Here at Stonewood Financial, our goal is to help advisors have the best year ever in their practices. And last week, our brand new Innovate Summit conference helped more than 100 advisors do just that.
Over two days of powerful learning, advisors went “all-in” with new sales ideas, lead generation tools, message frames, and product designs. As one advisor messaged us after the event:
“This was the best conference I have ever attended. There were just so many purposeful implementable strategies and resources to put in place right away! We already have 4 clients we are meeting next week to discuss these strategies!”
If you missed Innovate Summit, don’t worry. Below is a recap of all the great learning. And, of course, watch this space as we open registration this month for our Innovate | Virtual training conference in June.
Becky Ruby Swansburg, CEO of Stonewood Financial, kicked off the first day of our conference by sharing her insights on the risk of rising taxes and how the 2024 election could impact U.S. savers.
Key insights: The election could have a big impact on how Washington views IRAs and 401(k)s. But when it comes to our federal debt and its impact on tax policy, who wins in November matters a lot less than the demographic realities of our nation. Net/net: Taxes are going up, and our clients need to be prepared.
(Curious how the debate in Washington could impact your clients? Download this white paper Becky wrote.)
Our founder and in-house actuary, Martin Ruby, walked advisors through the evolution of risk management — and how advisors can diversify and mitigate these new risks. On day two, Marty also shared his expertise in our “Ask the Actuary” segment- which allowed attendees to pick Marty’s brain, and get a better understanding of product design and the state of our industry.
Throughout our two-day conference, Neil Wilding, COO of Stonewood Financial, coached advisors on innovative sales strategies and actionable ways to overcome objections in the client meeting process. He also educated advisors on the power of FIAs to drive alpha, and showed them how to answer one of the most Googled questions about annuities: “Are they a good investment?”.
We couldn’t have asked for better partner presenters at this conference. A big thank you to our gold sponsors, LeadJig + Acquire Direct and Integrated Trust Systems for sponsoring Innovate Summit and sharing the latest top-converting sales tools and marketing programs for 2024 with our attendees. Our appreciation also goes to silver sponsors Financial Seminar Services, NAIFA, RA Marketing, Silloet, Steep Digital Marketing, and White Glove for the value they brought to the training. It was incredible to see how much our advisors learned from our guest presenters.
At Stonewood Financial, our goal is to help advisors go “all-in” in 2024. Connecting with our members in person at Innovate Summit is one of our team’s favorite ways to accomplish this goal.
And we certainly accomplished that goal at Summit. As one advisor wrote,
“I want to give a great big Thank You to your team and you for such an awesome event in Louisville last week. I had no idea what to expect and all I can tell you is that I was totally blown away! I’m a better advisor having met you all.”
Have a success story of your own to share? We love hearing how you incorporate what you’ve learned into your practice. Reach out to our team by emailing support@stonewoodfinancial.com.
Miss our latest Innovate Summit training conference? We will be announcing our next virtual AND live training dates soon. Ready to register now? Email support@stonewoodfinancial.com
Free Study Group Replay
How Stonewood Advisors Stay Ahead of the Next Planning Conversation.
Watch a recent Stonewood Study Group focused on the legacy planning conversation. You’ll see how Stonewood helps advisors break down timely planning topics, client conversation angles, and practical strategies you can put to use immediately.
Expert insights. Real strategies.
Study Group Replay
Timely planning topics
Real client conversation angles
Practical strategies you can use
Real Advisors. Real Results.
See how advisors are using Stonewood software to win larger cases and deliver better
outcomes for their clients.
An advisor was working with a prospect who was a real "do-it-yourselfer" when it came to Roth conversions.
The client was converting assets up their existing tax bracket – and hadn't considered any impact to
IRMAA.
With Roth Done Right, the advisor was able to show an alternate pattern that sped up the conversion to
6 years. The new structure offered $30,000 savings in conversion taxes – a 20% reduction on the
prospect's conversion tax bill. The report also showed hundreds of thousands of dollars in long-term
tax and IRMAA savings from the converted assets – an amount the prospect hadn't been able to quantify
on his own.
Outcome
A new client with $1M in new AUM, and a $1M FIA sale to fund the conversion process.
An advisor was working with a prospect who already had assets with Ken Fisher. Fisher's team presented a
5% systematic withdrawal projection, so the advisor needed a stronger way to frame the income
conversation.
Using the Annuity Alpha report, the advisor showed how an annuity could deliver over 8% in annual cash
flow with lifetime income, plus a long-term care doubler. The contrast was clear enough that the prospect
moved forward.
Outcome
$1.5M placed and a $100K in new business revenue.
An advisor was working with a 58-year-old couple with an established, well-funded retirement income plan,
leaving an additional $3M IRA to build out a legacy for the kids. The couple's existing advisor had no
real additional plan for this money, other than to keep it in their managed account and grow that money as
much as possible for the kids.
Using the Legacy Done Right report, the advisor showed the need for tax planning on this $3M IRA.
According to the advisor, the simple analysis "opened up the wallet" to the Roth conversion story. The
advisor then used the blended Roth/Life feature in the report to show a blend of Roth Conversion assets
with some Life Insurance to help maximize the client’s legacy.
Outcome
$3M in motion. The advisor picked up a $1.5M FIA sale that will be converted to Roth. And the advisor
also sold a 5-Pay Protection focused IUL policy at $225,000 of premium per year.
An advisor group incorporated the Total Tax Burden report into the strategy presentation for all new
prospects. They ran the tax snapshot for every new client as part of their first meeting conversation,
quantifying the growing tax burden of IRA money – and illustrating the kinds of tax savings possible
when working with their firm.
Starting in January of 2023, this simple analysis was presented to every single prospect who walked in
the door. The goal was to differentiate their practice and drive overall revenue growth through various
Roth conversion strategies.
Outcome
From 2022 to 2025, new annual AUM rose from $5M to $50M. Annual FIA sales rose from $3M to $35M.
And annual life premium rose from $50K to $1M.
