Page 15 - Investment Advisor - October 2021

To bring all of these concepts, tech- will improve portfolio performance, One of Bruckenstein’s key focus areas
nology, investments and tools together, whether crypto crashes 84% or increas- is cybersecurity, as so many advisors
Orion introduced a fiduciary operating es 1,500% — both of which have hap- are not prepared. The semi-good news,
system called, “Prospect, Plan, Invest, pened in recent months. however, according to his T3 technol-
Achieve.” Each of these “pillars” empha- Noted compliance expert Brian ogy usage survey, is that the percentage
sizes the technology needed to stream- Hamburger provided his take on the top of firms engaging with cybersecurity
line the entire client lifecycle workflows regulatory and compliance issues facing resources has gone up from 6% to 19%
to empower advisors with a “more advisors today, including his warnings in the last two years.
complete client experience” and where about advisors selling minority stakes
Orion has developed new capabilities. in their businesses that come with over- GIVING BACK
bearing terms. According to Hamburger, The conference agenda finished with
OTHER VIEWS these minority owners often include an inspiring keynote, a presentation
The balance of the conference agen- onerous conditions that can prevent from award-winning chef, restauran-
da was filled with presentations from the selling owners, without gaining the teur and humanitarian Jose Andres,
industry icons, including Ric founder of the World Central
Edelman, now retired from his ‘The good news is that Kitchen (WCK) — an NGO
massive RIA, Edelman Financial that uses food to empower
Engines, who regaled the crowd behavioral coaching adds communities and strengthen
in a general session with his tremendous value to your economies. WCK has been an
newest endeavor focused on instrumental, on the ground,
digital assets and the blockchain. clients’ lives, however, the support organization follow-
Edelman has created the ing natural disasters. Andres
“Digital Assets Council of bad news is that no one Zoomed in for the conference
Financial Professionals,” a cer- live from New Orleans, where
tifying organization for advi- wants behavioral coaching.’ he was leading the efforts to
sors to become educated and feed the thousands of displaced
knowledgeable about the inner —Daniel Crosby, Orion residents after Hurricane Ida’s
workings of digital assets, the destruction in Louisiana.
blockchain and how advisors can effec- minority owner’s permission first, from Andres and the WCK have success-
tively include this emerging asset class being able to pick service providers, fully used economic solutions through
in portfolios. admit partners, retire executives as well food by not just donating to com-
“The four most important develop- as prevent the future sale of the firm. munities, but rather to educating and
ments in commerce have been fire, the Ultimately, the minority owners end up training them on ways to create sus-
wheel, the Internet and the blockchain,” with much more control of the business tainable approaches. Andres provided
Edelman provocatively stated in his than their effective ownership percent- some well-timed advice to attendees,
remarks. He believes that blockchain ages would suggest and cause potential with a counter-intuitive message for
will transform the global financial sys- future acquirers to avoid. financial planners. “Don’t over plan —
tem and advisors need to understand Technology guru Joel Bruckenstein adapt,” he suggested, as from his expe-
it better to fiduciarily advise clients, also enlightened the crowd with his rience most things don’t go according
because like it or not, digital assets are latest observations about advisor’s to plan.
in high demand. technology usage and key trends dur- To learn more about what went on
“Seventeen percent of American ing the pandemic. “There were two at the 2021 Orion Ascent conference,
adults now own bitcoin, and most groups of advisors during the pandem- check out the many tweets under the
importantly, 63% of American adults are ic — those who were prepared and #OrionAscent hashtag on Twitter.
‘crypto curious,’” he said. Because of the those who weren’t,” he said. “Firms
massive growth, uncertainty and volatil- that had a flexible technology stack Timothy D. Welsh, CFP, is president, CEO and
ity that comes with this asset class, he and were familiar with remote-working founder of Nexus Strategy, LLC, a consulting
is suggesting that advisors make a 1% arrangements sailed through the tran- firm to the wealth management industry and
allocation to digital assets and showed sition, while those who didn’t really can be reached at [email protected] or
the math as to how a small allocation struggled to survive.” on Twitter @NexusStrategy.

OCTOBER 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 13