Episode Details

This week's guest on The Long View is financial advisor Harold Evensky, who Morningstar managing director Don Phillips has often called the "dean of financial planning."

Evensky is chairman of Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial, and he's a retired professor of personal financial planning at Texas Tech University. Evensky has been extremely active in the planning community during his career. He's the past chairman of the International CFP Council, the CFP Board of Directors, the CFP Council on Examinations, and the Board of Appeals. Evensky is a frequent public speaker and has authored several books, including The New Wealth Management. During the course of this conversation, he weighed in on the SEC's newly approved Regulation Best Interest, calling it an "unmitigated disaster." He also discussed asset allocation leading up to and in retirement, his firm's application of a core/satellite approach, and different business models for financial advice. 

Show Notes and References

Background (0:18-0:57)
• Harold Evensky bio 
• Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial 
• Personal Financial Planning Department, Texas Tech University 
• Financial Planning Standards Board Council (formerly known as "International CFP Council") 
• CFP Board of Directors (formerly "Board of Governors") 
• CFP Council on Examinations (formerly "Board of Examiners") 
• The New Wealth Management: The Financial Advisor's Guide to Managing and Investing Client Assets (CFA Institute Investment Series Book 28) by Harold Evensky 
• Books by Harold Evensky 

Evensky explains why his practice opted to charge clients a percentage of assets under advisement instead of an annual retainer: "An unmitigated disaster." (0:58-2:51)

How Evensky and his fellow practitioners spend their time: "It's all built around the planning." (2:52-4:02)

On the firm's receptiveness to younger clients with less assets to advise: "Absolutely yes." (4:03-4:40)

The future: Comprehensive, modular financial planning. (4:41-6:49)

On the commodification of financial advice: "To the general public … it pretty much looks like the same service." (6:50-7:37)

On robo-advice: "Our conclusion was ... it's dangerous." (7:38-11:15)

• "The Efficacy of Publicly Available Retirement Planning Tools" by Taft Dorman, Barry S. Mulholland, Qianwen Bi, and Harold Evensky (Oct. 9, 2018). 

Helping clients navigate turbulence: "Our goal is to call the client before they call us." (11:16-12:15)

The critical importance of communicating with clients: "Brokers and, much to my surprise, trust officers … hide under their desks." (12:16-13:02)

Where risk tolerance and client-specific circumstances come to the fore and human capital and age take a back seat: "Everything calls for a customized mix." (13:03-15:25)

• Human Capital 

"That's horrib