A number of readers responded to Dan Richards’ article, Getting Past “Blah, Blah, Blah” When Talking to Prospects, which appeared on July 23. Those responses all noted that FINRA-registered advisors are not permitted use client testimonials, as he had suggested in his article.
Richards responds to those letters below:
Many thanks to everyone who pointed out the FINRA rules prohibiting the use of testimonials, which were used by an advisor profiled in my article.
As it happens, the advisor profiled in my articles operates in Canada, where much of my work takes place and the use of testimonials is allowed. To avoid these kinds of issues, I normally have my articles for Advisor Perspectives vetted by someone with a background in U.S. compliance rules. Because of holiday schedules, this didn’t happen, leading to the oversight on testimonials.
My apologies for any confusion here. Let me say, however, that this doesn’t take away from the fundamental point in the article: To win new clients, advisors have to get past generalities and focus on concrete, specific things they do differently.
Dan Richards
President
ClientInsights
Toronto ON
The original article has been updated to address these concerns.
The following is in response to Michael Edesess’ article, The Great Debate on Inequality: Stiglitz versus Krugman, which appeared on June 25:
Dear Editor,
Interesting article – while the focus of the article was not on remedies to reduce inequality, the preferred method in the U.S. today appears to be income redistribution through higher taxes on the wealthy. I would point out that there is a huge misperception in this regard: Increased tax revenues from wealthier individuals are not redistributed to lower income individuals – it is redistributed to the authorities who levy the tax. And it generally stays there.
Washington DC has a higher Gini coefficient (i.e. greater wealth inequality) than any of the 50 states. The wealthiest county per capita (in a major metropolitan area) is also in DC – in fact, seven of the ten wealthiest counties are in the DC metropolitan area. The DC area is home to the greatest number of millionaire households on the Kiplinger List of top 10 cities, and ranks fourth overall behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
To quote Krugman’s nemesis, Ayn Rand, we have replaced the “Aristocracy of the Plutocratic Businessman” with the “Aristocracy of Pull.”
David Duebendorfer
President and Chief Operating Officer
Artemis Wealth Advisors, LLC
New York, NY
Michael Edesess responds:
I agree there's been a rise in the "Aristocracy of Pull," but I don't see how it could be a direct result of tax revenues and their distribution. It's gotten worse in the last 10 years -- a period of lowered tax rates. So I think a diagnosis of the problem has to look in other directions.
