Introducing New CE-Eligible Podcast And Level Up Case-Study Training For New Advisors, And the State Of The (Nerd’s Eye View) Blog
As markets bounced back from spring turmoil this summer to new record highs and financial advisory firms’ growth continues undeterred by threats from AI, the industry has shifted more focus to the challenges companies face as they grow. The good news is that most consulting firms still have sky-high client retention, which gives firms constant runway to adapt and expand. The bad news is that attracting and retaining quality talent remains a challenge.
Our growth at Kitces.com has faced similar capacity challenges in recent years, with Our continued commitment is not To use AI to enhance educational content… this means we have no choice but to continue building our team of talent.Combined with our network of industry experts, Kitses can deliver human expert-curated content that meets our standards of quality, nerdiness and relevance.
However, similar to many consulting firms, old technology decisions we made years ago have left our recent advances unable to meet the ever-growing needs of the business. And so in In the year By 2025, we have embarked on a two-year cycle in which we will systematically rebuild all core technology components of our business..
We started last year Rebuilding our members’ room from the ground upIt now features a new CE Catalog, a new CE quiz system, an improved report on the status of your CE programs and accreditation organizations, and an improved My Account interface to manage all your different CE numbers. With our new framework, we are now working on several additional improvements, including:
- New “Research Scorecard” report This allows advisors participating in our research survey to see how their firms compare to other (anonymized) advisor peer groups.
- Updates to our live events page To make it easy to view all of our scheduled Live Kitces offerings in one place.
We are excited to introduce it Two new programs are underway in the second half of 2026.: Step upAnd Financial Advisor Technician Podcast!
Ours New level up program Especially the talent of the industry (or what we believe is a Training) lack of; Every week throughout the year, we conduct live case study reviews of real-world customer scenarios.Giving new consultants the opportunity to “go through the motions” on more complex clients, comparing notes and role-play scenarios with peers, all guided by a Keats instructor, explaining the case study to highlight key planning opportunities and communicating to the client how those recommendations can be formulated effectively. This month we will start a three-month pilot program for the upgrade.It’s already sold out, but you can Sign up for the watchlist now as we prepare for a widely planned release in 2027!
Another is our new launch. Financial Advisor Technician Podcast (or “FAT” for short), which will be the first podcast to qualify for CFP (and other) CE credit.! Hosted by our own financial planner Ned Adam Van Deusen, each week a new episode of FAT interviews the author of our Wednesday articles (on a variety of advanced planning topics), provides useful information and key insights, and how advisors take action with their clients. And since our Wednesday posts are already CE-eligible (readers must successfully complete the required CE quiz), FAT podcast listeners can earn the same CE credit by logging into the members’ section to take the quiz. Stay tuned for the first FAT episode on Wednesday, July 22nd!
in the meantime, We will continue to grow Our full range of CE, practice management and consultant development programs right nowA series of nine on-demand training courses, including our two half-day, virtual practice management sessions (one on marketing and the other on financial planning value) and two full-day CE Intensives (one on tax and one on ethics to meet your CFP ethics and IAR ethics requirements) quarterly virtual events, bi-weekly and a growing financial website Peer group meetings, and our full range of daily articles and two (soon to be three) podcasts! And We will continue to be an active supplier for all your (multi-label/multi-license) CE needsCFP, CPA, all designations from IWI, College of Financial Planning, American College and state-based IAR CE mandates.
Likewise, our own nerd group continues to expand. We recently hired several new team members, including Director of Member Success Christine Damacon, Director of People Operations Libby Sparks, and Senior Technical Editor Natalie Trevisan, and now we’re actively hiring for a new Executive Assistant to work with Michael Kitts to work directly with you! If you know someone who would be a good fit for our open executive assistant role Thinking about how you can get more involved with the Kits team, you can also sign up for our mailing list for specific job opportunities. (via our career opportunities page) to let you know when new positions open! And for those who don’t want to join the team full-time but want to “nerd out” with us for a while and share what they do or know with their fellow consultants; keep in mind See our “How to Contribute” page To see how you can get involved with Kits Forum as a guest writer, presenter or podcast guest!
Through it all, we’re focused on advancing our core mission – “to make financial advisors better and more successful” – through our four support strategies.NImproving advisory technology tools, intelligent delivery EEducation, conducts the original consultant RFinding and facilitating DDeveloping financial advisory skills across a range of experience and fixed sizes (and yes…our organizational strategy spells NERD). We look forward to continuing the journey with you in 2026 and beyond!
