Industry veterans Ross Levin and Norm Boone will discuss how their firms craft, deploy, monitor and communicate successful withdrawal strategies for clients. Topics discussed will include the technologies they use to research, develop and track these strategies, how turbulent markets can affect these plans, and how they engage their clients in the process.

The goal of this session is for you to have fewer "OMG" moments during the hiring and on-boarding process. Caleb will discuss the most effective ways to recruit, hire, and integrate talent in your business. Practical applications include determining your hiring needs, insights on what new advisors seek, candidate screening and selection, compensation, positioning of new advisors, and other hiring best practices.

The investment markets of 2008-2010 have been a somewhat humbling experience for many financial planners. Steeped in an investment education rooted firmly in Modern Portfolio Theory, we created investment recommendations and portfolios for clients that we believed to be “efficient” solutions, balancing the prospects of return with the dangers of risk in pursuit of growing assets and achieving client goals. The results in reality, though, did not transpire as anticipated. Losses were larger than most of us believed would “likely” happen in any bear market; diversification did not produce the resilience we expected from our portfolios. In short, it seemed as though “modern” portfolio theory might not be so modern anymore, but instead “outdated.” In this session, we will revisit Modern Portfolio Theory, and examine what it was – and was not – supposed to tell us about portfolio construction.

In her first appearance at NorCal, Dr. Katy Votava, a nurse practitioner and healthcare economist, will present up to the minute information about the influence of Medicare on retirement planning and key aspects financial advisors can integrate into their planning. These critical features have a significant impact on retirement planning and the cost of Medicare in retirement. You will learn simple strategies to help your clients avoid lifelong Medicare penalties and minimize the cost of Medicare.

In today's competitive business landscape, advisors who fail to leverage the power of the Internet to acquire new clients are doing themselves a serious disservice. By cultivating an online presence that showcases your specific expertise and service offering, you not only create opportunities to meet qualified prospects, but also build credibility and rapport that increases your chance of winning their business. Key topics include best practices for advisor websites and email campaigns; building a network of contacts to facilitate referrals, both as an individual and a professional; using online search tools to identify potential clients, understand their individual needs/interests and use that information in initial meetings to open more new relationships; managing your online reputation; and more. Also featured is a discussion on how advisors can enhance their client acquisition efforts by using popular online "social networking" services like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Three major super trends - globalization, technology accelerators and the global age wave - are converging, creating change beyond anything we have previously experienced. Each of these trends is powerful. The convergence of the three is creating major opportunities and threats in investment strategies, health care, energy costs, inflation trends and career and business models. This session will look at these trends and how practitioners can be “pre-active”.

Delve into the top individual tax, compliance and financial planning issues that will allow you to help your individual clients maximize their tax savings and leverage their overall financial positions. In this session we will cover a general tax update, health care reform & strategies, Roth IRA strategies, capital gains update with Alternative Minimum Tax implications, stock options, and planning for gain on personal residences.

Veteran financial planner Alexandra Armstrong will share the key elements that have helped her grow and manage a thriving financial planning firm since 1977. She will share successes and failures along the way that will help planning firms of all sizes manage their growth and future more effectively. She will also provide an update on the succession plans she shared at last year's conference. This is intended to be an interactive session where input from other advisors and planners is encouraged.

Charles Blankley will discuss the macro trends that are likely to drive the global economy and markets over the coming years. He will give his thoughts on how to take advantage of these opportunities, hedge against further turmoil, and which asset classes offer the potential for the best risk adjusted returns. This discussion will include a review of the investment landscape and offer ideas and strategies for the coming quarters and years.

Dan will lead a discussion on minimizing the risk to your client’s portfolio from catastrophic loss. Many affluent individuals and families have quite simply outgrown their personal insurance program. This presentation is designed to arm you, as an advisor, with practical tips on protecting your clients from every day risk. This presentation will cover:

1) The details of personal umbrella liability coverage - what it is, how it works and how to recommend an appropriate limit,

2) Some unique exposures to the affluent - trusts, estates and LLCs, employment related issues, and directors & officers liability and

3) Strategies for incorporating personal risk management into a wealth management/financial plan.

Get the facts about your client’s retirement living options. There are so many choices. Should your client buy, buy-in, or rent? What are the age, health and financial qualifications for admission? What are the fees and what services are included? How does long-term care insurance fit in? What are the consequences for your client’s estate? Please join estate planner and elder law attorney Elizabeth Krivatsy for an informative and objective review of the current options. Elizabeth is passionate about helping her clients plan for the best future possible — whether that’s aging in place or moving to a retirement community. Using a customized roadmap, she helps clients make informed decisions and take action to shape their best futures.

By now you know that there’s an app for almost anything. But with well over a half a million apps available today, how do you find the ones that are the most useful? Whether you use Windows, Mac OS, BlackBerry, iOS, or Android, you can enhance your personal and professional productivity through software programs bundled in a small, easy to use package. Attend this session to discover some of the best apps available to enhance everyday life as a financial advisor.

Women LOVE Social Security. They may not tell you that, but for women who are afraid of outliving their husbands and their assets, there's nothing better than an inflation-adjusted income stream that lasts for life. This session focuses on how women can maximize Social Security by taking advantage of spousal benefits, survivor benefits, divorced-spouse benefits, and even divorced-spouse survivor benefits. Learn why women should be the primary decision-makers in Social Security planning and how you can help them integrate Social Security into their overall retirement plan.

In the fifteen years since the concept of the Wealth Management Index was introduced to the profession much has changed. Bull and bear markets have replaced each other. The world has become even further entangled. Tax and health care policies continue to change. This session will go through the updates in how to manage your client’s success in wealth management as well as how to build a practice around these ideas. Through all the change, the need for comprehensive wealth management continues to be reinforced.

With fixed income yields at historical lows and volatility at historical highs, how can investors achieve reasonable yields without taking on excessive risk? Scott Weiner, PhD and Vlad Milev, CFA will discuss the global economic climate and the risk/reward potential in fixed income. They will discuss how the European situation affects investment strategies by creating pitfalls investors need to avoid, and the impact of adding currency to a bond portfolio. Finally they will discuss how the best investments may now be in the emerging markets instead of the developed world.

As clients age, they are increasingly faced with the need for Long Term Care (LTC). Due to a gap in health insurance and Medicare coverage – most clients will have to pay out of pocket – some spending down their life savings. This presentation will simplify LTC – what it is, the risk of needing it and how paying for it can impact your clients portfolio and Your practice. By providing opportunities for better decision making advisors can maximize client satisfaction/retention – and reduce liabilities.

In 2008 investors gained new perspectives on managing risk in client portfolios. This session examines the various ways investors have tried to control portfolio level risk over the past several decades and the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis. During the presentation, we address the use of Morningstar style boxes, the rise of the Yale model and the use of hedge funds. We specifically explore the hedge fund market, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this investment vehicle. We then cover the often underestimated value of a traditional 60/40 long only portfolio.

Ken and Eric will present fast-paced and enlightening details on the ways growing RIA firms are implementing cloud-based solutions and integrating technology to create efficiency and scale in their businesses. This interactive presentation will provide examples of the latest in integration trends and discuss what technology innovations are coming in the near future to keep advisory firms on the cutting edge.

One of the most important questions you ask clients is, "When do you plan to retire?" And yet, the emerging world of work is making that question obsolete. Rather than a scheduled single event, clients often have complex and lengthy periods of transition. Planning now needs to include data-driven conversations about employment uncertainty, potential encore careers, and the tough realities of working in retirement. This session shows you how to collect meaningful data, and have those essential client conversations.

Distractions are costing you more than you realize – typically stealing more than 2 hours of your most valuable work time, energy, and potential every day! Olympic medalist and financial industry speaker, coach and former advisor Paul Kingsman will give you practical tools to cull nonproductive activities, maintain your focus on bottom-line objectives, and maximize your income. Learn how to get the assets you need, the clients you want, and more time to do what you love.

Andrew Rose is an economist and dean at UC Berkeley whose research focuses on international finance. He’ll start with an analysis the of the long –run issues that are undermining American competitiveness, including the high and persistent trade deficit and foreign indebtedness. He’ll then bring you up to date with the most recent events in the markets. Expect a discussion of the European crisis as well as some analysis of Chinese growth and its exchange rate regime, among other things.

Estate Planners too often permit clients to set the estate planning agenda, thereby permitting a non-expert to determine what constitutes a reasonable estate plan. Too many planners avoid issues of family conflict, overlook problems with funding, and act as “mere scriveners” for their clients. John Hartog will discuss the typical traps that planners can fall into, and the tools we should use to avoid creating a plan that does not work.

Determining a “safe” amount of retirement spending is an increasingly popular topic amongst financial planners, yet a great deal of confusion exists about the current state of research and how it should be applied. In this session, we will explore the evolution of safe withdrawal rate research, from its starting point with Bengen almost 20 years ago, to the decision rules framework of Guyton, to the more recent work on interest rates and valuation by Kitces and Pfau, to the international perspective on safe withdrawal rates.

In this workshop we present compelling evidence that there is a way to predict ahead of every conversation how an individual is likely to respond. Armed with that ability, participants have seen significant increases in the return on their sales conversations, experienced marked improvement in client satisfaction and more productive teams. With this session, you can expect to improve your ability to predict behavior by understanding deeper reasons for behavior and in turn begin using complex influence strategies.

A full session devoted to the best and most powerful personal/professional growth concepts and techniques, collected over a 30-year career watching and learning from the top advisors in the profession.

What makes a “great” firm? Size, fame, loyal clients, enthusiastic and talented staff, financial success? Tim Kochis will share decades of insights into how Aspiriant and its predecessor organizations combined hard work, careful planning, and some good luck to forge a leading independent wealth management firm. Hint: the answer starts and ends with the clients.

Fixed income markets have undergone a transformation in recent years. Extreme market volatility has been accompanied by advances in market transparency and the introduction of new investment vehicles. Matt will discuss this new fixed income landscape and the key lessons investors have learned over the past few years. He will also review strategies investors can employ in their fixed income portfolios to better manage overall portfolio volatility, sustain income, and enhance total return.

In this workshop, you will learn the roles and responsibilities of the planner and the attorney in working with a client to settle an estate. Discussion will focus on pre-planning efforts, immediate support at the time of the death, guidance and structure for the process, legal responsibilities, and potential problems. Using case studies, presenters will discuss guidelines for working together in a constructive manner in order to settle the estate in a timely manner and provide support to the client.

You have done your research, made your choice, purchased and deployed the technology. How do you make sure that implementation is successful? Clear leadership and direction is required to provide context, support, and understanding for employees to learn and take full advantage of the system. Often advisors think they have a technology problem. In Elizabeth’s experience, the problem frequently is not the tool, bur rather a lack of a clearly defined plan for integrating the technology into the firm. This session will outline a strategic process for enhancing your firm’s adoption of technology.

Alternative Investments have become very popular in the financial media. Alternatives include a wide array from commodities to currencies, energy to real estate, from long/short funds to hedge funds. This workshop will enlist a panel to describe the alternative investment space, why institutional investors are actively participating, how these investments are assessed and adopted by the broker dealer, and how advisors can effectively structure portfolios to include them.

We all know that major financial transitions come with major emotional baggage. Death, divorce, disability and retirement are just a few of the financial events that bring tears into our offices. Facing these emotions can be challenging for us as planners; for many of us, it's our least favorite part of the job. But there's an unparalleled opportunity here: if handled correctly, these experiences can create a real and lasting client/planner bond. Whether you are empathetically challenged or naturally empathetic, this session provides concrete tips for working with clients in transition... without becoming overwhelmed yourself.

Aside from your own client base, referrals from CPAs, attorneys, and other professionals are the best way to grow your business. However, there are more efficient and productive ways to get leads from CPAs than simply relying on referrals. From finding and recruiting Strategic Alliances to managing those relationships, this session will give you the information you need to develop a consistent stream of qualified introductions.

The main factors driving global equity portfolio returns are industries, countries and styles like volatility, size and value. Active managers often combine several of these in search of alpha. However, institutional investors and academics are now changing the money management industry by deconstructing expensive active long-equity strategies into their cheap-beta components. Topics include: How alpha comes from factor bets, not security selection; Use of quantitative tools to explain performance formerly viewed as alpha; How to save on fees and taxes by implementing factor bets through low-cost beta; ETFs offering factor bets; A case study that deconstructs a popular quality strategy into its factors.

The growth in the aging population has contributed to an increase in the complexity of estate planning. In addition to the fact that people are living longer, family structures are changing in ways that present additional challenges for financial and legal professionals. Family meetings are often a good vehicle for seniors and their relatives to share concerns related to troubling behaviors, competency issues, and home safety. If not handled properly, these meetings can exacerbate family conflict. This presentation provides insights into the management of family meetings and tips for maximizing a positive outcome.

“How” something is said is often more important than “what” is said, although most people concentrate more on the content rather than their delivery during a client presentation. Seasoned professional sales coach, Jimmy Pomerance, will present some unique ideas that are designed to help improve every aspect of the sales presentation and have yielded quantifiable results. Learn how to better connect with your audience, more effectively drive your messages home and improve your sales results.

Perhaps the most frightening question anyone can face is "Am I Losing my Mind?" Mental function involves memory, language, intelligence, and reasoning- all important to managing ones life. As we age, changes occur, but how do we know what is normal, and what is not? And, most importantly, can we do anything about it? Is all memory loss destined for Dementia? for Alzheimer's? - and what's the difference? Learn how you, as a financial advisor, can better understand memory loss, and help an individual recognize and get early help for these frightening changes.