. We're not gonna get out of here without mentioning AI at least a couple
Michael Kim (08:21)
Yeah.
Sean (08:21)
of times, right? But what do you where do you see most most of the opportunities? We've seen in the AI the note-taking in in the meetings and the follow-up emails and
some of those efficient assistant like tech tech tools, which are almost everywhere now becoming really becoming table stakes. but where do you see the the that kind of evolving? Where do you see the most opportunities for either asset market but just in general? Like where where do you see that moving and how is it going to impact advisors in a year or two or five?
Michael Kim (08:49)
Yeah, absolutely. And and look, I mean we can probably spend the entire podcast talking about AI and the implications of that technology. And you know, one of the key things that we think about is just again, a little bit of context here. We absolutely believe that the best use of advisors' time is in front of clients and really managing the relationships, going deeper in terms of the different planning aspects for that client.
And not so much in terms of the administrative, kind of the data related stuff and even practical examples, Sean, like getting ready and pr and meeting prep time. what we learned is that on average, advisors spend about two to three hours a day in meeting prep time. And so our view is that the more we can take off the advisor's plate, more they can spend in front of their clients. In fact,
We just completed our latest impact of outsourcing survey. And and Sean and John, you guys are gonna be blown away by this. Typically, advisors that outsource and leverage a partner firm like Assimark, they create n over nine hours in a given week of extra time. And so that's like having another day in a week. And and that's where AI can even further that amount of capacity that's created.
You know, to your point about you know kind of the note-taking and sort of these types of virtual meeting tools, absolutely. you mentioned all the different providers out there, we have relationships and we've incorporated them into how advisors can streamline the note-taking, the follow-up, sort of the the administrative aspects after all of those different meetings. But in addition, we're looking at things like talk tracks, which is our latest AI tool.
Imagine Sean before your meeting with the client coming up later this afternoon, we provide all the insights to the client and their family and what's happening not only in their portfolio but also from a planning perspective based on sort of the all of the data of that client but also other related personas out there and
gives the advisor specific talking points in terms of what to say and what to do. And so those are the kind of tools that we believe can really create a lot of efficiency and capacity for that advisor. And we're going to continue to invest in these types of tools here, Sean. And we believe that we have an opportunity to really maximize the time that advisors spend with their clients as opposed to sort of these types of administrative
And frankly, non revenue generating activities for that advisor.
Sean (11:34)
Yeah, a full day. That's eight days a week. It was a great Beatles song.
John (11:38)
indeed. Indeed. You wonder whether advisors will kind of take that time to have a little bit more personal time away from the work or if they'll refeed
it back into capacity. Maybe a a bet there's a balance to be struck there. I think it's it's very interesting to think about how asset marks evolution has really mirrored and and sort of been a part of the change in the advisor industry in general, writ large and and really cool to think about. It's starting as, you know, a a a project of of three, you know, college roommates.
I
love that anecdote. I did want to circle back though, Michael, because when you mentioned the benefits of private ownership, it made me think about some of the news that we've seen in in the wealth management industry. For example, the the the consideration of maybe moving to half-year reporting in the place of quarterly reporting. I I'm curious if you have a a view on that. I mean, or just why it's important for asset mark to be able to play the the long ball, as you said.
I think that's really interesting and and I could see, you know, the virtues of of private ownership in today's fast changing wealth management industry. So what are you thinking about sort of managing the quarterly budgets versus long term? Any thoughts?
Michael Kim (12:39)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. No, I got I got lots of thoughts on that, John. And you know, it it really does become a constraint on the management team of publicly traded companies because I remember in our old days when we were publicly traded, I mean, literally we would be on a quarterly cycle and and that's what sort of the street was expecting. And so that became kind of the operating rhythm. Now that we are a
privately held company, you know, partnering with firms like GTCR, it has become so much more of a strategic approach to running the business. And really what we mean by that is we want to make sure that we're investing in the right capabilities over the longer term period to create value and deliver the services to our clients and not being constrained about what is this going to mean for the next
quarterly earnings per share and really the the analyst call. And so that does become a huge impediment. And so I would be in favor of those types of changes. Realistically though, John, I mean, my goodness, that's gonna have all kinds of other implications. So so I'm hopeful and obviously we'll keep a close eye on that development there. But maybe this is a good opportunity for me to share a couple of other thoughts. You know, you had asked earlier about sort of our current ownership with
You know, with GTCR, a again a tier one prominent private equity firm. And and what's really fascinating is to see the the wealth industry garner so much attention from these investors and so much capital coming into to the industry. And and I think that speaks of a few different things. Number one, this is an incredibly attractive industry. you know, we got all kinds of secular tailwinds behind us.
The demand for advice, in my opinion, is gonna continue to proliferate. And my goodness, if you look at all the demographics, and depending on whatever studies that you look at, there's hundreds of trillions of dollars of wealth that's gonna be passed on from one generation to the next. And John, that just screams of demand for that personalized advice. And so we believe that.
There's going to be continued sort of, I don't know, attractiveness to this industry, and we'll continue to see more capital coming in. Having said all that, to your point earlier, we at AssetMarkt, we've we feel like we've seen a number of different models out there, both sort of strategic, private equity, public, private, and so forth. And we always come back to kind of the key principles, which is
First and foremost, never ever, ever lose sight of the client. Making sure that the clients remain at the center of the universe, at the center of everything that we do. and that is really something that we talk about all the time here. And when I also talk to some of my other colleagues in the industry, leaders of other incredibly successful wealth firms, we share sort of in that perspective of making sure that we never ever lose sight.
of the clients first and foremost. And then number two, it's all about growth. We have a phrase, growth is life. And you know, and growth is life. And so when you're not growing, there's some other bad things that are happening. And so, you know, part of what we really collaborate on a very regular basis with our board, with our sponsors, is how do we continue to focus on organic growth? And and we should talk further about organic growth because that's another area for a deeper dive conversation. But
How do we continue to help our advisors grow, help them get that next new client? Growth is life. And then the last thing I'll mention is culture is everything. You can't have growth, you can't have sort of this client-centric approach if you don't have the right culture in the firm. And for me, John, one of the most things that I'm most proud of here, 16 plus years at the firm, is really the culture that my teammates, my colleagues, they demonstrate.
every single day and this week we have what's called a a client obsession week and it's it's like a it's almost like a boot camp of you know a reminder about how do we continue to have that client centric culture.
John (17:09)
it's so interesting, Michael,
because you you kind of preempted the the question I wanted to ask you, which is, you know, acknowledging that asset mark is is one type of business and that the clients you serve is another type of business. You know, what should advisors think about as they may maybe think about going with the private equity ownership route? And I think that was that was a great list that you just rattled off there. I think that's a a a a great way to think about engaging with PE. You have to maintain the culture, you have to have a great plan for organic growth to make sure it works out in the future for.
all the parties involved. I mean that that's that's great insight. Any any other tips for advisors who might be courting PE
ownership?
Michael Kim (17:43)
Well it it's interesting. I mean, I think just, you know, given the demographics and again given sort of the attractiveness of this industry, I think many, many of your audience members are thinking about or they may already be in various different conversations about, you know, potential transitions or some sort of a transaction and
And it's interesting, I get a lot of calls and and the the questions usually kind of go down the path of well, how do we think about, you know, the top line growth, maybe Ebita, this and that. And and yes, I mean let's not kid ourselves, the financial results are incredibly important. But really, the the financials are our belief is that the financials are really the output, the result of really the type of culture that you have, and really kind of the
How every single one of the employees, the colleagues at the company, what sort of their mission is. And so for me, I think about how do we as leaders continue to reinforce that culture, continue to ensure that my teammates see the reason why we are a thousand percent committed and really the implications of that and how we help our colleagues achieve that. And once you achieve that, then the financials and the numbers and the math, that will take care of itself.
and so our goal and we as a leadership team we we spend a lot of time talking about, hey, let's really ensure that our culture does not change regardless of what happens with you know the ownership, the market conditions and what have you, because inevitably that's what drives the financial results.
Sean (19:19)
Yeah, well said. And it's probably not only PE buyers, but just all the MA that we see in general. And the valuations are sky high and advisors are getting rolled up. And I like
Michael Kim (19:29)
yeah.
Sean (19:29)
to your point, I'm sure almost every advisor is in multiple, or at least having multiple suitors coming out and and trying to do that. So it's it's really pertinent and timely advice.
we're joined once again by Michael Kim, CEO and president of Asset Mark. and in this segment, we're gonna look at the ways wealth management industry has changed during the course of
Michael Kim (20:16)
Yeah.
Sean (20:17)
Michael's career and ours for that matter, and probably how it's going to continue to change in the future. So to begin with, Michael, clients are demanding a lot more services from advisors, right? The fees are
Michael Kim (20:29)
Yeah.
Sean (20:30)
staying at 1%, but
The service creep is is very, very real. And it feels like advisors are kind of showcasing themselves as more of family office kind of a vibe where you have all these capabilities that are once reserved for the very ultra high net worth that are becoming more regularly available to a little bit more mass affluent clients. We're thinking of things like, you know, tax aware investing, advanced planning portfolio, private market access, for example, So it's maybe not the pet.
sitting and the and the concierge and the dog walking just yet, but how have
Michael Kim (21:01)
Yeah.
Sean (21:01)
you seen this trend kind of playing out with your advisors?
Michael Kim (21:05)
Yeah, Sean, it's a great, great question. And and you know what's interesting is in the past, really the advisors they thought of their value proposition as really building the best 6040 balance portfolio for that client. And and that was pretty much you know what the clients were sort of thinking about. And if you look at various different surveys and talk to sort of the the clients, what they're looking for
You know, yes, the sixty forty with the right investment portfolio is important, don't get me wrong, but the number one thing that they're looking for as an example is tax planning and wealth transfer advice, right? And Sean, exactly to your point, you know, tax strategies. They want to know how much their tax bill is gonna be. they want to know what's the plan to transfer the wealth, you know, what kind of advanced planning strategies should they consider? And so
One of the key things that we you know we work with so many advisors and one of the key things that we emphasize over and over is look, they want they want to know, are they gonna be okay? And they want to know are their kids are gonna be okay. And really, how do we help our advisors really have kind of that family office type of conversation? Yes, I said that, Sean. Family office. And and you're right, it doesn't include sort of walking the dog and buying vacation homes.
At least not yet, but it does include conversations about how that advisor is going to help the client structure, let's just say, family LLC and really set up different IREV trusts for their children. And by the way, if that client happens to be a business owner, you know, how are they going to sort of be the quarterback walking that client through a potential sale of that business?
These are the kind of things that are way above and different than that 60-40 portfolio that we used to talk about. And so, you know, one of the big things that we're focused on is building out a whole suite of private wealth solutions. In fact, we believe that private wealth, and I think this was exactly to your point, Sean, that was once sort of reserved for that, you know, 50, 100 million dollar clients, it is now coming downstream. And we want to ensure that
Our advisors have all of the arrows and their quivers to have that conversations with that client. Because here's the reality. Let me just share a couple of fun facts with you. Number one, last year in 2025, every single day there were 1200 millionaires, 1,200 millionaires that were minted every single day, Sean. I mean, when I hear stats like that, it's it's mind-blowing. Number two, you know, with three years, three plus years of
Double digit SP 500 returns, that mass affluent clients that the the advisor was serving maybe you know three years ago is now a four, five, six million dollar client. And when clients reach that level of wealth, their expectations are different. And so our view is that advisors they are uniquely positioned to deliver this holistic family office type of solutions to their clients, and we're excited about the opportunity to serve our advisors.
Sean (24:25)
Twelve million millionaires minted a day and I wasn't one of I wasn't one of What what's the odds of that?
John (24:31)
Not not yet, Sean. Keep keep saving. We'll all get there. Michael?
Michael Kim (24:34)
Yeah.
John (24:35)
I wanna I want to frame a contrarian question here. And and sometimes
Michael Kim (24:37)
Yeah.
John (24:38)
I I think about all the amazing technology development and and as you put it, all the the arrows that are now in the quiver of the financial advisor. Is there any risk that we kind of give people too many tools or or maybe
Michael Kim (24:48)
Mm.
John (24:49)
make clients think that they need all these sophisticated fancy techniques and and maybe it can distract people? Because I I think, for example,
private market access, very important for some people, but you'd probably agree that not everybody should be invested in the private market. So I sometimes
Michael Kim (25:03)
Yeah.
John (25:03)
I think there's a a bit of a tension there. You know, it's great to give these tools, great to get these services, but we we also need to keep the fundamentals in mind. What do you think?
Michael Kim (25:11)
totally. I mean it's such a great question, John. And look, I mean in this day and age, private markets, I mean they're everywhere. that's a classic example, Sean, of to your point about the family office. They're the only ones in the past, along with different institutions that had access to these types of strategies. But John, today private markets it's ubiquitous. It is out there.
And we actually believe that it is an essential and it is an important part of a broader asset allocation approach. But really to your point, how do we help the advisor not get overwhelmed with so many different complexities and make sure that they have the right sort of points to share with the clients? And so our view is that first and foremost, let's make sure that it is highly curated.
And that we are delivering what we believe are the best of the best options, particularly in complicated fields like private markets. And so we've sort of kind of boiled the ocean, as I like to say, and we have six different private equity interval funds only. a big part of this, John, is to make sure that both the advisors and their clients understand not only the benefits, but the
risks associated with these types of vehicles. What I don't think the market is talking enough about is the liquidity risk of these strategies. And hence you're seeing some of the headlines about private credit. And so our view is let's really take a kind of an interval fund-based approach where there is definitely some liquidity there, but it gives the access and frankly the alpha that the clients are looking for to their portfolios.
The other thing that we're doing, John, is let's again give the access, but help the advisor really do what they do best, which is spend time with the clients and really more from a planning perspective. And then we at AstMark, we will take on that investment responsibility of managing, allocating, rebalancing, reporting, all that fun stuff of these complex vehicles like private market investments. And so
So our view is let's make sure that the advisors and ultimately the clients, they're not overwhelmed by this. Let's kind of bowl the ocean, really bring the salient points to the clients and make sure that they understand the risk, but also participate in the benefits of things like this. And and last thing I'll mention is private markets. I think we believe that this is going to be an essential part. I mentioned kind of that 60-40 portfolio earlier.
Our view is that it's gonna be something like 50, 30, 20 to really deliver kind of that well balanced, truly balanced and diversified portfolio to the clients. And so a lot more to come on this front, but we're excited by kind of the the development and the proliferation of these private market instruments.
Sean (28:15)
Just one quick follow up on on AI, on the other AI, alternative investments.
Michael Kim (28:20)
Yes.
Sean (28:21)
so you said interval funds, and just to dive into it a little bit, because I thought there's interest it's six interval funds specifically, so not other types of private market products. Is the interval funds mostly because of that qu I think it's quarterly redemptions and having some of that liquidity? Is that what's makes those most attractive to you, or is there other reasons and
Michael Kim (28:37)
Yeah.
Sean (28:38)
just your take on on some of those vehicles?
Michael Kim (28:41)
Yeah, Sean, I mean the as I mentioned, the liquidity is one of the paramount considerations for us. We want to make sure that clients get access to their funds, you know, as regularly as possible. And we believe that the quarterly sort of the liquidity window offers that. At the same time, based on our research, interval funds compared to the true sort of the drawdown funds that have like sort of the seven year type of lockup.
The interval funds actually capture same amount of alpha as the true drawdown funds. And so, in a way, you get the liquidity, but you also get the benefits that these truly illiquid products offer. And so it's sort of the Goldilocks type of approach, and and the other element is we we wanted to make sure that's highly curated. I mean there's
hundreds, if not thousands, of different interval products out there. What we did again is to leverage our due diligence team and make sure that we brought those six interval funds that we believe are best of the best. And then we'll continue to review, monitor, we may add one or two more. We may remove one of these funds depending on you know how they do, but that's really part of our approach, making sure that our advisors get the highly curated
Short list of what we believe are the best of the best products out there.
Sean (30:08)
That's what a lot of advisors are needing. Because I think a the problem with some of the adoption of these funds is the due diligence and that advisors just don't know how where do I start looking at these different like you said, there's thousands literally to choose from. How do I know these managers are aligned with my best interest and the client's best interest and what are the fees? And there's a little bit of transparency issues. And I think it just brings up a little bit of of fear almost for advisors.
Michael Kim (30:29)
I I think Sean, one of the you know, the responsibilities that we believe we have is to really demystify, you know, these these products and you know, remove as much of the complexity as possible. Again, really bring the benefits of these solutions to the advisors and ultimately to their clients. And whatever we can do as really the partner firm in the middle to help sort of streamline that, you know, we welcome that and that's part of the value that we deliver. So
We've seen a really good uptick on the private market investments and the strategies that have that small allocation to these products. And we believe that, you know, the best is yet to come on that.
John (31:11)
Very cool. Well, guys, we we do like to keep the podcast relatively digestible. So, Sean, I thought I'd maybe ask Michael a closing question if you're all right with that. And and that's
Sean (31:20)
Let's do it.
John (31:20)
namely, you know, what's what's one thing, Michael, that makes you really excited about the future of of the firm, the future of wealth management in general. And just as importantly, what worries you? What what keeps you up at night now and again? Cause we have to recognize that they're, you know, this is a great business to be in, so much demand, so much expectations for growth. But
You know, we always have to be watching out for those sort of downturn type events. So what what's one positive thing and and one negative thing to close out the episode?
Michael Kim (31:46)
Yeah, thank you, John and and Sean. This has been a great conversation. And again, we're we're a big, big fan of your podcast, so thank you for having me here. John, to answer your question, I would say it's it's the the both sides of the same coin. And and what I mean by that is really around the demographics of this industry and the participants of this industry that presents what I believe is the the greatest opportunity, but also something that we're all thinking about. And so
So on the the opportunity front, as I mentioned earlier, given sort of the aging of the clients, given the the great wealth transfer, given sort of the business owners looking to exit and so on and so forth, the demand for advice, we absolutely believe that the demand for advice will continue to accelerate. And that is going to be one of the biggest sort of tailwinds that this industry will continue to benefit from.
every time I say something like this, John, I always get sort of the the that naysayer in the room that says, Michael, that sounds great, but what about AI? Isn't AI going to take over the advisors and so forth? And you know, it's it's an interesting question. And we talked a little bit about the impact of AI earlier, but kind of the analogy that I always like to kind of think about is when all of us, when we have an ailment or something, we before we go see a doctor, what do we do? We go to WebMD and we check it out and we kind of do a little bit of self-diagnosis, but
I don't know about you guys, but I want to talk to a real life trusted physician that can tell me that I'm gonna be okay. Right. with all respect to WebMD or other sort of resources out there, I want to talk to someone that's been doing this for a long time, that I've seen many other patients with similar sort of situations. My point is is that regardless of what happens with with AI or other technology, and we absolutely do believe that it will really aid and and help.
kind of the client's awareness, but that advice, that human advice that provides a sense of confidence and that relief, that comfort, I'm telling you right now, we're we're all human beings and we're all craving for that emotional security. And that's why I absolutely believe to my core that the demand for human advice, demand for that human sort of connection,
Is going to continue to accelerate and that's gonna drive everything in this industry. Having said that, the other side of this coin is you know, let's not kid ourselves, the advisors they're getting older, and what does Cerule say? Like over a hundred thousand advisors are gonna retire in the next 10 years. My goodness, that's like almost a third of the industry, right? And so when I think about that type of macro level secular trends, I think about number one.
You know, how do we how do we manage and and really assist with this advisor succession issue that we're all trying to deal with? Number two, how do we bring in bring in new advisors into this industry? My goodness, we need more younger, female, trusted advisors that can really serve their clients better than ever before. And to me, these are the kind of things that absolutely keep me up at night and I think about.
My goodness, who's gonna take care of the clients who have really depended on that human advice as the industry continues to shift like this? So, John and Sean, I can go on and on about these
Sean (35:20)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michael Kim (35:21)
things as well as other topics, but which is
just some of the things that you know that I think about. And let me just wrap up with this. I believe, we believe here at ASAMARC that this profession, what advisors do day in, day out, it is
the most noble profession like in our community, full stop, hands down. They literally change people's lives and we get to see that every single day by supporting our advisors and it's humbling, it's gratifying, and it's just very special to be part of this ecosystem here where we get to support advisors that are changing people's lives. And so I'll wrap it up on that note here.
Sean (36:02)
it's the I've heard it been referenced as the dream the dream it creating dreams for their clients and and making sure
Michael Kim (36:08)
Yeah.
Sean (36:08)
those come to fruition. So I think it's it's well said, Michael. Thanks for giving us a little insight into the mind and the office of Michael Kim, CO Asset Mark.
Michael Kim (36:15)
Yeah.
Sean (36:16)
I had a lot of fun, Michael. We'll have to do it again. I'm sure our listeners did as well.
Michael Kim (36:20)
Thank you guys. Appreciate it.
Sean (36:21)
Thank you so much.
John (36:23)
Alrighty, just like that, another episode of the Advisor Upside show in the books. super interesting, Sean. I don't know what what sticks with you the most, but I really appreciate Michael's comments about private ownership and and sort of how that's important for his firm right now. Super interesting because of all the discussions that are going on more generally about quarterly versus, you know, half year reporting. I I th I thought his comments there were very salient. What do you think?
Sean (36:46)
Yeah,
I thought he was gonna have strong, strong opinions about that being a former public RC company, a public company, where he was part of that process with those quarterly lands solved inside of how that kind of that played out. I also thought it was interesting what he said about the the future of wealth management in terms of the additional services that are getting tacked on, what that's gonna look like. And then also to your point, when he talked about MA.
that it wasn't just about P, just there's so many advisor looking to exit that are looking to retire. So how do they get the most out of their businesses and how can they think about those sales you know, as they as they're coming up. So yeah, a lot of great insights and I had a lot of fun.
John (37:23)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So to wrap up the episode, we would just recommend that folks subscribe wherever wherever it is they prefer to get their podcasts. Of course, we're also on YouTube if you want to see Sean and myself and and our guests each week. and please subscribe to the newsletters if you haven't already. We have the the flagship daily upside newsletter. we have the business to business publications, the advisor upside, the retirement upside and and the ETF upside.
Sean (37:47)
email you can get in touch with us if you have any thoughts, comments, questions, critiques. We love to hear it, it makes us better. And you know, this is all for for you guys. So let us know what you'd like to see next or what you like to see less of or any and all of that. We appreciate it. It's at podcast at the daily upside dot com. And with that, have a good day, everybody. We'll see you next time.