STAR Magazine November 2018 | Page 19

Over 200 leading women advisors, executives from Securities America, Ladenburg and its sister investment advisory and brokerage firms (IABs), third-party experts and strategic partners gathered in Dallas Oct. 9-11 for the seventh Ladenburg Institute of Women & Finance (LIWF) Symposium. This annual invitation-only event honors excellence in the profession, provides business development sessions for women advisors and offers valuable networking opportunities. Sixty-five Securities America female advisors attended this year’s symposium. In conjunction with LIWF, 10 female business majors interested in a career as a financial advisor attended the first LIFT University. Similar to the Link to the Future program that aims to fill the pipeline of new advisors entering our profession, students from the University of Georgia, the University of Central Missouri, Southern Methodist University and Texas Women’s University were paired with experienced female advisors. Participants gained exposure to critical industry concepts, began building their professional networks and developed an inside perspective to benefits of a financial services career. Thank you to Anne Buck, Catherine Cartier and Hiedi Hendrickson for serving as a guide to a student attending the symposium. Representatives from each IAB within the Ladenburg family of firms played a huge part in the planning and implementation of this incredibly inspiring and engaging event. Jaime Desmond, chief operating officer of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, chairs the planning committee and kicked off the symposium by welcoming attendees followed by opening remarks from Dick Lampen, president and CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services. Our opening keynote speaker, Karen McCullough, sponsored by Delaware Life, listed the following keys to effective personal branding: • • Discovery involves learning what others think and say about you as well as identifying what you know about yourself that others don’t. Every brand has a personality. Design addresses the need to manage the voices in our heads because our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behaviors and our behaviors change our outcomes. She recommended everyone watch TED Talk sensation, Amy Cuddy on “Power Posing.” • Distribute examines how we talk and communicate – ideally, face to face. She focused on creating moments using your mouths vs your phone. • Delivery needs clarity, consistency and constancy. She reminded us not to “Sybil” it (sounding like we have different personalities). by Janine Wertheim President of Securities America Advisors, Securities America Chief Marketing Officer Securities America 800-747-6111, ext. 1005 [email protected] In the first educational session, Aimee Johnson, vice president of Advanced Markets for Allianz Life Financial Services, described strategies to help the spouse who is financially in charge help their financially uninterested spouse. Next, Tom Warren, senior vice president for American Funds, asked attendees to: • Consider what biases you may have about clients and what biases clients may have about you that might be affecting your business. • Reflect on what measures clients use to evaluate you and why they may work with other advisors in addition to you. • Review personal biases to determine whether you say you’re an investment advisor (which means performance determines your value) or a financial advisor (which means you focus on your client’s goals). continued on page 19 NOVEMBER 2018 | The STAR 18