Stephen D. Gresham 
The New Advisor for Life 
Become the Indispensable Financial Advisor to Affluent Families

Expert advice on building an unshakable foundation as a
financial advisor to the elite

The revised and updated edition of the definitive guide to
growing and maintaining a financial advice firm, The New Advisor
for Life explores the fallout of the market crash on
up-and-coming advisors. With a particular focus on the generation X
and Y concern with debt management and long-term investment, this
new edition examines what young investors look for in an advisor.
Today, more than ever, insight, analysis, and validation are
valued, but to be truly successful, an advisor needs to walk the
line between being well-informed but not appearing
condescending.

* What today’s investors want in a financial advisor is someone
who can cut through the noise and clutter of the financial services
industry and the mainstream media

* Covers the basics, from setting a client’s investment goals,
selecting complementary investments, and monitoring portfolio
balance, to the advanced–developing a personal finance plan
for your clients based on their specific needs

* Steve Gresham presents a 19-point checklist for financial
advisors to offer their clients ‘life advice’

Keeping clients engaged is more important than ever, and The
New Advisor for Life gives the aspiring financial advisor the
secrets to success normally reserved for the country’s top
firms.

Table of Content

Acknowledgments ix

Part I The State of the Advice Industry and Your Opportunities 1

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 The Value of Advice 11

Part II Investment Counsel Advice for Life 29

Chapter 2 How to Develop a Compelling

Investment Philosophy 31

Chapter 3 Creating a Defined, Effective Investment Process 55

Chapter 4 Setting Goals: What Really Matters? 63

Chapter 5 Defining Risk 97

Chapter 6 Diversification 117

Chapter 7 Alternative Investments 131

Part III Wealth-Management Advice for Life 149

Chapter 8 Managing Dreams and Fears 151

Chapter 9 You Can Help Clients Grow 161

Chapter 10 All in the Family and Keeping It That Way 171

Chapter 11 Money for Life 189

Part IV Building Your Advisor for Life Practice 207

Chapter 12 What is Your Value? 209

Chapter 13 How to Price Your Unique Value 231

Chapter 14 The Advisor-Client Tango 241

Chapter 15 Driving Referrals 263

Chapter 16 Selling Yourself 277

Chapter 17 Valuing the Advisor for Life Practice 293

Chapter 18 Taking Care of Number One 303

Appendix A Practice Analysis 323

Appendix B Investment Policy Statement 345

Appendix C Top 20 Client Analysis 355

About the Author 357

About the Contributors 359

Index 363

About the author

STEVE GRESHAM has over thirty years’ experience in the financial and investment world. He is a Visiting Instructor at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University, and is business chair of Brown’s Retirement Readiness Project. Gresham has published more than a hundred articles and has been featured in Business Week, Fortune, Investment News, and the New York Times, and is the author of four books, including Advisor for Life and The New Managed Account Solutions Handbook, both from Wiley. He was named Mutual Fund Marketer of the Year in March 2007 by Institutional Investor/Fund Action.