Books for Advisors: Holiday Gifts & Great Reads for 2016
December 14, 2015 by Industry news
You’ve been busy wrapping up your year-end business when you realize that you haven’t found the perfect gift for your colleagues and clients, and the holidays are fast approaching.
Not to worry — we’ve gathered a list of books recommended by advisors that are great reads and will be welcome gifts, especially for those looking for new ideas, practices and perspectives to consider for 2016.
The Supernova Advisor: Crossing the Invisible Bridge to Exceptional Client Service and Consistent Growth, by Robert D. Knapp.
“This quick and easy read is a great road map for an advisor who is looking to take their practice to the level of client service that would be the envy of other advisors.”
Larry Gekiere, senior vice president, Texas Capital Bank/Raymond James
Success and Succession: Unlocking Value, Power, and Potential in the Professional Services and Advisory Space by Eric Hehman, Jay Hummel, and Tim Kochis.
“This book is much more than just a practical hands-on guide to handling the succession planning process for your firm. The tips and insights from both the founder and the successor perspective have proved invaluable as we embark on this process in our firm. If you feel like you are stuck and don’t know where to start with your own plan, this will help get you over that hurdle.”
Lyle Benson, founder and president of L.K. Benson
Tested In The Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice, by Ron Carson and Steve Sanduski.
“Ron doesn’t just write on the subject, he lives and works it every day — he’s one of us. The book provides a nine-step plan for success as a new-era advisor so it’s current. Chapter 1 is titled Personal Blueprinting, so the reader can map out his ideal personal life first and then build their business to support it.”
David Blaydes, CEO of Retirement Planners International
The Power of Money Dynamics, by Venita Van Caspel.
“More than two decades ago, author and financial planner Venita Van Caspel warned that middle class Americans were learning nothing of what they needed to know about managing their own personal finances. Her book continues to be a classic. We live in an era of complex laws and regulations. The CFP movement was born in an effort to take professional financial advice out of the hands of sales people and into the hands of people who represented the interests of their clients.”
Malcolm Makin, president, Professional Planning Group
Exponential Organizations, by Salim Ismail.
“Shows you how to build a firm for the 21st century, instead of living in one created in the 20th.”
Ric Edelman, founder, Edelman Financial
Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time, by Rory Vaden.
“Vaden adds a third dimension to the concept of time management. He’s observed it, he’s lived it and now he shares it with all of us. A perfect book to start the new year to help yourself, and those you manage, multiply productivity.”
Joanne Welker, Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., manager, advisory services.
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
“In a world where there is so much information — and so many decisions to make — understanding how to make better decisions is critical. Providing colleagues (or even clients and prospects) with research-based insights into how to navigate the complexity of decisions in life and work will always be welcome. Read it for yourself, too, and find insights that will help you coach your colleagues and clients in empowering ways — from asking better questions to helping groups make more productive, successful decisions.”
Michael Liersch, head of behavioral finance at Merrill Lynch
Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor, by Tren Griffin.
“It is an easy, intelligently written book that provides great insight into how Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet look at investing.”
Hal Tearse, director of RBC Wealth Management’s Minnetonka, Minn., branch
Scaling Up – How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t, by Verne Harnish
“I would recommend this book to anyone in a leadership role, anyone who aspires to be in a leadership role, and especially those who have a firm they hope to scale by hiring new talent. The author provides digestible insights into how to successfully scale and how to attract and retain valuable people in your business. Many of the insights are logical and may seem basic, but each takeaway left me with true actionable steps that I can start incorporating into our team immediately.”
Megan Rindskopf, Alpha Financial Advisors
The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage, by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore.
“The authors’ major premise that I identify with is that work is theater and every business a stage. They described creating an experience that touches the four experience realms: It has to be educational, it has to be entertainment, escapist, and esthetic. The experience has to almost take your breath away. Staging the experience has to be entertaining and energizing. The experience has to be unique and ultimately transformational.”
Gary Witten, Buffalo, N.Y.-based advisor for Voya Financial Advisors
The Investment Answer, by Dan Goldie and Gordon Murray
“During his time on Wall Street, Murray saw how the whole system and culture were rigged to serve the Wall Street firms at the expense of clients and had always wanted to do something to get the message out. Recovering from his second round of brain cancer — with which he ultimately lost the battle — his friend Dan Goldie, a financial planner, told him it wasn’t too late and they wrote this book.”
Dave Yeske, managing director, Yeske Buie, San Francisco
Point & Figure Charting, by Tom Dorsey.
“This is an essential book for anyone who is an advisor and interested in technical analysis. There is so much to learn from Tom Dorsey, and reading his book multiple times helps you get a sense of the magnitude of technical analysis and how you can apply the concept to your own practice.”
Ginger Snyder and Greg Ghodsi, 360 Wealth Management Group of Raymond James.
