Model FA Podcast

For years, wealth management firms have looked for ways to unlock wealth management growth, become more valuable to their clients, and differentiate themselves beyond traditional investment management. Financial planning, estate planning, insurance, and other services have become increasingly important pieces of the client relationship. But one area continues to stand out as both a major opportunity for financial advisor tax planning and a major operational challenge for advisory firms: tax. Many advisors understand the value of financial advisor tax planning. The problem is execution. Building an in-house tax practice can require finding and retaining talent, integrating outdated technology, managing a seasonal workload, and creating systems that connect tax professionals with the broader wealth management team.   In this episode of The Model FA Podcast, David DeCelle sits down with Raj Doshi, President and COO of April, to discuss how embedded tax technology is changing the way financial advisors and wealth management firms serve their clients. Raj explains why tax returns represent one of the most comprehensive sources of financial information available, and how firms can leverage embedded tax technology to uncover opportunities, deepen client relationships, and drive tax-driven client acquisition. David and Raj also explore the growing demand for family office-style services, why clients increasingly expect their financial professionals to work together, and how technology can help advisors offer tax services without necessarily building a traditional tax department from scratch.   The conversation also covers Raj's career journey through McKinsey, Google, growth-stage companies, TaxAct, Avantax, and eventually April. Drawing from his experience participating in multiple business exits, Raj shares an important lesson for entrepreneurs and firm owners: the best way to prepare a business for an eventual exit is to stay focused on building a great business.   In This Episode, You'll Learn: • Why embedded tax technology is becoming a major competitive advantage for wealth management growth • How the tax return can provide one of the most comprehensive views into a client's financial life • Why advisors are increasingly looking to financial advisor tax planning to create alpha outside of portfolio management • How tax services can help advisors uncover held-away assets and new planning opportunities • Why clients often think about investments, taxes, insurance, and estate planning as part of one financial relationship • How April helps firms offer tax filing, tax planning, and tax data insights • Why advisors do not necessarily need to build or acquire a tax practice to offer tax services • How a three-way collaboration between the client, advisor, and tax professional can create a more connected experience • Why legacy tax software and disconnected systems can create major operational bottlenecks • How automation and AI can help tax professionals operate more efficiently • Why tax season creates a natural opportunity for advisors to engage clients and identify changes in their financial lives • How tax-driven client acquisition strategies improve prospect conversion, onboarding, and asset gathering • Why outsourcing tax work does not have to mean losing visibility into the client relationship • Raj's biggest lessons from participating in multiple business exits • Why entrepreneurs should keep operating and growing the business through the finish line, even during a sale process   Raj also shares how his career has evolved across consulting, technology, financial services, and entrepreneurship. After starting at McKinsey and later working at Google, Raj developed experience in corporate finance, wealth management, growth strategy, and building businesses. His time at Blucora, which owned both TaxAct and Avantax, gave him firsthand experience with embedded tax technology and financial advisor tax planning, ultimately shaping his path to April.   If you're a financial advisor or wealth management firm exploring how tax-driven client acquisition fits into your long-term wealth management growth strategy, this conversation offers a practical look at the opportunities and operational challenges involved. Whether you're considering tax filing, tax planning, better use of client data, or an embedded tax technology service model, Raj provides a useful framework for thinking about where the industry is headed.   Connect with Raj Doshi and April Connect with Raj Doshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajrdoshi  Learn more about April: https://www.getapril.com/ Connect with April on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getapril/   About the Model FA Podcast The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no "gotchas" or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams.    Did you like this conversation? Then leave us a rating and a review in whatever podcast player you use. We would love your feedback, and your ratings help us reach more advisors with ideas for growing their practices, attracting great clients, and achieving a better quality of life. While you are there, feel free to share your ideas about future podcast guests or topics you'd love to see covered.    Our Team: President of Model FA, David DeCelle   If you like this podcast, you will love our community! Join the Model FA Community on Facebook to connect with like-minded advisors and share the day-to-day challenges and wins of running a growing financial services firm.

Financial advisors are surrounded by marketing advice. Post more videos. Build a personal brand. Pick a niche. Send more emails. Improve your website. Start a podcast. But which of those things actually moves the needle? In this episode of The Model FA Podcast, David DeCelle sits down with Zeke Silvani, CEO of Tango, for a candid conversation about what effective marketing really looks like for financial advisors. Zeke pushes back on the idea that advisors need to become influencers or produce an endless stream of content to grow. Instead, he believes successful marketing starts with a defined audience, compelling messaging, consistent outreach, and a system for following up with the people you want to serve. David and Zeke also discuss why marketing tactics rarely work in isolation. A prospect may receive a cold email, but before responding, they are likely to Google the advisor, visit the website, check LinkedIn, watch a video, or read reviews. Every one of those touchpoints helps build, or erode, the trust necessary to turn outreach into a conversation. The conversation also explores one of the biggest mistakes advisors make: constantly starting and stopping marketing strategies. Rather than searching for the next shortcut, David and Zeke argue that advisors should choose an approach that fits their strengths, build a repeatable system around it, and give it enough time to work. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why great marketing is an ecosystem, not one magic tactic Why advisors don't need to become social media celebrities to grow How targeted prospecting can create a predictable stream of opportunities Why Zeke defines trust as a combination of warmth and competence How your website, reviews, videos, LinkedIn presence, and brand support outbound marketing Why follow-up is one of the most important, and overlooked, parts of lead generation The danger of jumping from one marketing strategy to another too quickly Why advisors often feel burned by marketing agencies and consultants The value of working with marketers who understand the financial services industry Why AI-generated content can hurt your brand when it feels impersonal or low-effort How Zeke's experience at Google, Capital One, private equity, and a legal marketing agency ultimately led him to launch Tango Zeke also shares his journey from hedge fund analyst to Google, Capital One, private equity, and eventually entrepreneurship. After experiencing what it was like to work inside massive organizations, he discovered that entrepreneurship gave him something different: the ability to do work where the connection between effort, value, and results was much more immediate. If you're a financial advisor who feels overwhelmed by conflicting marketing advice—or you're wondering why the tactics you've tried haven't produced the results you expected—this conversation offers a more practical way to think about growth. Connect with Zeke Silvani Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silvani/ About the Model FA Podcast: The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no "gotchas" or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams.  Did you like this conversation? Then leave us a rating and a review in whatever podcast player you use. We would love your feedback, and your ratings help us reach more advisors with ideas for growing their practices, attracting great clients, and achieving a better quality of life. While you are there, feel free to share your ideas about future podcast guests or topics you'd love to see covered.  Our Team: President of Model FA, David DeCelle If you like this podcast, you will love our community! Join the Model FA Community on Facebook to connect with like-minded advisors and share the day-to-day challenges and wins of running a growing financial services firm.  

In this episode of the Model FA Podcast, David DeCelle sits down with Matthew Halloran, Chief Evangelist at Zocks, for a conversation that goes way beyond financial advisor technology. Matthew shares his journey from therapist, to life coach at Carson, to building Proudmouth, to helping advisors reclaim their time and use it more intentionally. The conversation covers persistence, personal growth, client experience, organic growth, niche marketing, and why the best advisory firms are not just focused on more AUM, but on helping more people. David and Matthew also dig into how advisors can use freed-up time from technology and AI to create better client events, deepen relationships, uncover opportunities inside their existing book of business, and build a practice that supports a better life. If you are a financial advisor looking to grow with more intention, create stronger client relationships, and rethink how you spend your time, this episode is for you. In this episode, David and Matthew discuss: • Matthew's path from therapy to financial services coaching • Why advisors need support beyond practice management • The role of persistence, resilience, and asking for help • How client events can become a powerful organic growth strategy • Why advisors should create "return on moments" for clients • The importance of choosing a hyper-focused niche • Why marketing often takes 18–24 months before momentum compounds • How AI and integrated technology can uncover opportunities inside your existing client base • Why growth should be framed around helping more people, not just adding more assets • How better listening can improve client relationships and personal relationships When advisors get time back, the goal should not be to simply fill that time with more busywork. The opportunity is to reinvest that time into deeper client relationships, better experiences, more focused growth, and a better life outside the business. #ModelFAPodcast #FinancialAdvisorMarketing #AdvisorGrowth #ClientExperience #OrganicGrowth #FinancialAdvisors #PracticeManagement #AIForAdvisors #DavidDeCelle #MatthewHalloran Connect with Matthew Halloran: LinkedIn: Search Matthew Halloran Book: Shut the F Up and Listen TEDx Talk: Search "Matt Halloran TEDx" Zox: Zocks.io About the Model FA Podcast The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no "gotchas" or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams.  Did you like this conversation? Then leave us a rating and a review in whatever podcast player you use. We would love your feedback, and your ratings help us reach more advisors with ideas for growing their practices, attracting great clients, and achieving a better quality of life. While you are there, feel free to share your ideas about future podcast guests or topics you'd love to see covered.  Our Team: President of Model FA, David DeCelle If you like this podcast, you will love our community! Join the Model FA Community on Facebook to connect with like-minded advisors and share the day-to-day challenges and wins of running a growing financial services firm.

In this Part 2 conversation, David DeCelle, CEO of ModelFA, sits back down with Daniel Gourvitch of Mercer Advisors to dig into the brass tacks of organic growth for financial advisors and RIAs. Building on Part 1's focus on mindset and firm design, this episode is all about execution. Daniel shares stories from Mercer's experience serving family office clients, creative professionals, and other specialized segments, while David brings data and examples from his work helping advisory firms build intentional growth systems. Key Topics Covered ✅ Why growth is an outcome, not a single tactic ✅ The hierarchy: Know yourself → Know who you serve → Build around that ✅ The 2 "must-have" and 1 "nice-to-have" boxes for choosing a niche ✅ How Mercer helps advisors find what lights them up and build around it ✅ The role of process in organic growth ✅ The referral gap ✅ David's three simple referral processes ✅ Daniel's three mindset & behavior shifts for referrals: ✅ Why sharing your real life (family, milestones, etc.) deepens loyalty and forgiveness when mistakes happen ✅ Marketing & branding for advisors: ✅ Education-first marketing: ✅ Authenticity & community impact: If you're tired of "accidental growth" and want a more predictable, values-aligned way to grow your firm, this episode is for you. #FinancialAdvisor #OrganicGrowth #RIAGrowth #WealthManagement #AdvisorMarketing #ModelFAPodcast #MercerAdvisors  Connect with Daniel: Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.merceradvisors.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-gourvitch-59562b5/ About the Model FA Podcast The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no "gotchas" or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams.  Did you like this conversation? Then leave us a rating and a review in whatever podcast player you use. We would love your feedback, and your ratings help us reach more advisors with ideas for growing their practices, attracting great clients, and achieving a better quality of life. While you are there, feel free to share your ideas about future podcast guests or topics you'd love to see covered.  Our Team: President of Model FA, David DeCelle If you like this podcast, you will love our community! Join the Model FA Community on Facebook to connect with like-minded advisors and share the day-to-day challenges and wins of running a growing financial services firm.  

Most financial advisory firms say they want organic growth. But very few are honest about what it actually takes to create it. In this episode of the Model FA Podcast, David DeCelle is joined by Daniel Gourvitch, President of Mercer Advisors, for a deep conversation on why organic growth in the RIA and wealth management space is so difficult, what firms often misunderstand about growth, and why client impact has to come before business metrics. Daniel shares his journey from McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock to Mercer Advisors, and explains how Mercer built a growth engine rooted in fiduciary advice, integrated planning, client experience, and long-term consistency. The conversation explores why AUM can be a misleading growth metric, why many firms mistake market appreciation for actual growth, and why organic growth is not a single activity. It is the outcome of many connected systems working together over time. David and Daniel also discuss referrals, client trust, advisor specialization, the difference between serving clients and finding new families, and why firms need to think structurally about growth instead of chasing disconnected marketing tactics. In This Episode ✅ Why organic growth is an outcome, not an activity ✅ How Mercer Advisors thinks about serving families, not just growing AUM ✅ Why many advisory firms believe they are growing when they may only be benefiting from market growth ✅ The difference between AUM growth and true revenue growth ✅ Why firms struggle to build repeatable organic growth systems ✅ How client experience drives referrals and long-term firm health ✅ Why growth requires patience, consistency, and connected execution ✅ How Mercer separates client service and client development roles ✅ Why advisor personality matters when building a growth model ✅ How Model FA's Advisor DNA framework fits into the organic growth conversation If you are a financial advisor, RIA founder, or wealth management leader trying to grow beyond market performance, referrals by accident, or M&A alone, this episode will challenge how you think about organic growth. #FinancialAdvisor #OrganicGrowth #RIAGrowth #WealthManagement #AdvisorMarketing #ModelFAPodcast #MercerAdvisors Connect with Daniel: Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.merceradvisors.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-gourvitch-59562b5/ About the Model FA Podcast The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no "gotchas" or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams.  Did you like this conversation? Then leave us a rating and a review in whatever podcast player you use. We would love your feedback, and your ratings help us reach more advisors with ideas for growing their practices, attracting great clients, and achieving a better quality of life. While you are there, feel free to share your ideas about future podcast guests or topics you'd love to see covered.  Our Team: President of Model FA, David DeCelle If you like this podcast, you will love our community! Join the Model FA Community on Facebook to connect with like-minded advisors and share the day-to-day challenges and wins of running a growing financial services firm.