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Podcast: How Nina O’Neal Wins Hearts with Nitrogen

We were thrilled to hear a Nitrogen client and power user, Nina O’Neal of Archer Investment Management, make an appearance on Michael Kitces’ Financial Advisor Success podcast.

In addition to her insights about what it takes to run a successful advisory firm over the long term, Nina dove into best practices with Nitrogen around the twelve-minute mark and shared how her technology toolkit helps her deliver better advice to her clients.

Great stuff, right? Here are the three main observations we took away from listening to Nina’s interview.

Risk, Front and Center
During the interview, Michael Kitces commented on how historically, identifying a client’s risk tolerance has been seen as something to be checked off a list, so as not to incur issues during an exam, rather than an integral step in building the advisor-client relationship.

But Nina sees risk differently. Though there’s nothing better than Nitrogen for best-interest documentation, Nina “does risk right” by making it a central part of setting expectations from day one with a client.

When positioned at the beginning of a relationship, the Risk Number® becomes a key part of how Nina shows a prospect that her recommended portfolio is going to help them achieve a “comfort zone” with their investments.

A Language Everyone Understands
A conservative investment portfolio may mean something different to everyone. As Nina points out, her 91-year-old grandfather owns 100% equities, but he considers himself to be a conservative investor.

The Risk Number makes conversations easier for Nina, because it gives her a clear reference point that everyone understands. 

When risk is level-set on an objective scale, it gives Nina a clear definition and room to explain how a client’s previous portfolio and their new recommended portfolio compare to each other, and how that difference affects their perception of what their investments should do.

The Behavioral Side of Risk
Nina uses Risk Assessments in-person with prospective clients so she can read body language and get a deeper understanding of how each person feels about the emotional side of investing.

This tactic is especially useful with couples, who may not always see eye-to-eye on how they want to invest. 

As she observes the conversation dynamics between couples, Nina not only gets clarity on their individual and shared Risk Numbers, she also gets an early heads up on how to tailor the expert financial advice they need to receive from her.

These are only three takeaways from the podcast, and you can learn much more about deepening client relationships during the full one-hour and fifty-three minute recording.

Listen to the podcast or read the interview transcription here on Kitces.com.


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