SUCCESS STORY

Advisor wins $1.8M client using Nitrogen

For this advisor, educating clients and prospects about investment risk isn’t optional – it’s an essential part of his firm’s continued growth.

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“If I want to do my job the right way, then I have to help my clients understand the probability of what could happen to their investments. Every single client deserves a Risk Number.”
— ERIK LILLIBRIDGE

Erik Lillibridge is a strong believer that every client, no matter their size, deserves the same attention to detail when it comes to managing their investments. Even more importantly, each client should develop a clear understanding of how their investments are being managed. That’s why, as his practice faced double-digit year-over-year growth, he enlisted the help of Riskalyze; and has seen an undeniably impressive ROI.

Enter Nitrogen

Erik Lillibridge, private wealth advisor at Sagemark Consulting in Hartford, CT, has been helping business owners and individuals manage their financial lives for 20 years. As a business owner himself, he was living proof of how a growing client-base can put a strain on any business – and as his practice began to see double-digit growth year-over-year, he figured he’d give Nitrogen a spin to see if it could help maintain a deep level of client service.

“I began to play around with the software, and I realized that it was really tailored to help my firm, specifically,” said Erik. “It was clear that Nitrogen would make conversations with clients much more engaging than simply reviewing their portfolios had.”

Erik had a few informative meetings with Nitrogen tech specialists before he hit the ground running, using the software with clients right away.

“When I put clients and prospects through the Risk Number® questionnaire, they just get it. They see the actual potential dollar loss, and immediately gain a better understanding of risk and return, especially on the potential downside.”

Elevated client relationship

Erik has made Nitrogen an integral part of every client’s experience. No matter the net worth of the client, everyone is assigned a Risk Number, which he says is the epicenter of their client discussions.

Erik uses portfolio analytics in Nitrogen to demonstrate investment scenarios that keep clients within their 95% Probability Range, while either matching or outperforming their current potential for return.

“The reporting can get pretty detailed, but my clients have a clear understanding of why they’re invested according to their Risk Number. So, it makes our conversations much more productive.”

Erik also uses Retirement Maps to demonstrate to clients how annuities can become predictable income for them in the long term. Retirement Maps illustrates risk capacity at a glance to help show his clients how much risk they need to take on in order to reach their goals. When Erik plugs annuities into a portfolio, Retirement Maps helps clients visualize the effect they have on retirement and keep them confident in the plan.

Stand-out prospecting

Erik noted that his fiduciary responsibility extends beyond his current clients, and onto his prospective ones. That is why he is happy to use Nitrogen to demonstrate if an investor is on track towards their financial goals.

“Even if I’m only managing part of their assets, or none at all, Nitrogen is a great tool to make sure we’re on the same page during our conversations, especially if there is more than one advisor involved,” said Erik.

This detailed analysis has helped Erik steadily grow his practice, both acquiring outside clients and obtaining more assets from current ones.

The moment Erik implemented Nitrogen into his process, he was able to use it successfully. So, how’d his first at-bat go? It was an absolute grand slam.

“Nitrogen is eye-opening for clients and prospects – the very first time I used it in a presentation, I brought in $1.8 million.”

Not bad, Erik!

Compliance & efficiency

At every part of the investment process, Erik believes that Nitrogen plays an important role in protecting his most coveted asset – time.

“The business has definitely streamlined. Meetings are shorter and more productive, and the technology eliminates a lot of the work that was previously on my plate,” said Erik. “I used to call my clients 4-6 times per year, but now with Check-ins, we can have better conversations without having to review portfolios.”

Eric values a streamlined process when it comes to compliance. Erik believes that Nitrogen plays a key role in ensuring everyone remains fully compliant.

In today’s ever-changing regulatory landscape, not only is it more important than ever to act in the best interests of clients, advisors must be able to prove it objectively. And while compliance technology is rarely exciting for today’s fast-paced advisor, Erik says that documenting the best interest standard is a breeze.

“I love the notes section because it documents everything my clients and I discuss – it completely backs up anything I need and helps me sleep at night,” said Erik.

The thing that surprises Erik the most about Nitrogen? That not every advisor out there uses it.

“I want to be an expert in Nitrogen, so that as it continues to evolve, I’ll be on the cutting edge of something great.”

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