Beacon Flash

Alan Moore is the CEO and Co-founder of AdvicePay, a platform that facilitates compliant payment processing for financial advisors offering fee-for-service financial planning. Under his leadership, AdvicePay has revolutionized how financial planners are compensated, addressing the limitations of traditional commission-based models and enabling scalable solutions for larger firms. As an advocate for fee-for-service financial plannin...

Chip Kispert is the Founder and Managing Partner of Beacon Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm that helps wealth management companies streamline operations and integrate technology solutions. With decades of experience in the financial services industry, Chip specializes in bridging the gap between wealth management firms and solution providers. He has led numerous initiatives and is the creator of Beacon’s exclusive roundtable seri...

Todd Cooper is the Chief Revenue Officer at TIFIN AG, which leverages artificial intelligence to enhance wealth management outcomes by providing data-driven solutions for client acquisition, retention, and growth. With extensive experience in the wealth management technology sector, Todd has played pivotal roles in launching innovative financial platforms and services at companies like Prudential, Envestnet, and LPL Financial. At T...

Pem Guerry is the Executive Vice President at SIGNiX, the largest provider of digital signatures in North America. He possesses a wide range of financial, marketing, and technology management experience in the private and public sectors. Previously, Pem served as Assistant Commissioner of finance and administration for Tennessee, where he managed the state’s overall technology resources. Before starting his career, he played on a p...

Patrick Hannon is the VP of SaaS Commercialization at Fidelity Labs, where he leverages his vast experience in financial technology to create and execute go-to-market strategies. With a history of positions at companies like Nitrogen (formerly known as Riskalyze) and Advicent (now part of InvestCloud), he offers a deep understanding of enterprise wealth management. Patrick values mentorship highly, helping young professionals in th...

Geoff Moore is the Chief Information Officer at Valmark Financial Group, a leader in the financial services industry since 1963, specializing in life insurance, equity, investment advisory, risk management, and retirement plan products for top financial advisors. With over 20 years of experience in financial services and technology, Geoff works to enhance operational efficiency and streamline processes at Valmark. He leads initiati...

Are you ready to peek into the future of wealth tech innovation? Buckle up, because our latest Beacon Flash podcast episode features none other than Michelle Feinstein, the esteemed Vice President and General Manager of Financial Services Group at Salesforce. She takes us on a thrilling journey, revealing the groundbreaking advancements at the recent Dreamforce event, including the cutting-edge Einstein Co-Pilot, an expanded data c...

In the latest Beacon Flash podcast episode, Frank and Beacon Strategies’ Managing Partner Chip Kispert discuss how longevity planning differs from traditional financial planning, the challenges it addresses, and the gap it fills.

Of course, longevity planning also presents challenges for advisors, and Frank explores how this new approach requires empathetic communication to resonate with clients. It’s about the importance ...

The most successful advisors know that the ever-evolving world of wealth management is a people-driven business. With investors entrusting their life savings to their advisors, strong relationships are key.

And for Aaron Klein, CEO of Nitrogen, simplifying complex financial concepts and guiding clients towards informed decision-making is a crucial part of building those relationships.

"Some of the most succes...

The conversation around AI keeps gaining momentum, and for today’s advisor, it’s something that can be tapped for a variety of uses. In the latest Beacon Flash podcast, we’re looking at one particular use – data collection.

CEO of Quik Forms Richard Walker joins Beacon Strategies’ Managing Partner Chip Kispert for a fascinating discussion on data management innovation and the evolving landscape of data gathering. Let’s fac...

The advisor-client relationship has evolved from the days of an annual face-to-face meeting. Today’s investors expect more communication, and more personalized communication, from their financial advisors, who are under pressure to be readily accessible, proactive and well informed at all times.

This is something that ReachStack’s CMO, Data Scientist, and Advisor Content Strategist Brendan Kenalty understands deeply. “We need to sca...

With the pace of innovation in financial services, today’s advisors have an array of tools at their fingertips. But using those tools in the right way to manage a client’s portfolio can be daunting. They’re looking for positive outcomes, manageable costs, and minimized risk.   

For Matt Radgowski, COO of Halo Investing, helping advisors and investors achieve their goals through the development of pioneering solutions is what drives ...

The advisor marketplace is in a state of flux. The question is, where is the market heading in this ever-changing ecosystem? And what trends should advisors be paying attention to the most?

It’s something that Ken Hullings, LPL Financial’s Executive VP of Enterprise Business Development, is in a prime position to speak about. Ken’s team takes a personal, consultative approach to helping wealth management executives and leaders to en...

In a piece of music, the bridge acts as a connector – true to its name – often bringing together the chorus and the verse.

For Sheryl O’Connor, professional musician turned CEO and founder of IncomeConductor, financial planning is the bridge in wealth management. “How do clients generate wealth through investing? And how do they use that wealth to meet their goals, which usually involve saving, spending, and passing that wealth on t...

Cybersecurity can keep us up at night. It’s always a major concern for advisors, even when you feel like you’ve done everything right to the best of your ability. It can feel like a never-ending battle. FINRA keeps the pressure on advisors to uphold the most rigorous cybersecurity protocols, but it isn’t just them. From your firm to your clients, everyone is hyper-focused on ensuring private financial data is always secure.

Fortunat...

Fintech and financial services marketing has always been Kelly Waltrich’s playground. 

From her days as a CMO at major players eMoney and Orion to her new role as co-founder and CEO of the marketing and growth engine design firm, Intention.ly, Kelly has not only seen the evolution of marketing in the financial services space, she’s helped to drive it. 

And what she’s seeing now, working with over 35 financial services and financial t...

A recent Fidelity Charitable study indicates that advisors who have added charitable giving to their suite of services have experienced 3x growth (approximately 30% more assets) than advisory practices that don’t offer charitable giving.

In a recent conversation on the Beacon Flash Podcast, Niharikah Shah, EVP, Chief Growth Officer at TIFIN Wealth told host and managing partner of Beacon Strategies, Chip Kispert, why she believes th...

Sid Yenamandra is no stranger to data complexities.

As the CEO and founder of Entreda, he’s spent more than a decade focused on helping advisors and broker-dealers navigate what he calls the ‘Wild West’ of cybersecurity and compliance. But still, he believes, the wealth management industry is only scratching the surface of its data management problem.

On a recent Beacon Flash Podcast episode, Beacon Strategies’ Managing Par...

With SEC and FINRA regulations constantly evolving and new, more sophisticated cyber threats emerging every day, cybersecurity and compliance are becoming increasingly top of mind for financial advisory firms.

On a recent Beacon Flash Podcast episode, Beacon Strategies’ Managing Partner Chip Kispert sat down with Aaron Spradlin, Chief Information Officer at United Planners, for a conversation about what it means to create ...