A Monogomous Relationship:

Professor Scott Galloway of NYU used a term “monogamous relationship” and I love it.  

What does it mean to enter into a monogamous relationship? Frankly it means reinvestment inside the firm is focused on innovation and enhancing the client/advisor experience, versus investing in marketing and sales trying to add lots of new people to the firm. 

The name rim family features prominently in the philosophy that guides RIM financial for a reason. We talk a lot about the posture of our meetings looking a lot like me sitting on the same side of the table as you as you as you pursue your goals and journey through your financial life. 

When I launched RIM financial I talked about a firm that looks like Benjamin button. Meaning that it ages in reverse.  Aging in reverse means that we get better with age we have each meeting and should improve the process that we go through.  It layers on more data and more information to make future decisions. 

It’s hard to hold that posture when you dilute by constantly adding lots of new people to the firm and add advisers to the firm. Growth of RIM financial in the future will be on a case by case basis and strictly dependent on what the RIM family is demanding of the firm. 

Another characteristic of a monogamous relationship is that your interest is primary.  Another term for that is fiduciary. Frankly that means I answer to you and to you only. I don’t answer to any other corporate entity in terms of production or product pitch or client profile. I work with who I want to work with. It’s a consensual relationship meaning we choose to work with each other to the extent that we add value to each other.

Being in a monogamous relationship means that we fit on each other‘s balance sheets or income statements. Meaning I add value to your family you add value to my firm. There is no corporate arm telling me or telling us which products we need to be using for their interest. 

Your interest aligned with my interest.

The appropriate question that comes up will be who gets added to the rim family? My preference would be that it would be organic from introductions from you and from the circles we operate in.  A key determinant is they would find value in what we do.  But there will be a screening process on both sides to understand whether a good fit is had.

We are sprinting towards capacity and the solution will not be to dilute the experience of being a part of the RIM family.  

What to expect:  

We started RIM Financial in July of 2017 with one goal.  To do deep meaningful work for you and your family.  We are in the business of planning for your Childs college, your retirement, insuring if something happens to you your family goes on and allocating your investment portfolios to account for risk, tax and time horizon.  This cannot be done based on a transactional approach.  

In order to accomplish this, RIM Financial has to continually evolve, we are not in a static posture.  

What does growth at RIM Financial look like?  

  1. Focus on technology.  We’ve built a core platform with the goal of keeping you informed without overwhelming you.  Read “ambient sound”  Ill briefly describe each below.  

    1. Right Capital (Financial Planning)

    2. Albridge (Performance Reporting)

    3. Morningstar Advisor Workstation (Research)

    4. Holistiplan (Tax)

    5. Facebook/Instagram

    6. Email

  2. Meet on your terms.  Another lesson of 2020/2021 is zoom/google meet and other web conference services are great hosts for meetings.  The ability to meet in the comfort of your home, office  etc and leverage tools like screen share are great.  I don’t see this posture changing.  Business/implementation can efficiently be done on video, and relational big picture things should be done over drinks, dinner, coffee, lunch or other social events.  

We are not proposing eliminating the personal touch of in person meetings but rather re purposing them. 

  1. Add expertise.  

      1. Firms as they grow are faced with two options.  Add advisors to grow number of clients, thus grow revenue or tighten up processes and overhead and layer on expertise and thus add efficiency and capacity.  WE GLADLY CHOSE THE LATTER!.  This is why in 1q/2q of 2022 we will look to add the role of a para planner.  

      2. Rather than spend time and treasure hiring local and training, we will leverage a service called “Simply Paraplanner” to find the ideal candidate.  This is a network of skilled professionals and will allow me to find a candidate that is already versed in the technology we use and the ideal client profile.  

      3. Here’s what we are looking for: 

        1. Certified Financial Planner Professional:  

        2. Have a bent towards operational/back office development.  This role is not designed to generate revenue but rather enhance through efficiencies and expertise. 

        3. Female in her late 20’s/early 30s.  The financial services industry is woefully under represented when it comes to Women and Minorities and we can do something about that.  

      4. Here’s what I don’t care about when hiring this person.  

        1. Location.  I would like the candidate to be east of the Mississippi to avoid time zone issues and perhaps meet in person once/year for offsite work but to find the best candidate who will do mostly virtual work casting a wide net is really important.  

Communication from RIM will come via:  

  1. Structured Meeting schedule for 2022 and beyond.

    • April/May 2022- Follow up from Tax Season, Review tax returns and prepare for rest of the year.  

    • August/September - 1st 3 quarter recap and look forward to the end of 2021.  Make any changes to retirement contributions, prepare for any Roth Conversions.  

    • December- Open Enrollment (Set benefits for following year, 401k, Health Insurance, Dependent care FSA, HSA etc).  Review beneficiaries, coverage amounts and projections and make any necessary changes.  (See relationship with the Cason group).  

  2. Website/Blog:

    • My Goal is to publish on the blog two times per month to keep you updated on whats going on.  

  3. Email:  Posts from the blog as well as market, tax and legislative updates that impacts YOU will be sent via email.  

  4. Facebook/Instagram Page:  

    • If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to follow @rim.financial on instagram and Facebook.  

      • Here you will see updates, charts and a weekly night cap recap.  

  5. Quarterly performance reports from OneView

As we get closer to capacity we have a choice to make.  Add more advisors which means more clients.  Or add more service which means more meaningful work.   WE GLADLY CHOSE THE LATTER.  

TAKE THE LONG VIEW!

PK

Incentives are aligned and pointed towards the future. With contacts being provided with information from the past