Rootin' Tootin' Straight Shootin'

The first-ever FPA Business Solutions conference opened with a roar March 1 with 250 attendees at the Omni Hotel at Las Colinas, in Dallas Texas. FPA Chair Jim Barnash opened the conference saying that it was designed to give members a leg-up in running an “efficient, effective business,” in a setting that encourages advisors to interact with each other.

Barnash introduced conference chair, and Moss Adams partner, Deena Katz, ” who says advisors “ need to pay as much attention to our business as we do to our clients.” The difference between a practice and a business, she said, is that “in a practice you take on anyone who fogs a mirror [as a client]; in a business, you follow the activities that are in keeping with your mission statement and business plan.” In a practice you don’t know if you are making a profit; in a business, you always know. Katz called for advisors to lobby the CFP Board to add a requirement for mandatory credits in practice management.