What are the Expectations of the NextGen Advisor?

Speaker: 00:00:01

Welcome to the Adjusted for Risk podcast.

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Join myself, Ryan Mallman, as I bring

together financial markets, investments,

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economics- Let's get started … wealth

management, and life to help investment

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professionals make sense of what's

happening and prepare for what's next in

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order to make more informed investment

decisions on behalf of their clients.

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This podcast is for informational

purposes only and should not be

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relied on for investment decisions.

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Welcome, everyone, to Zephyr's

Adjusted for Risk podcast.

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We are recording on location at the Wealth

Management Edge Conference in Boca Raton.

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It's been a great conference so far.

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Uh, great conversations, great

content, great insight, and we are

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just getting started as my next

conversation is gonna be great also.

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I'm really looking forward to it.

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There's been a big shift taking place

in wealth management space over the

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years, and it involves the next gen

financial advisor, and how they are

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changing the way firms do business,

service their clients, and service their

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financial advisors and support them.

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Well, I have on the perfect guest

to talk about this, the trends

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in the space, and so much more.

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But first, this episode is sponsored

by the award-winning Zephyr, which

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helps investment professionals

make more informed investment

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decisions on behalf of their clients.

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All right, enough from me.

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Let's go ahead and bring

on the star of this show.

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I'd like to give a very

warm welcome to Nate Lenz.

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Nate is the co-founder

and CEO of Concurrent.

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Nate, thank you so much

for coming on the podcast.

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Yeah.

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It's an honor to have you on.

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Second time.

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Second time.

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We were here- Two-part

guest … same location last year.

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Exactly.

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Um, it's an honor to have you on.

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Can you just tell us real quickly

again about yourself and Concurrent?

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Absolutely.

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Yeah, no, it's, it's

great to be back, Ryan.

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I appreciate you, uh, having me on again.

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So, um, at Concurrent, the way to

think of us, just in a nutshell, is

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we are a, a platform for and strategic

investor in independent wealth managers.

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And so we support financial advisors.

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Our role is to own the middle and back

office, keep them focused on their

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clients, uh, and be able to bring them

the scale and resources that a firm of

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our size can bring to the table, uh,

while allowing them to maintain, you know,

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autonomy and ownership of their business.

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And so think of us as a platform model.

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But with that, you know, we're supporting

now over, over 90 firms around the

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country, um, that are operating.

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Our core business, uh, is where the

advisors are under our ADV, so they're

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ac- acting as IARs of Concurrent.

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Um, but we've also, over the last

18 months, have, um, started to

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build a RI- what we call our RIA

Capital Partners business, as

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well as our Platform-as-a-Service.

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This is where we're working, making

minority investments in third-party

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RIAs, and then extending elements of

our platform to them on an a la carte

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basis as a service to support their

business, uh, and allow them to keep pace.

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And, and so, um, it's

been, it's been great, man.

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The growth has been great over the

last year since we talked last.

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But I think you've, you've touched on

a phenomenal point, which is, um, this,

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I'll call it declining supply of, of

financial advisors due to the aging

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demographics in the space paired with

the increasing demand, uh, for advice.

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And so I think we're at a really

interesting crossroads where being

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able to attract, uh, develop and

retain talent is going to be a key

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determining factor for success.

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So excited to dive into

that a little bit with you.

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Yeah, Nate, I agree completely.

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I think- There's some talks out there

that there's a lack of talent coming

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in from college, from universities.

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I tend to disagree.

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Or even if there is, I tell people,

if they listen to me, that it's

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a great opportunity right now.

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Like, if you, if you have an interest

in financial services, wealth

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management- It's huge … especially

if you're younger, um, you're

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probably in technology, you like

technology We're soon might be a

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technology-driven industry 100%.

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I mean, just looking out at the, uh,

exhibit hall here, you know, I think

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90% of the booths around us are, are

different technology companies, and it's

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awesome to see just the, the progress

that's being made and what's being

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created and, and how it's able to empower

advisors to do more for their clients.

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And it's, um, yeah, it's moving fast.

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So I do think, you know, the fact

that a lot of these recent college

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graduates, uh, have grown up in a

world where AI is a thing, and they're

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using it on a day-to-day basis, I

think the, the uptake of a lot of

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these new resources is gonna be much

faster, and so yeah, no doubt there's

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a huge opportunity for those folks.

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And they will be much better

positioned since they know AI.

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They're better at technology

than I am right now.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Because I- on some of the term,

it takes me forever to learn.

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It's like- Yeah … I'm still

just using a, uh, basic chat.

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Yep, yep But, um- It's,

uh- … it's fine It's good.

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We, we recently onboarded, um, kind

of an enterprise AI solution that's

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been, uh, it's been a game changer.

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So- Yeah … I was joking 'cause you

asked a little bit of my background,

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but before we launched Concurrent in

2016, um, I had previously ran the

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succession and acquisitions group at ReJ.

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So again, working with financial

advisors as they were looking to

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facilitate succession plans for their

business, whether internal or external.

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Um, so that's really where

I grew up in this space.

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So this, this topic hits close to home.

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Um, but when I left ReJ, I actually

left to start a consulting business,

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um, again, working in a very similar

capacity, um, just on my own.

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And, um, you know, I was joking, uh, with

one of our colleagues the other day, if

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these tools were available, I don't know

if Concurrent would exist because the

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ability to have a conversation, produce an

output, leveraging AI, leveraging the AI

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note takers, just so much more efficient.

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Yeah.

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So I might still be doing consulting-

… um, which is my first love, but I

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don't know if, uh, yeah, that's,

that's the jo- the running joke.

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So you bring up a really good point.

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Do you think people and firms-

Yeah … are a little bit too concerned

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about rather than thinking of it as an

opportunity- Mm-hmm … and leveraging

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AI, they focus too much on the negative,

like, "Oh my gosh, it's gonna flood

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for financial advisors, it's gonna

take over, and, and we're done"?

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Yeah.

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I mean, look, I, I don't think … You

start to think about this idea of a rising

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demand for advice, and you think about,

like, the generational wealth transfer,

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and, you know, I don't think … I do

think there are generational differences

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that are impacting the uptake of AI-like

solutions, and I do think it's not like

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all of the assets in this generational

wealth transfer are gonna go from

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baby boomers to millennials tomorrow.

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You know, you've got this dynamic

where you've got really a horizontal

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wealth transfer first, where it

goes to the surviving spouse.

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Then again, really the next generation

in play is Gen X I, I, so this idea

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that everyone is gonna prefer just

interfacing with, you know, with

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a ChatGPT-type solution to asking

questions about financial advice,

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I think is a little bit overblown.

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Like, I don't think we're

gonna see this massive shift.

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Um, it's similar to, like, the,

you know, again, like the TD

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Ameritrade, E-Trade stuff back in

the day, and then robo-advisors.

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There's … I know those are the common,

you know, um, connections, but I do

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think, like, at the end of the day,

this is a human-to-human business.

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We talk a lot about the fact

that it's really, it's people and

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technology paired together, and so

I think it's gonna be a huge win.

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And in fact, when you think about,

like, the independent financial

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advisor space, um, I think what

this does is it really allows more

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advisors to, to go independent,

to be able to do more with less.

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So I think you're gonna see people

talk about this, "Oh, there's gonna

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be this huge wave of unemployment.

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AI is coming for every job."

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I actually think this will create kind

of a, a boom of entrepreneurship, 'cause

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it's gonna be … it's gonna lower the

barriers to entry to be able to launch

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a business, and, and why would our

space be any different in that regard?

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So I'm, I'm bullish on it.

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I, I completely Uh, if you're not

bullish on it, then you're gonna be

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left behind- Exactly … I think.

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And- Exactly … and just use it.

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I don't … If it's, you know, a simple

chat, you know, agent- Sure … or

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something like that, or if you go all

in and it's more of a workflow- Yeah

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… piece, um … Because you know what I feel

is gonna happen is these younger clients,

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when the great wealth transfer- Yep

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trickles down- Yep … they're gonna go,

"Hey, advisor A, how are you using AI?"

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Yeah, yeah.

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And if you say no- Exactly.

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That's- Very- Exactly.

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'Cause they're gonna be using it, you

know- Yeah … in their day-to-day.

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Like, and so it's the … And they

see … I mean, it's been amazing

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to see the productivity gains, just

even of little things like, um,

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going through and creating, you know,

illustrations and proposals and, you know

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Again, going back to I'd still be

doing consulting if this existed

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10, 12 years ago, um, you know?

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And, and a lot of the work that we do,

because all of our firms are independent,

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they own their own businesses, they're

grappling with all of these issues.

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So it's, okay, how do I start to create

career paths for my junior people?

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How do I create paths to equity ownership?

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I'm thinking about, you know, selling

a portion of the business to them.

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How do I do that?

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Um, how do I create alignment?

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And so a lot of the work that

our team does with our firms is,

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is really heavy-duty consulting.

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It's, it's understanding what they're

trying to accomplish, uh, understanding

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what arrows we have in the quiver,

and then coming up with solutions that

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allow them to create that alignment

with their team members and, uh, and

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make sure that, you know, that they're

setting up their business to be durable

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and sustainable over the long term.

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Some of the things, like you go have

one of those conversations, we use

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our AI notetaker, you know, which

we use Ox as our primary tool there.

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Yeah.

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That, you take the transcript from that,

you dump it into Claude Enterprise.

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That'll create … You, you prompt

it for 10 minutes of like, "Here's

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all the thoughts I have on how to

construct this, and I want to pull in

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elements from this deal that we did

before and this deal," and it produces

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That's exactly what we need.

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So what would've taken … You

know, we'd have to call, you

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know, our outside legal counsel.

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This, like you could do that now in

15 minutes following a phone call.

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So I do think, uh, now if you think

about the parallel to that of an

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advisor working with their end

client, you know, that's having

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that has complex planning needs and

things of that nature, I just think

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it's going to, you know, rapidly

increase their ability to, um, expand

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the scope of what they can provide.

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Yeah.

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I completely agree.

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And I also think, too, it's gonna make

relationship building even more important.

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100%.

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'Cause a lot of that stuff, like

maybe the investment management,

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some financial planning- Mm

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it's gonna be commoditized-

Yeah … a little bit.

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Yeah.

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So being able to have relationships- 100%.

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That is, that is by far the biggest thing.

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Th- that human element

is what's irreplaceable.

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And, and again, you know, with

clients, this is, it's, it's their

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entire financial lives, right?

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That's what they're conversing

about, and that's what they're going

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and seeking guidance for, and I,

I have a hard time believing that

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that will be replaced by a computer.

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But, you know, one of the analogies that

I use a lot internally with our advisors

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is let's kind of break down what you

do on a scale of, like, one to five.

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Oversimplify it.

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One being, like, the most

reactive service-oriented stuff.

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You know, two is where you start to

get more proactive service-oriented,

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scheduling reviews, things of that nature.

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Three, you get into, um, like the planning

process, starting to put together the

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financial plan and gather the data

and investment research and trading.

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You know, and four is meet with clients,

and five is prospect for new ones.

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The problem is, I think historically,

most advisors have had to do

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steps one and a half to five.

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You know?

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00:11:42,179 --> 00:11:44,949

Um, we say, "Look, you should

really be focused on four and five."

222

00:11:45,309 --> 00:11:49,900

I think this will just, uh, further

enable that to be the case, um,

223

00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:52,310

where maybe we haven't had that,

that capability in the past.

224

00:11:52,802 --> 00:11:53,552

Completely agree.

225

00:11:53,562 --> 00:11:55,852

It'll be interesting to see it play out.

226

00:11:55,902 --> 00:11:59,872

I'm excited for it- Yeah … even

if a robot replaces me.

227

00:12:00,522 --> 00:12:02,792

I'm still, like, kind of excited

for it to see what happens.

228

00:12:02,792 --> 00:12:05,842

We've seen some of our colleagues

create, like, AI versions of themself.

229

00:12:05,842 --> 00:12:07,962

I haven't gone … You know, it's-

Yeah … our team hasn't created that yet.

230

00:12:08,092 --> 00:12:08,192

That'd be scary.

231

00:12:08,192 --> 00:12:10,801

I, I don't- I don- I don't know if

I'm ready for that one Yeah, I'm

232

00:12:10,802 --> 00:12:13,771

not … That's a r- I don't think

the world is ready for that one.

233

00:12:14,692 --> 00:12:20,112

Um, so, uh, what type of expectations do

next gen advisors have of their firms?

234

00:12:20,212 --> 00:12:24,722

How are those expectations of their firm

different than the older generations?

235

00:12:25,451 --> 00:12:25,801

Sure.

236

00:12:25,931 --> 00:12:29,662

Um, it's interesting, and I had the

opportunity to participate in a think tank

237

00:12:29,662 --> 00:12:33,801

yesterday here at the conference that was

really focused on next gen a- advisors.

238

00:12:33,811 --> 00:12:38,562

And what they had is they actually

had three, um, current students that

239

00:12:38,562 --> 00:12:43,851

are doing internships in financial

planning, um, that were on a panel and,

240

00:12:43,852 --> 00:12:47,092

and there was also some data, uh, that

they were, that they were utilizing

241

00:12:47,092 --> 00:12:49,011

from a survey of the FinServ Foundation.

242

00:12:49,011 --> 00:12:50,821

And, and it was interesting

'cause what we were

243

00:12:51,052 --> 00:12:56,411

What I was surprised by was kind of our

perception versus their reality in terms

244

00:12:56,411 --> 00:13:00,192

of, like, what they're looking for in a

firm and what, what's important to them.

245

00:13:00,392 --> 00:13:04,501

And, you know, you start to look at

things like mentorship is, like, top of

246

00:13:04,502 --> 00:13:06,931

the list, and, you know, remote work.

247

00:13:07,352 --> 00:13:09,411

You would've thought that there's

this huge push for remote work.

248

00:13:09,451 --> 00:13:10,872

They're like, "No, we wanna be in office."

249

00:13:10,932 --> 00:13:14,991

Yeah, that was, like, very low priority,

was remote work opportunities, and on

250

00:13:14,991 --> 00:13:17,662

the panel they even made the comment

of, like, "No, we want to be in office.

251

00:13:17,662 --> 00:13:20,831

We want the opportunity to network

and to learn and so forth."

252

00:13:20,852 --> 00:13:24,772

So it's interesting 'cause I think

there is a, like, stereotype of, like,

253

00:13:24,791 --> 00:13:28,461

oh, the next generation is afraid

of sales and, you know, they're not

254

00:13:28,462 --> 00:13:30,351

motivated and, and they're entitled.

255

00:13:30,352 --> 00:13:33,031

And it's like, I, I think what

you're seeing and, and what we're

256

00:13:33,032 --> 00:13:36,211

hearing in these conversations

is that's really not the case.

257

00:13:36,241 --> 00:13:38,411

They're not afraid to,

to roll up their sleeves.

258

00:13:38,761 --> 00:13:43,711

Now, I do think, um, you know, our

industry has done a poor job of, I

259

00:13:43,741 --> 00:13:47,972

think, bringing folks, finding that

talent and bringing it into the space.

260

00:13:48,311 --> 00:13:50,821

You know, one of the things that

we've been really focused on that's

261

00:13:50,822 --> 00:13:54,081

been a great source of hiring for

us has been our internship program.

262

00:13:54,572 --> 00:13:58,942

So we just had, uh, 10 interns start,

uh, mid-May, uh, in our office in

263

00:13:58,942 --> 00:14:03,761

Tampa, and then, um, we've also

opened up … We do, with that

264

00:14:03,761 --> 00:14:05,492

internship, it's a 10-week program.

265

00:14:05,871 --> 00:14:09,612

Um, we do a week of kind of training,

which is more get to know Concurrent,

266

00:14:09,642 --> 00:14:12,051

understand the firm, all the different

parts, how do we make money, what's

267

00:14:12,052 --> 00:14:15,041

the, you know, what's the business

model and so forth, and then they're

268

00:14:15,052 --> 00:14:17,992

broken into their individual departments

that they've been hired into.

269

00:14:18,472 --> 00:14:22,851

What we've done has been very intentional

about the departments that participate

270

00:14:22,892 --> 00:14:27,445

in that they have to have a full-time

opportunity available And so for us,

271

00:14:27,445 --> 00:14:30,665

this is really like a 10-week extended

interview to get to know these people.

272

00:14:31,146 --> 00:14:34,386

Um, and, and so what we found is

that it's been a great way for us

273

00:14:34,386 --> 00:14:37,575

to get to know them, them to get to

know us and the business, and decide

274

00:14:37,575 --> 00:14:39,736

if this could be a good long-term

fit, and we've made some really good

275

00:14:39,746 --> 00:14:41,305

hires over the last couple of years.

276

00:14:41,656 --> 00:14:42,606

But in order to…

277

00:14:42,606 --> 00:14:45,955

So those 10 applicants, we had, we had

over 300 applicants for those 10 spots.

278

00:14:46,445 --> 00:14:49,635

But that was a result

of us going on campus.

279

00:14:49,675 --> 00:14:51,875

And so, you know, we've

been, like, within our…

280

00:14:51,876 --> 00:14:54,776

We're based in Tampa, so we've

got the University of Tampa

281

00:14:54,776 --> 00:14:56,055

right across the, the river.

282

00:14:56,356 --> 00:14:58,756

We've got University of

South Florida close by.

283

00:14:58,876 --> 00:15:01,215

Um, University of Florida,

we've built a good relationship

284

00:15:01,215 --> 00:15:02,655

with their planning program.

285

00:15:03,055 --> 00:15:07,865

But, you know, we had members of our

team going on campus, doing career

286

00:15:07,865 --> 00:15:09,255

fairs, doing things like that.

287

00:15:09,255 --> 00:15:12,725

So I think it's one of those things where

it's not that the talent's not out there.

288

00:15:12,775 --> 00:15:13,025

There's…

289

00:15:13,085 --> 00:15:13,856

It's out there.

290

00:15:14,185 --> 00:15:17,736

Um, one of my football coaches in college

used to always, I think it was a John

291

00:15:17,736 --> 00:15:20,845

Wooden quote that he stole it from, but

it's, it's not difficult, but it's hard.

292

00:15:21,175 --> 00:15:21,435

You know?

293

00:15:21,435 --> 00:15:22,415

It's not complex.

294

00:15:22,435 --> 00:15:22,775

There's not…

295

00:15:22,786 --> 00:15:24,646

It's not rocket science to

figure out where to find it,

296

00:15:24,646 --> 00:15:25,756

but you have to go do it.

297

00:15:26,545 --> 00:15:29,425

And so I think that's what we've

found, um, a high degree of success,

298

00:15:29,425 --> 00:15:32,996

and it's led to some phenomenal

hires over the last few years, uh,

299

00:15:33,006 --> 00:15:34,886

across a variety of our departments.

300

00:15:35,165 --> 00:15:40,516

But, a- and Nate, to that point

too, if it was easy- Mm-hmm

301

00:15:40,516 --> 00:15:40,996

everybody would do it.

302

00:15:41,455 --> 00:15:41,925

Exactly.

303

00:15:42,065 --> 00:15:42,335

Right?

304

00:15:42,415 --> 00:15:43,835

So I love what you guys are doing.

305

00:15:44,125 --> 00:15:46,305

I'm a firm believer in, in education.

306

00:15:46,635 --> 00:15:51,575

I remember when I got into the

industry, Nate, years and years

307

00:15:51,576 --> 00:15:54,286

ago, out of college, uh, it was…

308

00:15:54,425 --> 00:15:56,395

I, my first job was at Piper Jaffray.

309

00:15:56,615 --> 00:15:56,875

Okay.

310

00:15:56,875 --> 00:16:00,995

A prominent regional brokerage

firm in, in Minnesota, and

311

00:16:00,995 --> 00:16:02,315

they used to do a university.

312

00:16:03,076 --> 00:16:03,226

Yeah.

313

00:16:03,226 --> 00:16:03,746

A Piper University.

314

00:16:04,175 --> 00:16:04,445

Okay.

315

00:16:04,465 --> 00:16:09,774

So they bring on 20 local, uh,

recent grads- Mm-hmm … and they

316

00:16:09,774 --> 00:16:12,194

would do a three-month university.

317

00:16:12,444 --> 00:16:14,223

Everything that you need to know.

318

00:16:14,223 --> 00:16:14,454

Yep.

319

00:16:14,894 --> 00:16:17,114

And I don't see that happening very often.

320

00:16:17,824 --> 00:16:18,813

You guys are doing that at Concurrent.

321

00:16:18,834 --> 00:16:19,014

Mm.

322

00:16:19,414 --> 00:16:19,634

Yep.

323

00:16:19,644 --> 00:16:22,533

Um, may- you know, maybe

more firms need to do that.

324

00:16:23,244 --> 00:16:23,574

Yeah.

325

00:16:23,604 --> 00:16:26,784

And it's not, to, to your point,

like, we do weekly lunch and learns.

326

00:16:26,784 --> 00:16:30,523

What we've also done is we've opened

up tho- that week of training, as

327

00:16:30,523 --> 00:16:33,263

well as the weekly sessions that we

do with all of our department heads

328

00:16:33,293 --> 00:16:37,054

over the course of the summer, to all

of our advisor offices in the field.

329

00:16:37,174 --> 00:16:40,223

So any of our advisor offices that

are bringing on interns, we're

330

00:16:40,223 --> 00:16:44,093

supporting them with job descriptions

and, and being able to, to help them

331

00:16:44,364 --> 00:16:45,814

connect with local universities.

332

00:16:45,824 --> 00:16:48,623

But let's say they do decide to

hire an intern, they're also able

333

00:16:48,623 --> 00:16:49,893

to put them into our program.

334

00:16:50,024 --> 00:16:53,073

So they'll send them down to Tampa for

the week of training, they'll participate

335

00:16:53,074 --> 00:16:56,333

virtually on all of those weekly calls,

and we've kind of created a curriculum

336

00:16:56,343 --> 00:16:57,593

for them over the course of the summer.

337

00:16:57,963 --> 00:17:00,123

Um, so I think that there's,

you know, there's the training

338

00:17:00,123 --> 00:17:01,383

element of that program.

339

00:17:01,553 --> 00:17:05,223

One of the things that we've also found

to be pretty successful is, you know,

340

00:17:05,623 --> 00:17:10,242

as a, as a full-time opportunity with

Concurrent, we've created a 18-month

341

00:17:10,262 --> 00:17:15,073

operational rotation, where the new

hire would spend six months on our

342

00:17:15,073 --> 00:17:18,414

transition team, six months on our

base camp team, which is like custodial

343

00:17:18,414 --> 00:17:22,354

ops, and six months on our central

operations and planning team, and get

344

00:17:22,363 --> 00:17:26,262

kind of a diverse experience across

those operational departments, uh,

345

00:17:26,262 --> 00:17:30,113

which lays a, a really good foundation

no matter where they ultimately land.

346

00:17:30,473 --> 00:17:33,803

'Cause I think at the end of the day,

and we saw this in the panel as well,

347

00:17:34,173 --> 00:17:37,133

I do think there is a reluctance,

especially for some of the recent

348

00:17:37,134 --> 00:17:40,503

grads coming out, to be kind of

handed the phone book, you know?

349

00:17:40,513 --> 00:17:43,683

Like, that, that was always how a lot

of our advisors grew up in the business.

350

00:17:43,683 --> 00:17:44,393

In the bullpen.

351

00:17:44,433 --> 00:17:46,454

In the bullpen, smiling

and dialing, right?

352

00:17:46,463 --> 00:17:46,483

Yeah.

353

00:17:46,884 --> 00:17:51,023

Um, I think there's an aversion to that

which contributes to this feeling of,

354

00:17:51,024 --> 00:17:52,514

oh, they might be entitled or so forth.

355

00:17:52,873 --> 00:17:57,274

But I think really what it, it is,

is it's a, you've got to instill

356

00:17:57,274 --> 00:18:01,474

confidence in them, and they're

gonna gain confidence through gaining

357

00:18:01,474 --> 00:18:05,483

competency, and that's only gonna

come through apprenticeship-style

358

00:18:05,493 --> 00:18:09,273

programs and getting kind of, you

know, live action opportunities.

359

00:18:09,333 --> 00:18:14,014

So I think finding ways to facilitate

allows them to establish that level

360

00:18:14,014 --> 00:18:17,313

of confidence in those, you know,

client interactions, which then gives

361

00:18:17,313 --> 00:18:20,884

them the confidence to make them

effective ultimately at prospecting

362

00:18:20,884 --> 00:18:21,953

and, and business development.

363

00:18:21,953 --> 00:18:22,953

Nate, that's awesome.

364

00:18:22,964 --> 00:18:24,673

So how do you…

365

00:18:25,153 --> 00:18:26,913

Mentorship is a big one.

366

00:18:27,303 --> 00:18:27,323

Mm-hmm.

367

00:18:27,324 --> 00:18:31,169

Are there other things that you guys

are using that- Maybe other firms

368

00:18:31,300 --> 00:18:32,980

that are attracting the next gen.

369

00:18:33,020 --> 00:18:34,310

Is it technology?

370

00:18:34,699 --> 00:18:37,620

You know, "Hey, we've got a cool

tech stack, we're leveraging AI."

371

00:18:38,179 --> 00:18:40,059

Is that, like, uh, some types attractive?

372

00:18:40,169 --> 00:18:44,770

You said office and office- Yeah … are

there any, is there anything you

373

00:18:44,770 --> 00:18:45,999

guys are doing to attract them?

374

00:18:45,999 --> 00:18:46,204

Yeah.

375

00:18:46,204 --> 00:18:50,039

I don't know if technology per

se is necessarily an attractant.

376

00:18:50,189 --> 00:18:52,399

Like, I think in a lot of ways

that's kind of table stakes.

377

00:18:52,409 --> 00:18:55,179

You know, a lot of- Yeah … a lot

of the … If you're in that kind of

378

00:18:55,179 --> 00:18:59,449

upper echelon, um, you know, of, of

firms, like, that's almost a given,

379

00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,719

'cause you're gonna have a good tech

stack and you're investing in that.

380

00:19:01,770 --> 00:19:03,490

Um, you have to, to keep pace.

381

00:19:03,969 --> 00:19:06,799

I do think, you know, that

culture of mentorship's important.

382

00:19:06,859 --> 00:19:10,939

I think another piece is

understanding a clear career path.

383

00:19:11,350 --> 00:19:14,609

So them being able to come in and

say, "Okay, hey, I understand where

384

00:19:14,609 --> 00:19:18,760

I'm starting, but then ultimately,

what are my options, and how

385

00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,199

do I grow in the role, and what

milestones am I expecting to hit?"

386

00:19:22,699 --> 00:19:27,179

Um, I, I do think being able to

lay that out clearly is, is an

387

00:19:27,179 --> 00:19:29,819

important element, 'cause then

they have very clear expectations,

388

00:19:29,859 --> 00:19:31,469

um, of, of where they're going.

389

00:19:32,030 --> 00:19:37,149

And then, um, the … You know, I would

say that the mentorship piece, you wanna

390

00:19:37,159 --> 00:19:40,620

have some structure around it, but also

you don't want it to be overly structured.

391

00:19:40,710 --> 00:19:45,249

And, and what we've found is that we've

also created mentorships opportunities,

392

00:19:45,259 --> 00:19:48,849

not just at like, with, like, senior

management level people, but also maybe

393

00:19:48,850 --> 00:19:51,660

someone that's a year ahead of them,

that's kind of walked in their shoes,

394

00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:56,220

that's more of a peer than necessarily

a manager, but they're ask- able to

395

00:19:56,220 --> 00:19:58,669

ask really candid questions of how

have you dealt with these things,

396

00:19:58,669 --> 00:19:59,549

and how have you gone through it?

397

00:19:59,549 --> 00:20:02,819

And so creating kind of a loose

structure, but then really creating

398

00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:06,320

an environment where they can have

really candid conversations with

399

00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,669

someone that's, you know, relatively

a peer, um, I think has been, uh, an

400

00:20:10,669 --> 00:20:14,189

impactful way where they can feel really

comfortable and, and get some of the

401

00:20:14,189 --> 00:20:16,059

guidance they need to, to really excel.

402

00:20:16,499 --> 00:20:19,249

I love that bec- And it ties it all back.

403

00:20:19,759 --> 00:20:25,129

Nate, we were talking about technology,

AI, you said it wasn't really the

404

00:20:25,129 --> 00:20:29,949

biggest factor in it, but what is gonna

be a driving factor moving forward just

405

00:20:29,969 --> 00:20:33,249

for success of firms is relationships.

406

00:20:33,460 --> 00:20:34,220

100%.

407

00:20:35,020 --> 00:20:36,170

And that's exactly what you're

talking about with that- Yeah

408

00:20:36,219 --> 00:20:39,029

mentorship and aligning them with

the peers, that relationship.

409

00:20:39,029 --> 00:20:44,379

And because a lot of things you can

learn, relationship building is- Yeah

410

00:20:47,860 --> 00:20:48,440

Six years Exactly.

411

00:20:49,430 --> 00:20:49,930

100%.

412

00:20:50,330 --> 00:20:52,050

Nate, awesome conversation.

413

00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:52,450

Yeah.

414

00:20:52,450 --> 00:20:52,879

Really fun.

415

00:20:52,879 --> 00:20:54,879

I always enjoy talking to you.

416

00:20:54,879 --> 00:20:55,060

Absolutely.

417

00:20:55,060 --> 00:20:56,220

Seeing you at the Edge.

418

00:20:57,879 --> 00:20:58,749

I thank you again.

419

00:20:58,890 --> 00:21:00,759

Where can our audience get more

information about Concurrent?

420

00:21:01,439 --> 00:21:03,650

Yeah, yeah, poweredbyconcurrent.com,

421

00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:08,430

uh, or my individual LinkedIn page, Nate

Lenz, uh, our corporate LinkedIn page.

422

00:21:08,449 --> 00:21:11,450

Uh, any of those resources are a

great place to learn a little bit

423

00:21:11,450 --> 00:21:12,890

more about the Concurrent platform.

424

00:21:12,930 --> 00:21:17,439

Um, and, uh, and yeah, I'm excited, uh,

to participate on the panel later today

425

00:21:17,439 --> 00:21:20,719

on this exact topic, so it was a good,

uh, practice run- Yes … you know, to be

426

00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:21,130

able to get some of my talking points out.

427

00:21:21,130 --> 00:21:21,210

I don't think you need practice, Nate.

428

00:21:22,020 --> 00:21:23,899

You're, you're, you're a pro.

429

00:21:23,899 --> 00:21:24,116

You got it.

430

00:21:24,116 --> 00:21:24,580

You got it.

431

00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:25,550

Awesome.

432

00:21:25,679 --> 00:21:25,799

Awesome.

433

00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:27,189

Well, thank you, Nate.

434

00:21:27,559 --> 00:21:27,609

Yeah.

435

00:21:27,609 --> 00:21:27,899

Thanks, Ryan.

436

00:21:27,899 --> 00:21:30,369

And thank you everyone for listening

to this episode of Zephyr's

437

00:21:30,589 --> 00:21:31,329

Adjust Your Periscope podcast.

438

00:21:31,949 --> 00:21:36,149

You can watch all of our other episodes

on the Zephyr YouTube channel, Spotify,

439

00:21:36,149 --> 00:21:38,009

wherever else you get your podcasts.

440

00:21:38,719 --> 00:21:40,959

Thank you very much, and have

a great rest of your week

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