Modern Financial Advisor

AI is already inside your firm, whether you planned for it or not — and John O'Connell has the data (and the horror stories) to prove it. John O'Connell, Founder & CEO of The Oasis Group, joins Mike Langford for a wide-ranging conversation on where wealth management firms actually stand on AI adoption. John opens with a story that'll make every compliance officer sit up: a firm turned on Microsoft Copilot, connected it to SharePoint, and assumed their HR directory was safe because employees "couldn't see it." It wasn't. Employees were able to query Copilot directly for who was on a performance improvement plan — and it answered. From there, John and Mike dig into his framework for sorting firms by how they're handling AI: the Vanguards and Roadrunners racing ahead, the Tasmanian Devils and Bison finding their footing, and the Ostriches hoping it all blows over. They cover why "vibe coding" your own AI tools without a professional developer reviewing the work can leave the door open to SQL injection attacks and runaway costs, why the best first AI use case is almost always the most boring task in your firm (not the flashiest), and how AI could help close the gap for new advisors — John points to a FINRA stat that 85% of advisors quit before their fifth year, right around the point most successful advisors say they finally felt it click. What You'll Learn: John's five-camp AI adoption framework: Vanguards, Roadrunners, Tasmanian Devils, Bison, and OstrichesHow a Microsoft Copilot + SharePoint misconfiguration exposed sensitive HR dataThe security risks of "vibe coding" AI tools without developer reviewWhy the most boring use case in your firm is usually the best place to start with AIUsing AI to help new advisors reach "escape velocity" fasterWhy "written by advisors for advisors" is a red flag, not a selling point About John O'Connell: John is the Founder and CEO of The Oasis Group, a consultancy helping wealth management and wealth technology firms with technology strategy, cybersecurity, and AI implementation. He publishes the Peaks Perspective newsletter to over 70,000 subscribers and has delivered 20+ keynotes this year, including as a standing AI speaker for Schwab. Connect with John: LinkedIn | The Oasis Group Episode Chapters: 0:00 — Cold Open: The AI "Chainsaw" Warning1:02 — Welcome & Episode Preview2:30 — John O'Connell's Origin Story: From "Brain on a Stick" to Founder4:20 — A Brief History of AI: The Two AI Winters7:50 — How AI Learned to Predict (Deep Blue, GPS, and Autocomplete)14:50 — The Five Camps: Vanguards, Roadrunners, Tasmanian Devils, Bison & Ostriches20:00 — How Microsoft Copilot Exposed a Firm's HR Data24:45 — Why "No AI" Compliance Policies Don't Work26:50 — Start With the Use Case Nobody Wants to Do31:25 — AI for Investment Research & Portfolio Concentration Risk35:45 — The Vibe-Coding Security Trap (SQL Injection & the MOVEit Hack)43:30 — Practical First Steps: Weekly Briefings & RFP Automation49:00 — Helping Advisors Reach "Escape Velocity" Faster52:25 — Where to Find John O'Connell & Closing Subscribe to The Modern Financial Advisor Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, or wherever you like to get your podcast fix. Have a guest or topic suggestion? Email [email protected] or find Mike at @MikeLangford everywhere online.

Frank Burke, Chief Investment Officer at PPB Capital Partners, joins Mike Langford to unpack why private markets are having such a moment for financial advisors right now. Frank has been at PPB since 2017, helping RIAs across the country build custom private fund structures and get curated access to alternative investment strategies — and he brings a rare vantage point on what's actually driving client demand for alts today. The conversation starts with the "SpaceX effect" — how high-profile IPOs like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI are pulling client attention toward private markets, often years after the real opportunity has already played out. From there, Frank and Mike dig into his framework of "curation over accumulation," why building a proprietary, white-labeled fund structure has become one of the clearest ways advisors can differentiate in a commoditized business, and the liquidity education gap that's catching more advisors off guard than most would admit. Frank also shares a genuinely overlooked alt asset class — legal settlement finance, where investors provide capital against law firm cases that have already settled and are sitting in escrow — along with how AI's exploding energy demand is quietly creating new private credit opportunities in power infrastructure. They close with Frank's 10-year outlook on where private markets access is headed for retail and IRA investors. And yes, there's a little Sixers-Celtics trash talk to open things up, because Frank's a Sixers fan and Mike can't help himself. 🔗 Connect with Frank Burke on LinkedIn or visit PPB Capital Partners 🔗 Connect with Mike Langford on LinkedIn Chapters: 00:00 — Cold Open 00:19 — Intro & Welcome 01:31 — Sixers-Celtics Trash Talk 04:08 — Frank's Elevator Pitch: What PPB Capital Partners Does 06:43 — Pull vs. Push: What's Driving Advisor Interest in Private Markets 10:00 — The SpaceX Effect and the End of "Free Money" Growth 13:20 — Legal Settlement Finance: Lending to Law Firms 16:55 — The Newsweek Indicator: Getting In Before Everyone Else 18:19 — Manager Selection and the Power of Independent Due Diligence 23:19 — Curation Over Accumulation: Building Your Own Differentiator 27:24 — Local and Direct Investing as a Client Engagement Tool 30:11 — Closing the Advisor Education Gap on Alts 34:34 — You Don't Have to Be a Hero: Trusting the Manager 38:41 — AI, Energy Infrastructure, and the Picks-and-Shovels Play 40:07 — Frank's 10-Year Crystal Ball for Private Markets 42:39 — Wrap-Up & Where to Find Frank

Ben Lewis, Chief Communications and Development Officer at the Financial Planning Association (FPA), joins Mike Langford to make the case that the age of AI is actually the best moment in years for financial advisors to stand out and get noticed — if they know how to show up as humans. Ben shares the framework behind his whitepaper "The Human Edge: Why Relationship-Driven PR Still Wins in the Age of AI," including the critical difference between being a source and being a resource, how to use client questions as a pitch pipeline, and why FPA MediaSource has a 64.5% repeat journalist rate. If you've ever wanted to get quoted in a major publication or build a media profile that drives real business, this episode is your roadmap. Connect with Ben Lewis at the Financial Planning Association and get access to The Human Edge whitepaper at FPA MediaSource. In this episode we cover: Why the AI noise explosion is actually good news for advisors who show up as humansThe source vs. resource distinction and how to move from one to the otherHow to use your client question notebook to generate a steady stream of story pitchesHow to recognize when a question becomes a trend — and why that changes everythingHow FPA MediaSource works and what advisors who use it well are actually doingWhy compliance culture is training advisors to say nothing worth quotingThe handwritten thank-you note that almost no one sends anymore Chapters: 00:00 Cold Open — Shut Off Your Targeting System 00:52 Intro 01:58 Welcome Ben Lewis 04:15 From Political Campaigns to Financial Services PR 08:10 The Noise Has Never Been Louder — And That's Good News 11:01 The Finfluencer Problem and the Sea of Sameness 13:46 AI Search and Why Your Expertise Needs to Show Up There 16:31 How Financial Advisors Should Think About PR 18:29 Getting Started: Two Things Ben Tells Everyone 21:50 The Client Notebook — Your Pitch Pipeline 22:48 When a Question Becomes a Trend 24:03 Earned Media vs. Advertising 29:43 The Philadelphia Planner Story 32:45 Source vs. Resource: The Distinction That Changes Everything 40:19 FPA MediaSource — How It Works 45:47 The Member Who Got 50 Placements in Four Months 50:12 Say Something Worth Quoting 53:01 Don't Let AI Write Your Pitch 55:07 Nobody Hands You That Trust 56:02 Outro

What does curling have to do with your firm's data infrastructure? More than you'd think. In this episode, Mike Langford sits down with Kristefor Lysne, President of Terrapin Technologies, for a conversation about the messy data problem quietly working against wealth management firms — and why getting your data house in order is the prerequisite for everything coming next with AI. Kristefor has spent 30+ years helping wealth management firms aggregate, normalize, and automate the data behind advisor compensation, reporting, and compliance. He's also a competitive curler at the St. Paul Curling Club — and he has the perfect analogy for what bad data really looks like inside your firm. In this episode: Why AI doesn't fix messy data — it amplifies itThe brittle spreadsheet trap that breaks when key people leave the firmWhat "bad rocks" in curling taught us about hidden data problemsWhy clean, governed data is the prerequisite for AI adoptionThe difference between a SaaS product and a tech-enabled serviceAEO (Agent Engine Optimization) — what's replacing traditional SEOWho the right firm is for a solution like Terrapin Resources & Links: Dan Zitting, CEO of Nitrogen Wealth — The Modern Financial Advisor PodcastOliver Freigang, CEO of qashqade — The 6 x 6lock Podcast Chapters: 0:00 Cold Open: The Curling Reveal 0:42 Intro 1:48 Kristefor's Curling Life 10:18 Terrapin Technologies: The 60-Second Pitch 12:57 Hidden Data Problems at Wealth Management Firms 16:54 The Brittle Spreadsheet Trap 20:42 AI, Vibe Coding & Why Governance Matters 26:26 Garbage In, Garbage Out: AI Doesn't Fix Messy Data 28:14 How Terrapin Normalizes & Cleans Your Data 31:38 Who Is the Right Firm for Terrapin? 35:00 The Promise: What Becomes Possible With Clean Data 37:31 Clean Data Is the Prerequisite for AI 40:26 MCP Servers & the Future of AI Interfaces 41:15 AEO: What's Replacing SEO 47:07 Where to Find Kristefor & Terrapin Technologies 48:17 Outro

This episode almost didn't happen — it was recorded on the fly after Domenick D'Andrea introduced himself between sessions at the Nitrogen Fearless Investing Summit in Denver. Domenick, co-founder of DanDarah Wealth Management, explains how saying yes to every podcast, webinar, and conference stage built him enough industry credibility that clients arrive presold, why AI search is already sending him new business, and how he makes sure every spouse in a couple feels like his client — not just one. In this episode we cover: Why saying yes to podcasts, webinars, and conference stages builds instant credibility with prospects- Picking tech that integrates with what you already use, instead of chasing every new tool- How AI search results ("best financial advisor near me") are already sending him new clients, and the Google reviews strategy behind it- The personal posts (his daughter's dance competitions) that turn followers into clients- Why he treats every spouse in a couple as an equal client, and the divorce-rate data behind it- How clients now run his advice through ChatGPT before saying yes, including the $10M Roth conversion story that landed a skeptical prospect- His niche — pre-retirees and retirees — and the "sleep-at-night" factor that keeps them there Connect with Domenick D'Andrea on LinkedIn. Check out Domenick D'Andrea on YouTube. Learn more about DanDarah Wealth Management. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 An impromptu conversation at the Nitrogen Fearless Investing Summit 04:00 Picking tech that integrates, not tech for tech's sake 08:00 How AI search is already sending him new clients 12:00 Why saying yes to every stage builds instant credibility 15:00 The personal posts that turn followers into clients 17:00 Treating both spouses as equal clients 21:00 Clients now vet advice with ChatGPT, and a $10M Roth story 24:00 His niche: pre-retirees, retirees, and the sleep-at-night factor 26:00 Where to find Domenick D'Andrea