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Most advice firms don’t actually have a capacity problem. They have a pricing problem that shows up as a capacity problem. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with advisory firms lately about value-based pricing. The idea resonates quickly. Move away from assets and hours, and toward the outcomes clients are actually seeking. Price the relationship based on what it’s worth, not how long it takes. But there’s a trap that shows up when firms try to move in that direction. I

Most of the AI conversations I’m hearing right now in advice firms sound very similar. They usually start with a sense of urgency, move quickly into workflows, and end with a plan to automate, outsource, and streamline as much as possible. The logic is straightforward. If we can reduce the time spent on low-value work, we can serve more clients, improve margins, and create capacity. None of that is wrong. It’s just incomplete because it assumes the work itself stays the same.

Advisory firms often position their fees based on who the client will work with. A senior advisor costs more, a junior advisor costs less, and the fee flexes depending on who’s in the room. It feels logical, but it creates a few problems. It ties value to individuals, it introduces inconsistency, and it puts pressure on a handful of people to justify the highest fees. I spoke with an advisor the other day who recently moved away from that model. They set one minimum fee for n

I heard a presenter the other day say something that stopped me in my tracks: “AI won’t replace advisors, it will expose the unclear ones.” Whoa. Say it louder for the people in the back. There’s a lot of discussion right now about how AI will affect the financial advice industry. Some advisors are excited. Some are skeptical. Some are quietly hoping it will not matter. The most common reaction I hear is something like this: “AI can’t replace what we do. Advice is relational.

I recently posted on LinkedIn that AUM-only models will be functionally dead within a decade, and it got a strong reaction from advisors. That did not surprise me. Whenever you challenge the default pricing structure in this industry, people get defensive fast. Not because they are stupid. Not because they are unethical. But because AUM has been the dominant model for so long that many advisors have built their identity, profitability, and client experience around it. If you