Anatomy of a Niche

The Sportsmen Dream Financial business model enables Zumbusch to attract wealthy outdoorsmen who are land owners. He can develop comprehensive financial plans for them, while incorporating a conservation easement. Imagine a comprehensive wealth management process, shown as an org chart, but with an added box for a conservation easement.

To establish himself as an expert, Zumbusch developed a special report that explains how conservation easements work. He is now sharing the report with clients and prospective clients, as well as distributing it to CPAs and estate attorneys who might be working with land owners — in other words, his target market. Zumbusch’s goal is to have Sportsmen Dream Financial be the first thought that comes to people’s minds when they think about wealth management for outdoorsmen.

To write the report, Zumbusch began by talking with his clients about being outdoorsmen, and why they want to preserve open land. He then moved into talking to representatives of land trusts, such as Ducks Unlimited, about how conservation easements actually work. Then he spoke to staff members of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, to get their perspective on the importance of preserving open spaces. Finally, he interviewed strategic partners (such as CPAs and attorneys) to get their thoughts and observations.

“Writing this report was very helpful on many levels. First, my clients opened up and talked with me about their love of the outdoors, and their concerns that their lifestyle is disappearing due to loss of open land, social pressure on hunting, and the younger generation’s waning interest in outdoor pursuits. Second, the study got me talking to ‘influentials’ in the conservation easement field,” he said. “If you’re going to develop a niche, you really have to dive into it.”

This summer, Zumbusch is working with his first client on an actual conservation easement. It involves about 200 acres, of which 40 acres of wetlands will be controlled by the easement. Zumbusch is not the only advisor in the situation, as the land trust organization and an estate planning attorney also are directly involved.

Actually, Zumbusch’s timing probably couldn’t be better. Late last year, the federal government changed the laws to make conservation easements even more attractive. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 eased the rules for using the charitable income tax deductions generated by conservation easements. Now, donors can take a deduction of up to 50 percent of their income in the first year (as compared to 30 percent previously), and they also can spread deductions over 15 years (as compared to five years previously). “There’s a lot of financial flexibility under the new rules,” said Zumbusch.

While Zumbusch has been a financial advisor for 12 years now — first as a registered representative for seven years with American Express Financial Advisors then, ultimately, moving to independent broker-dealer Securities America and investment advisor Securities America Advisors — he says this new brand identity and specialty focus has helped him build the business of his dreams. This martial arts practitioner and former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant also strongly supports the right to bear arms, a value that his ideal clients also tend to hold dear. The result of this new focus? Business is booming and Zumbusch has been invited to Securities America’s Masters Forum the past two years.

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Marie Swift is the president of Impact Communications, a marketing and communications firm for independent advisors; see www.impactcommunications.org.