Ryan Nauman hosts Zephyr’s Adjusted for Risk podcast and welcomes Shannon Rosic, Director of WealthStack Content and Solutions at Informa Connect and host of the WealthStack podcast, to discuss how advisors can get the most out of industry conferences, including Wealth Management Edge (June 9–11 in Boca Raton). Rosic explains WealthStack’s role in helping advisors cut through the growing WealthTech landscape and emphasizes the importance of advisor experience with technology. They explore how conferences have evolved from information delivery to community, hands-on learning, and serendipitous connections, and Rosic shares strategies to maximize ROI by planning ahead, prioritizing meaningful conversations, and following up afterward. Rosic also highlights key wealth management trends including AI implementation, advisor efficiency, personalization at scale, and increased niche specialization among advisors.

Learn more about Zephyr here.

Learn more about Wealth Management Edge here.

Learn more about Wealth Management here.

00:00 Welcome and Sponsor

01:19 Meet Shannon Rosic

03:55 Wealth Tech Noise and Advisor Experience

06:16 Memorable Interviews and Gadget Girl

09:43 How Conferences Have Evolved

14:18 Why Attend in Volatile Markets 18:03 Wealth Management Edge Highlights

22:19 Conference ROI Plan and Follow Up

23:29 Top Trends AI Efficiency Personalization

27:09 CTO Think Tanks and AI Reality

29:49 Wrap Up and Where to Find More

Connect with Ryan Nauman: LinkedIn

Let's go.

2

Ryan Nauman Market Strategist Zephyr:

Welcome everyone to zephyr's

3

Adjusted for Risk podcast.

4

This is Brian Nauman, the market

strategist here at Zephyr.

5

As you all probably know, the investment

management conference season is upon us.

6

It seems like there are conferences

almost every week now from industry-wide

7

conferences to user conferences.

8

You name it.

9

One of my personal favorites is the

Wealth Management Edge Conference, which

10

is kicking off June 9th through the

11th in beautiful Boca Ratta in Florida.

11

Well, I have on a very special

guest to discuss how participants.

12

Can get the most OUTTA conferences,

the upcoming Edge conference,

13

and some of the trends impacting

the wealth management space.

14

But before we get started, this episode

is sponsored by the award-winning Zephyr,

15

which helps investment professionals

make more informed investment

16

decisions on behalf of their clients.

17

All right.

18

Enough for me.

19

I've already talked enough.

20

Let's move on to the star of the show.

21

My guest, she doesn't need

much of an introduction.

22

She is the Gold Stander for Podcasting

Conference, host a wealth of knowledge

23

within the industry, but here it is.

24

Anyways, I'd like to

welcome Shannon Rossick.

25

Shannon is the director of Wolf

Stack Content and Solutions at

26

Informa Connect, which also includes.

27

Management.

28

She is also host of the very

popular Wealth Stack podcast.

29

Shannon, thank you so much for

coming on the show and taking time

30

outta your very busy schedule.

31

It's such an honor to have you on.

32

Can you please tell us a little bit

more about yourself and Wealth Stack?

33

Shannon Rosic Director of WealthStack Content and Solutions Informa Connect:

Absolutely thank you so much for having

34

me on Ryan It's always still weird for me

be on the other side of the mic since I'm

35

the one used to interviewing people So I

appreciate you taking the time to talk a

36

little bit about my background and edge

and all things well stack so I can give

37

the high level cause I always joke that I

certainly have the fun job albeit a very

38

busy one cause I sit at the intersection

of technology advisors and storytelling if

39

you will It's what the heck does that mean

with my title Probably doesn't explain

40

totally what I do but it essentially means

that I'm responsible for helping advisors

41

understand how tech is really reshaping

their businesses and what tools actually

42

matter and help them cut through the

noise right now Because as that kite's

43

FinTech map has close to 500 providers

on it A lot of shiny objects out there

44

but what actually matters So been at this

for gosh it's scary say now 10 10 plus

45

years and through the well stack Brand

we produce content like like you said the

46

Well Stack podcast and research You'll

see me running around to various industry

47

conferences doing video interviews and

just general technology programming at

48

events like Wealth Management Edge So

really the goal is pretty simple wealth

49

management has exploded with technology

over the last decade or so And with the

50

thousands of solutions out there advisors

are constantly being pitched new platforms

51

tools and solutions Look at Wells Stack

as maybe the translation layer between

52

WealthTech builders and the advisors who

have to run their businesses every day So

53

I get to talk to founders CTOs advisors

and operators who are truly building

54

the future of advice and then we try to

translate those insights into practical

55

takeaways for advisors So I would say

my unofficial job title is probably

56

more professional Curiosity engine than

anything because I just get to ask a

57

lot of questions on behalf of advisors

58

Ryan: Yeah.

59

I love it.

60

Shannon.

61

I often say that too, is like, I

have interviewing great people.

62

Like the, the guests are fantastic.

63

I, I just ask questions and get the list.

64

You, you are so right

about that technology map.

65

I, I'm gonna age myself here.

66

When I started in the industry 20 years

ago, Michael, he, I don't know if you

67

really started it then, but I remember

looking at it and there was a few

68

names in each section, a couple here

called, now it's like I get a headache.

69

When I look at those, it is like over,

you know, just the changing of it.

70

All the startups.

71

Shannon Rosic: So rapidly and people

always complain that wealth management

72

finance is behind other industries And

while it's true now with the advent of AI

73

and the proliferation of all the solutions

we're seeing there things are changing

74

So gosh dang fast And I think we're gonna

see this of ebbs and flows right We're

75

gonna we've seen the explosion but now

we're gonna Hopefully maybe go into more

76

of a consolidation period because how many

solutions can there actually be out there

77

Ryan: Exactly, and, and it makes

and makes your role and the people

78

at Wealth Stack so important.

79

Just, you know, kind of being that

middle person to help financial

80

advisors understand like all

the different options out there.

81

Give those options and vendors a platform.

82

'cause if I was a financial advisor,

everything that they have to go through,

83

you know, just on the investment

management side, technology side, building

84

a tech stack, just I can't imagine

everything and staying on top of it,

85

It's felt.

86

Shannon Rosic: advisors to

wear so many hats now as a

87

technologist as a life coach as

88

Ryan: Yeah.

89

Shannon Rosic: finance coach So there's so

many things we're asking of them And it's

90

funny because my latest podcast episode

that I just did with the CTO of Smar we

91

got into that The problem is actually

more around the advisor Experience with

92

technology cause a lot of folks will step

into their role and they're forced to use

93

whatever their firm has or some legacy

platforms and systems that just don't talk

94

to each other well And so it's more it's

while it's so important obviously to keep

95

the client at the center of everything

I think a lot of people forget that it's

96

also about the advisor experience at the

end of the day because that ultimately

97

ladders up to the client experience

98

Ryan: Yeah, you're exactly right.

99

In a more efficient advisor,

happier advisor, I think would

100

trickle down to the end client to

investor, which is most important.

101

You've talked, mentioned some

of the big names that you've

102

had on CTOs, CEOs, you name it.

103

You've had the pleasure of interviewing

some of the biggest names in wealth

104

management, but also sports stars and

like the Dolphins former head coach, Mike

105

McDaniel, quarterback Alex Smith, who have

been your favorite people to interview

106

or maybe your most memorable interviews.

107

Shannon Rosic: Gosh I would actually love

to count up the how many interviews I've

108

done over the years It's gotta be in the

thousands at this point which is amazing

109

and I'm so grateful for but like you said

very selfishly I got to Interview Alex

110

Smith the former chiefs quarterback at

Edge last year And as a Chiefs fan it

111

took everything in me not to fan girl all

over that stage but he was an incredible

112

speaker and just a humble genuine person

So I had to tamp down being starstruck a

113

little bit to to get through that one So

that is a highlight for me And my parents

114

got to sit front row for that one and

meet him after So for me that's just an

115

absolute core memory We took a family

phone It looks like we could have used

116

it For the family Christmas card and I'm

regretting that we didn't for that one

117

Ryan: You still can.

118

Shannon Rosic: I'm like who needs to know

if that was last year exactly It's just

119

a really good picture too Mike McDaniel

was certainly a highlight for me like you

120

said the former coach of Miami Dolphins we

were actually his first speaking gig ever

121

And he was exactly like how he is at press

conferences What is what you get But I'm

122

hoping that maybe we weren't a distraction

considering how unfortunately that all

123

turned out for him in this last season but

I would say within the industry My what

124

I call og FinTech founders have always

been some of my favorite interviews So

125

the likes of Brian McLaughlin of Redtail

and now he just launched Machi Aaron

126

Klein of Riskalyze turned nitrogen and

now he's the founder of coneo Eric Clark

127

former CEO of Orion And just getting to

hear from the founders who are building

128

the tools that have always have just been

a highlight for me and these are folks

129

that are just constant entrepreneurs and

continuous builders Now that they've all

130

built launch sold and now they're onto

their second iterations it's just fun to

131

see that evolution and see those folks

stay within the industry and just continue

132

to build to help to help folks And I

would say my other memorable interviews

133

are probably from my Gadget Girl days

that investment news where I would dress

134

up in Purple trench coat in Fedora think

Carmen San Diego meets Inspector Gadget

135

And I would get under the hood with these

wealth tech firms and try to explain it

136

in these campy educational fun ways I

did crazy things like rent taco trucks

137

to describe data aggregation or Scale

red Rocks talk about annuities whatever

138

creative concept I could come up with like

that was such a highlight for me because

139

no one else was doing that And I anyone

that knows me knows I love to be creative

140

So if you give me that rope to run with

it I will take it as far as I possibly can

141

Ryan: I love it.

142

I think you should go back, take

clips of those and like kind of

143

like what, where, where you were and

where you are now over the years.

144

That would be.

145

Shannon Rosic: Grandma now Not

146

Ryan: yeah,

147

Shannon Rosic: We could

show her evolution too

148

Ryan: I love it.

149

I completely agree with, it's so

much fun talking and picking the

150

brains of some of the, like you

said, the visionaries of this space.

151

For me, I talk more with the, on

the investment management side,

152

but some of the brightest minds and

investment management, very rarely

153

do other people get that opportunity.

154

And you just love it.

155

And just, like I said,

just sit there and listen

156

Shannon Rosic: There's a reason why

we have two ears in one mouth right

157

Ryan: Yeah, exactly.

158

Listening's.

159

Very important.

160

From what I've been told,

listening is very important.

161

You know, going back to

conferences, it's evolved.

162

The whole conference scene so

much before, again, aging myself.

163

When I started 20 years ago, this is

how I really got started with Zephyr.

164

Zephyr used to do a client, a user

conference up in Tahoe, and I was a user.

165

I went to their client conference

and it was, it was a party.

166

It was a party.

167

It was afterwards, I was sitting on

the shores of the Lake, lake Tahoe.

168

I'd never been there.

169

I called my dad.

170

I was like, dad, lake Tahoe's amazing.

171

This place, this company,

it's start up so much fun.

172

Maybe someday I'll work

there and live in Lake Tahoe.

173

Well, about 15 years

later, yeah, there I am.

174

But now it's like Edge and all

these other con, they are events.

175

They're events.

176

Three days jam packed,

the content and stuff.

177

Can you tell us a little bit

more about that evolution?

178

Shannon Rosic: Absolutely like you

said conferences have certainly changed

179

dramatically over the last decade alone

and especially when we all had to pivot

180

back in the COVID days when virtual and

then people were just clamoring to be

181

back in person And historically like

you said most Conferences were either

182

user conferences investor conferences

you sat in the ballroom listened to

183

some presentations maybe you picked

up a tote bag and went home with a

184

few slides like That's where kind of

it it all is the basis around around

185

that but today the reality is that

186

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

advisors or conference attendees they

187

can get information anywhere whether it's

podcasts webinars LinkedIn newsletters

188

information is abundant in today's

day and age Naturally conferences had

189

to evolve from information delivery

really to experience and connection

190

Shannon Rosic: And and this is just my

opinion but the best events now focus

191

I would say on three things First being

community and we try to highlight that

192

extensively with edge because the end

of the day advisors want to meet other

193

advisors who are solving similar problems

They want to hear from the visionaries

194

within this space They want to have

that peer-to-peer connection look around

195

the room and say okay phew I'm not

the only one dealing with this let's

196

hear from my peers about what they're

doing to solve for these challenges So

197

I think community's number one I would

say really that hands-on learning Again

198

it's not while slides are great it's

199

Ryan: Yeah.

200

Shannon Rosic: about that anymore It's

the demos it's the workshops it's the

201

small group discussions It's the closed

door discussions It's the think tanks and

202

now you're seeing conferences even push

things like especially around ai advisors

203

are looking for education around this and

it's as basic as learn teaching them how

204

to prompt So you're starting to see a lot

more of that hands-on learning which I'm

205

very encouraged by because that's what

folks want If you're gonna step outta

206

the office take time out of your day you

want to have That time space to be able

207

to actually focus on those things that

you want to do and not just have to have

208

information spewed at you so I think the

hands-on learning is another part And then

209

third maybe this is I think it's important

but I would say it's really around

210

serendipity because Some of the most

valuable moments at conferences they're

211

happening in the hallways or over coffee

or at that cocktail hour when people

212

share what's actually working inside their

firms they're willing to be a bit more

213

open and candid in those kind of I it's

funny I'm stealing this term recently

214

from The nitrogen Fearless Investing Con

conference but those catalyst moments

215

right So you can't have those unless you

are in person creating that experience for

216

people So I think that's really the shift

the conferences while content is extremely

217

important it's not just about that anymore

It's about creating the environments where

218

ideas just move faster between people

219

Ryan: Yeah, Shannon, that's fantastic.

220

I love that you brought up too,

and I, I haven't thought about

221

this before, conferences before.

222

That's where you got your information.

223

That's where you now like if I'm want to.

224

Get thoughts of Michael Kitche.

225

I just go on his podcast,

listen to his podcast, right?

226

So you gotta make conferences,

you know, more than just content.

227

'cause content now is

driving the industry.

228

So it's interesting you brought that up

and, and I completely agree with you.

229

Most people, I'm from Wisconsin.

230

I like my beer, I like my cocktail.

231

Cocktail hours are fantastic, right?

232

That's where I, you know,

meet most of the people.

233

Shannon Rosic: yeah

234

Ryan: Everyone's open ideas and like

you said, at lunch or at co you know,

235

getting a cup of coffee content.

236

The sessions are great, but that's really

where you can meet people and just learn

237

what your, what your peers are doing.

238

Shannon Rosic: Exactly

239

Ryan: So, all right.

240

You know, we, there's a lot of things

that, like you said, financial advisors,

241

they have to wear many different hats.

242

And right now there's all, you know,

the crisis, everything going on

243

in the investment management space

and markets, and, and we know more,

244

you know, more than anything that.

245

Financial advisors, they are.

246

It's all about communication

with their clients.

247

You know, very rarely do clients.

248

There's studies out there.

249

Very rarely do their clients

leave a financial advisor

250

because of underperformance.

251

It's all about communication.

252

So when communication is so

important, what do you tell advisors?

253

That, you know, they're really busy.

254

They don't have time to

go to a conference maybe.

255

'cause they have to

communicate with clients.

256

They have to stay in touch with clients.

257

What do you tell them when there's

that uncertainty and communication

258

is so important to take away.

259

Take time away from that

and go to a conference.

260

Shannon Rosic: Are things

volatile Again I didn't know

261

Ryan: Shannon, I know you're in Colorado.

262

You, where are you?

263

Yeah.

264

Shannon Rosic: No e even outside

of the bubble in all seriousness

265

especially in uncertain markets I think

266

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

conference has become even more valuable

267

because when markets are volatile or

things are going on advisors are having

268

more conversations like you said more

planning discussions making more of those

269

strategic decisions but being able to

step away for a few days and hear how

270

other firms are navigating those same

challenges I think is incredibly valuable

271

because conferences also provide context

when you're inside of your own firm's

272

day to day it's so easy to get that

tunnel vision But I would argue that

273

events help advisors zoom out and see

the broader trends across the industry

274

Shannon Rosic: and then obviously me

speaking directly just to the technology

275

piece with WealthTech evolving so

quickly right now they need that time

276

and heads Base to see the solutions in

person Ask those questions hear who other

277

firms are using them and accelerate the

ways that they can help their clients

278

Ultimately that online research just

simply can't replicate and so I think

279

it's advisors realize that there's

a lot of value in that Peer learning

280

just having that perspective outside

of the daily operations and just having

281

that live exposure Again we're very

much a relationship based business and

282

so people are going to naturally seek

that out especially as we live in this

283

digital day and age People are clamoring

for that in person I think just more

284

than ever So a lot of them get that

and look like advisors are just gonna

285

learn faster from other advisors and

peers than any white paper or anything

286

like that And I would make the argument

that while markets certainly move

287

daily business strategy moves slower

And so conferences really help you

288

think about the long game if you will

289

Ryan: Yeah, no, that's a great point.

290

And well, communication's important.

291

It's also important to get out and learn

292

You know, stay on top of other things

going on other than just the stock market.

293

Because as we know, when I started

Shannon, it was all about stock market.

294

Now it's financial planning

and there's so much more on

295

the plate of financial advisor.

296

So

297

Shannon Rosic: having to pivot right to to

298

Ryan: yeah.

299

Shannon Rosic: value because in the advent

of things like chat GPT and Claude and

300

Gemini a lot of clients are showing up

with AI based opinions And so advisors are

301

having to pivot to say this is where I can

bring value I will Co coach you through

302

these difficult times I will truly listen

to you and create a holistic plan for your

303

life essentially And so you're you've seen

this shift now from just product pushing

304

or sticking you in a certain model running

the Monte Carlo simulation it's gone way

305

beyond that And the advisors that that

get it are already pivoting to be able to

306

Ryan: Yeah.

307

Shannon Rosic: value to each

meeting in each client conversation

308

Ryan: Yeah, for sure.

309

So those advisors or the attendees who

do go, or maybe they're on the fence

310

at going, can you provide some tips to

the attendees on ways to get the most

311

value out of attending conferences,

especially those that say, well.

312

I can get information on the internet

reader white paper or podcast.

313

How can they get the most value

out of attending conferences?

314

Shannon Rosic: Oh come on Edge

is just fun No I would say that

315

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

if you're on the fence and what you

316

can expect from Edge I would say Edge

has really grown into one of the most

317

comprehensive gatherings in the wealth

management ecosystem It's truly a choose

318

your own adventure when it comes down

to it When you can pick and choose the

319

content you would like to absorb and be

part of it's It's really meant to give

320

you the full picture and a pulse of what's

happening on our space because we cover

321

the technology side of things practice

management as well as the investment

322

strategy side of things So again it's one

of the few events out there that solely

323

focus on the pulse of wealth management

and I think what really makes it Unique

324

is that it brings together advisors

and the asset managers the wealth tech

325

companies the industry leaders visionaries

and innovators all into one place And

326

we really pride ourselves on the caliber

of folks that come to this event while

327

a is a great baseline and we certainly

target the $500 million plus firms The

328

majority of the C-suite is coming which

is incredible So CEO to CTO CMOs co any

329

C-suite tile you can think of they are

going to be at edge and that and I think

330

it's that cross section that creates

just those incredibly dynamic situations

331

and conversations And like I said from a

programming perspective focused heavily

332

on the future and growth of the advisory

business So that's what makes Edge a

333

little bit different too is that all of

our content and all of our experiences

334

really ladder up to that theme of growth

335

Shannon Rosic: cause as we all know

the organic growth numbers have

336

We hovered around that two 3 It's

pretty abysmal So everyone is not no

337

pun intended maybe a little bit but

everyone's looking for that edge right

338

to be able to increase that growth and

339

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

we also design the event to be immersive

340

right There's curated meetups We have

the demo drop we do tech tours We have

341

Think tanks innovation showcases heck we

have kayaking golfing parties So you can

342

really have whatever experience that you

want but you're ultimately gonna have

343

access to everybody that's there So even

if you're a next gen advisor we have

344

mentor mentee speed dating and that's

always a that's always like fun for me to

345

really help Bring up the next generation

and they have access to these folks who

346

have been doing this for 20 30 40 years

whatever it may be and have access to

347

those firms that are doing it right

348

Shannon Rosic: So that's something

that I love is we're giving folks that

349

opportunity to just interact Daily with

folks whether it's the people building the

350

tools or running an incredibly successful

advisory firm and plus the Boca Raton

351

I'm surprised they even let people like

me in there Like it's such a beautiful

352

venue and honestly the Lazy River should

just be a selling point in of itself

353

Ryan: Shannon to that point.

354

Last year when we were there,

I walked in and I'm surprised

355

I almost had to walk back out.

356

I was like, whoa, this is.

357

Shannon Rosic: you sure

I'm supposed to be here

358

Ryan: Yes, exactly.

359

It's like, I'm not quite sure.

360

I don't think I've ever been

in a place like that before.

361

And but it was fantastic.

362

And man, that's probably the only,

and this time is probably gonna be

363

the only times I ever get a chance

to go, so I'm gonna enjoy it.

364

Shannon Rosic: this year then because

you'll catch me on the last day for

365

sure in the Lazy River That's what we

366

Ryan: Nice.

367

Shannon Rosic: was done

368

Ryan: Then relaxing.

369

Shannon Rosic: to get a few

370

Ryan: Yes.

371

I, I completely agree.

372

And about your, the diversity

of just content and events at

373

Edge and all the activities.

374

I'm really looking forward to the private

market summit, which is on the first date.

375

But with that being said, Shannon,

I have a really hard time when I go

376

through the agenda and see all the,

you know, different paths that you can

377

take, trying to figure out which one.

378

Shannon Rosic: I know

379

Ryan: It was like, oh my

gosh, that that session sounds

380

amazing, that one, that speaker.

381

But it's a good problem to

have for for an attendee.

382

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

It is And look I think the biggest mistake

383

people make at conferences is trying

to attend everything I would recommend

384

approaching conferences strategically

if you can before events review the

385

agenda identify the sessions that are

most relevant to your business Look

386

at the attendee list and the app Reach

out to people you'd like to meet ahead

387

of time And then during the conference

Focus on those quality conversations

388

rather than quantity a few meaningful

discussions can be far more valuable

389

than just attending every session

390

Shannon Rosic: and trying to

basically turn your brain to a

391

jelly donut and just pump it full

of information and then look after

392

Shannon Rosic Informa Connect:

the event follow up because that's

393

where relationships turn into those

opportunities I'd say plan ahead

394

Prioritize those meaning con meaningful

conversations and follow up Like the

395

real ROI of a conference I believe

happens after you leave because it's

396

what you do post event that is either

gonna help you drive your business

397

forward make a great connection that

eventually hey that's a technology I

398

hadn't looked at and now it's I'm gonna

implement in my business So there's so

399

much that comes out of the follow up

400

Shannon Rosic: It just takes

a little bit of effort That's

401

Ryan: Yeah.

402

Yeah, but it pays off.

403

It's, it's worth the effort.

404

Worth the effort.

405

Let's take a step back and broader

picture of the wealth management space,

406

like you talked to so many people in

this space, especially on the technology

407

side and at the C level of folks.

408

What are some of the hottest trends

impacting wealth management today?

409

Shannon Rosic: Gosh without sounding

like a broken record I obviously have

410

to mention AI because we are officially

moving from I would say AI curious to AI

411

implementation and advisors are asking

where can it save me time How does it

412

improve my client meetings Where can

I where's the low hanging fruit that I

413

can at least start dabbling if I'm not

fully comforted Through bull with all the

414

solutions out there I should at least be

dabbling with it so that's certainly one

415

I would say advisor efficiency Obviously

firms are trying to remove frictions

416

around the advisor workflow so you know

you've seen the explosion of AI note

417

takers who are actually all now Pivoting

to become these various workflow layers to

418

integrate seamlessly with other solutions

So you're seeing a lot of that So between

419

the automated notes the meeting prep the

compliance automation efficiency just

420

continues to be a huge trend within the

space And then I would say Personalization

421

at scale I've probably said that phrase

at nauseum at this point but it is very

422

important because clients continue to

expect advice that feels custom even

423

if that firm is serving hundreds of

households and clients and technology

424

is ultimately making that possible So

the firms that Win will be the ones that

425

are that combine great advice with great

technology infrastructure which ladders

426

up to everything that I was just saying

around the advisor experience We it's

427

great that our industry is pivoted to put

the client at the center of everything

428

but there that real bottleneck is often

the advisor experience because if the

429

advisor has to spend hours on admin work

and fight clunky software the swivel

430

chair impact and all it has all these

disparate disconnected systems The

431

client experience suffers So what firms

are realizing like if you make advisors

432

more efficient and happier that client

experience just improves automatically

433

outside of all the tech side of things

in ai though I think there's probably

434

a couple that aren't being talked about

enough even at a strategic level And for

435

me One thing right now that I'm watching

is this rise of hyper-personalization

436

among advisors And look for a long time

our industry was built around the idea

437

of being a generalist financial advisor

who served a broad group of clients But

438

today what folks are realizing is that are

building incredibly successful businesses

439

by focusing on a very specific niche

So whether it's Entrepreneurs medical

440

professionals tech exec whatever it may

be professional athletes special needs

441

families The more specialized an advisor

becomes the deeper their expertise and

442

more valuable their advice becomes So

technology is making it easier because it

443

allows advisors to scale their processes

with their needs So I think that's a

444

very exciting area that I know I'm gonna

be watching outside of all the AI noise

445

Ryan: Shannon, that's great.

446

I'm glad.

447

Gotta touch on ai.

448

You're exactly right.

449

But I love that you brought up some

other aspects that are outside of ai.

450

Isn't it crazy, like a year ago we, you

know, we could have had this conversation,

451

like you said, it could have been

talking about how financial advisors,

452

they know AI is gonna be powerful.

453

They just didn't know

how to like use it yet.

454

A year later, now all of

a sudden they're using it.

455

Not, like you said, it's not

about curiosity now it's like now

456

they can actually implement it.

457

Just how quickly it's evolving.

458

It's amazing.

459

Shannon Rosic: It's incredible and one

of my favorite things I get to do is I

460

host with John O'Connell the Oasis Group

These CTO think tanks at all of our

461

events too And we'll certainly be having

one at edge in in June get together 12

462

to 15 CTOs of billion dollar plus firms

to talk about digital transformation So

463

just the conversations from two years

ago to what it is now and hearing how

464

firms are doing things like implementing

agentic AI agents They're building digital

465

workforces They're hyperfocused on things

like cybersecurity and compliance That is

466

a very different conversation than what

we were having a few years ago really

467

around things like integration and systems

talking to each other They have also had

468

to pivot their entire business strategies

to keep up with this and deliver what

469

advisors need and obviously what clients

need so they can continue to serve work

470

Clients So it's it's still very much

like the wild west out there when it

471

comes to ai but it's exciting to see the

firms who are actually just grabbing the

472

bull by the horns and saying yep we're

gonna implement this We see the value in

473

it and here's how we're gonna implement

this when in our firm So that's just one

474

aspect that I love to dive into and nerd

out on is with the CTOs and because their

475

roles have changed too and are just more

important than ever within advisory firms

476

Ryan: Yeah, you're exactly correct.

477

And it just, if, if you're not gonna

embrace ai, you're trying to fight it,

478

you're gonna be left behind, right?

479

So you should probably, you know, start.

480

Shannon Rosic: Yeah

481

Ryan: forward to it and, and embracing it.

482

I love that.

483

Lastly too, that you

brought up personalization.

484

That's what we see a lot in Zephyr with

separately managed accounts, the growth in

485

separately managed accounts, because it's

not just a younger generation of investors

486

that want a personalized approach.

487

It's older ones to, they want, and we know

this industry is as competitive as ever.

488

Wealth management, financial advisors,

they gotta distinguish their practice

489

and offering that personalized approach,

like you said, whether it's, you know,

490

focusing on a niche group of people or

just a personalized investment strategy

491

or report, it's so important and something

that I'm really glad you brought up.

492

Shannon Rosic: Oh yeah And it's all

driven by the by consumer tech right

493

It's all driven by Netflix and Amazon and

that's what folks expect So why should

494

that be any different in our industry

So to me it's really exciting because

495

it continuously forces firms to have

to level up It forces the technology

496

folks to constantly have to innovate

And then the advisors Implement it

497

and their the firm's implemented it's

moving fast and I think that's what's

498

exciting but also certainly a little

scary I think there's a lot of cautious

499

optimism within our space right now

500

Ryan: Yes.

501

Wow.

502

Shannon, thank you so much.

503

It was such a fun conversation.

504

I really enjoyed it, the insight, the

fun stories really good conversation.

505

Now, after this, you can critique me,

send me everything that you know you want.

506

Shannon Rosic: is

507

Ryan: Be nice.

508

Shannon Rosic: So I give anyone who does

this I give a lot of credit to because

509

even with podcasting for me too it's that

was very much a learned skill that I'm

510

still learning after even after three

years in I come from the video world so

511

I'd always have my two three questions

in my head and now pivoting to things

512

like podcasting I'm like oh this is

long form conversation This is a whole

513

Ryan: yeah.

514

Shannon Rosic: game

515

Ryan: A 30 minute conversation.

516

Some people are like, Ryan, it's so

hard to talk to you for a minute.

517

And it was like, how do you carry

on a conversation for 30 minutes?

518

Shannon Rosic: Because you

asked the good questions

519

Ryan: Yeah.

520

Shannon Rosic: easy

521

Ryan: There.

522

Awesome.

523

Shannon, thank you so much.

524

I'm gonna let you get back to your

busy schedule flying jet setting

525

across the country, attending the

conferences and all that stuff.

526

Thank you so much.

527

It's been an honor.

528

Where can our audience get more

information about Wealth Management

529

Edge and also the Wealth Stack Podcast?

530

Shannon Rosic: Awesome thank you again

Ryan for asking the good questions this

531

is a lot of fun so I appreciate you

having me on And we hope to see you

532

all at Wealth Management Edge June 9th

through the 11th at the Boca Raton And

533

folks can learn more about if you just

Google Wealth Management Edge it'll be

534

the first thing that pops up so check out

the event Site And if you're interested

535

in obviously the technology side of the

industry you can check out the Wells

536

Stack podcast on wealth management.com

537

It's on all major podcasting platforms and

on YouTube as well So certainly appreciate

538

the listens and for tuning in And again

if people have feedback for me I would

539

love to know So wealth management.com

540

you can pretty much find everything

there and then just Google Wealth

541

Management Edge you'll be able to find

it So Ryan again thanks for having me

542

it's always fun just to Take a step

back and talk about where the industry

543

is heading and talk shop with you

544

Ryan: On the other side, that microphone.

545

Shannon Rosic: Exactly

546

Ryan: Awesome, Shannon.

547

Well, I look forward to seeing

you in June and everyone else

548

at Wealth Management Edge also.

549

And thank you everyone for

listening to this episode of

550

zephyr's Adjusted for Risk podcast.

551

You can watch all of our other episodes

on the Zephyr YouTube channel and Spotify.

552

Also, please be sure to subscribe

and follow us on LinkedIn.

553

Thank you very much and have

a great rest of your week.