This month marks the seventh anniversary of the founding of Advisor Perspectives – and the release of our new service, APViewpoint. When I started this company, my goals were to provide actionable advice to wealth managers and to improve investor outcomes. Our newsletters were the first step toward those goals. APViewpoint now moves us faster and further to their fulfillment.
APViewpoint was conceived more than two years ago. At that time I noticed that many financial advisors – particularly those in larger practices – belonged to study groups. These groups allowed them to collaborate and share “best practices” about important aspects of their operations, including investment strategy, portfolio construction, fund evaluation and selection and other aspects of their practice, including marketing and client service.
But most advisors don’t belong to a study group, and those who do meet only a few times per year. APViewpoint offers a way for advisors to participate in an online community that enables them to enjoy the same “wisdom of the crowds” benefits that study-group members have been receiving.
We designed and built APViewpoint as a secure platform for advisors to participate in discussions and share insights on whatever topics are most important to their practices.
But it’s more than that. APViewpoint offers an opportunity to learn from the most respected thought leaders in the industry.
More than 35 leading thinkers in the advisor profession, including Bob Veres, Harold Evensky, Wade Pfau and Carl Richards, have agreed to lead and participate in APViewpoint discussions. You can view a full list of thought leaders here. We’ve selected these individuals because of the many contributions they’ve made to the advisory profession over many years.
We released a preliminary version of APViewpoint at the beginning of this year to test its functionality and gain feedback from advisors. It now has over 500 members and features a wide range of vibrant discussions. Many of the topics began as responses to articles and commentaries that appeared in Advisor Perspectives, such as a critique of GMO’s recently published research on retirement planning and questions about Michael Edesess’ articles (here and here) on the value of rebalancing.
To participate in these and other conversations, register as an APViewpoint member. Joining APViewpoint is free for advisors. Individual investors are not permitted, which eliminates the compliance issues that some advisors face.
For now, fund companies cannot participate either. They will be allowed to join in the future, and when they do, their comments will be clearly differentiated from those of advisors.
Feedback from the initial group of APViewpoint members has confirmed that we are indeed advancing toward my two goals – actionable advice for advisors and better investment outcomes for clients. Even if you are not inclined to participate in discussions and prefer to “lurk” and learn from others, I encourage you to join APViewpoint today.
Once you join, you will receive a daily email that lists activity in discussions that you are following. You can choose to follow individuals (including the 35+ thought leaders), asset classes, categories (such as portfolio construction or practice management) and specific funds. (For example, you can get notified whenever there is a discussion about the PIMCO Total Return Fund.)
We’ve created a video that explains the benefits of APViewpoint, which you can view here.
I encourage you to join APViewpoint and help us advance the advisory profession and achieve better results for your clients. I look forward to having you in our community.
