I am the Managing Director of Signature Wealth Concepts, and I served as the Senior Vice President of the Southwest Branch of AXA Advisors for four years before founding my firm. For the past 18 years, I have worked with clients in the K-12 space; and I was able to build a team of advisors who focus on the same marketplace. Many of my friends are educators, and my wife is a former teacher in the Massachusetts school system before our move to Arizona 11 years ago.
I am on the NTSA Leadership Council and have found my experience with the LC to be enlightening and inspiring. Too often, we spend most of our team working “in” our business rather than “on” our business; and it escapes us that there are many advisors working within the same marketplace, just with different firms. My involvement with the NTSA has opened my eyes to the industry, and has helped me shake off my blinders and biases while giving me a much broader perspective on the marketplace.
The realization that “we are not alone” as we build our respective business/practices within the K-12 environment is a liberating experience. We all face the same mounting pressures and threats, regardless of geography, and it’s so important that practitioners face these challenges rather than hide under a rock. There is much we can all learn from one another, whether it be best practices, marketing ideas, organizational structures, and so on; and the NTSA provides a setting much like the United Nations where we can convene and discover new friendships and alliances.
What I have come to realize is that, within the NTSA, most of us are alike. Most of us are similar in personality, passion, commitment and drive; and, aside from what we see when looking in the mirror, we are much more alike than we are different. Some of my new friends have come from my experience with the NTSA, simply because there is so much that we can talk about with our businesses and interests.
This year, as a CRES-certified advisor, I am most looking forward to the CRES curriculum being offered at the end of the Summit. There is a CRES course for aspiring certificants, and a re-certification for those of us who are already CRES advisors.
Our 403(b) marketplace is changing each year, and threats can come from either a shift in companies’ business models or a shift in the legislative climate. CRES (Certified Retirement Education Specialist) provides the tools for an advisor to demonstrate credibility and expertise when interacting with school district officials. By completing the course and earning this credential, an advisor can point to this industry-recognized designation (which is the only one of its kind) when communicating with decision-makers and centers-of-influence.
The reality of our marketplace is that there are pros and there are posers. A school district can be confused as to who to trust when approached by an advisor. Building a relationship with school officials might come easy for some, but if that relationship is not fortified by an acceptable level of expertise and trustworthiness, then the school district can encounter some challenges and regrettable ordeals. A CRES advisor is held to a higher level of expectations by the industry and is also passionately dedicated to the maintaining a thriving and healthy marketplace for professionals and consumers alike.
To sum things up, I am a firm believer in being open to new ideas and experiences within my business. The best ideas that I have implemented over the years are not things that bubbled up in my own mind but rather retreads of ideas that were shared with me from various colleagues. The NTSA has been a terrific setting for me to learn, grow and prosper; while also providing an opportunity to make new friends.
I’m looking forward to spending time with you in Denver at the end of January 2020, and I wish you all the best!
Philip Kim is the founding member, partner and Managing Director of Signature Wealth Concepts, a division of AXA Advisors.
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