Episodes

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson is joined by Will Bergen from Canvas to discuss the Canvas Managed Options program to break down how advisors can use managed options strategies to address real-world client needs—from generating incremental cash flow and managing downside risk to navigating concentrated stock positions. We explore how covered-call and hedged-equity strategies work, what investors are giving up in exchange for income or protection, and why an options overlay can off...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Michael Batnick sits down with Robb Baldwin, CEO of TradePMR, to discuss the evolution of the RIA custody business and what comes next now that TradePMR is part of Robinhood. Robb shares the story behind founding TradePMR, the types of independent advisors the platform was built to serve, and how Robinhood’s entrance into wealth management changes the competitive landscape. They dig into the opportunities to challenge incumbents like Schwab and Fidelity, the c...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Joseph Moore, author of How to Get Rich in American History, joins Ben Carlson to discuss 300 years of financial advice. What works, what doesn’t, and how our ideas about building wealth have changed over time. They also discuss real estate as a wealth-building tool, when it makes sense to sell versus hold, how real estate compares with stocks, and why your personality should play a role in how you invest. This episode is sponsored by Betterment Advisor Solut...

How much money do you actually need to start an RIA? On this episode of Talking Wealth, Michael Batnick asked Tobias Salinger, Chief Correspondent at Financial Planning, who has probably talked to more first year firm owners than anyone alive. He wrote a 30 part series on the whole thing, from launch to exit. They covered the stuff nobody tells you before you leave. What it costs on day one. How long until the business pays you anything. Compliance, tech, custodians, and everything in between. I...

Is the traditional 60/40 portfolio too conservative for retirement? On this episode of Ben with Benefits, Ben Carlson sits down with Bob Pozen, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, former executive at Fidelity and MFS, and bestselling author of Extreme Productivity, to discuss his controversial 90/10 retirement portfolio framework. They debate how much risk retirees really need to take, sequence-of-returns risk, whether today's higher bond yields change the equation, and why many investors may be holdi...

ETFs have completely transformed how we invest for our clients. Cheaper, more tax-efficient, more transparent — it's been one of the great wins for investors over the last twenty-five years. But folks, we are not in Kansas anymore. The same wrapper that gave us three basis point index funds is now giving us double-levered single stocks, funds that hold literal sports bets — there's a filing right now for an ETF that would hold 40 to 80 event contracts on NFL and NBA games. Not the sportsbook st...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson sits down with Brian Portnoy, founder and CEO of Shaping Wealth and author of The Geometry of Wealth, to discuss the psychology behind great financial advice. They explore how advisors can improve their own decision-making, coach clients through uncertainty, and use behavioral finance to build stronger relationships. They also dive into AI's growing role in wealth management, Brian's new AI platform Lydia, what the future of the advisor-client rela...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Josh Brown sits down with Onur Erzan, President of AllianceBernstein, to discuss what it really takes to serve America's ultra-high-net-worth families. They explore how wealth management changes at the $200 million level, why investment performance alone isn't enough, the growing importance of succession planning, governance, and multi-generational wealth transfer, how alternatives fit into ultra-wealthy portfolios, and why human advisors remain indispensable ...

Jon Stein founded Betterment — one of the first companies to deliver real financial advice to the mass affluent at scale. Now he's back with a new company, Warmer, a platform for helping people find the right human financial advisor. It's a fascinating moment to build it, with AI increasingly able to deliver quality advice to that same mass affluent client. So where do human advisors fit in — and what does Warmer get right that so many advisor-matching platforms have gotten wrong? Michael Batnic...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson is joined by David Lau, founder and CEO of DPL Financial Partners. They discuss the evolving role of insurance and annuities in financial planning, why many advisors remain wary of these products, how annuities can help manage retirement income and longevity risk, and the impact AI could have on the future of the insurance industry. For more from Talking Wealth sign up at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://talkingwealthpod.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Participants in...

There's never been a more disruptive moment in wealth management — and few people are shaping it more directly than my guest this week. Jason Wenk is the founder and CEO of Altruist, the modern custodian built exclusively for RIAs that's grown into one of the largest custodians in the country, serving nearly 5,000 advisory firms. But the conversation everyone's having right now is about AI. When Altruist rolled out its AI-powered tax agent earlier this year, it shaved millions off competitors' ...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Josh Brown and Sarah Solomon discuss why financial planners are reporting record-high compensation and job satisfaction, Robinhood's aggressive expansion into wealth management and advisor recruiting, and how SpaceX employees are teaming up to negotiate lower advisory fees ahead of the company's anticipated IPO. This episode is sponsored by TEMA. Learn more about their ETF lineup at https://temaetfs.com/ For more from Talking Wealth sign up at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h...

SpaceX just filed to go public, and this isn't just another IPO — it's shaping up to be the biggest one in history. The company is targeting a valuation around $1.75 trillion and looking to raise as much as $75 billion, which would make it roughly three times the size of the largest U.S. IPO on record. It's set to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with June 12th cited as the expected listing date. And here's the part that matters most for advisors: a reported 30% of the float is being e...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, we’re going to talk about one of the biggest challenges advisors face in portfolio construction: How do you improve diversification and add alternative return streams without sacrificing your core equity and bond exposure? Jeremy Schwartz from WisdomTree is here to talk about capital efficiency in portfolio management, how to think about the intelligent use of leverage and how to effectively add alternative sources of diversification to your portfolio all whil...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Michael Batnick is joined by Brent Sullivan to discuss the rise of tax-aware long-short investing and how it’s changing wealth management. They cover direct indexing, 130/30 and 250/150 strategies, why traditional tax-loss harvesting dries up in bull markets, the risks advisors may be overlooking, and why firms like Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab Corporation are starting to pump the brakes on the category. This episode is sponsored by Calamos. For mor...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Downtown Josh Brown is joined by Manish Khatta, CEO of Potomac Fund Management, to discuss what it really takes to build a modern asset management firm in today’s advisory landscape. They talk about growing Potomac from a struggling boutique into a $3 billion powerhouse without outside capital or acquisitions, the “content bazooka” strategy that helped the firm break through during the pandemic, and why most boutique managers completely misunderstand branding. ...

On this episode of talking Wealth, Michael Kitces joins Michael Batnick to separate what's real from what's hype in AI's impact on wealth management. Is technical expertise really being commoditized, or is this robo advisor redux? They discuss the future of an industry that is changing faster than it wants to admit, but maybe not in the way everyone assumes. This episode is sponsored by YCharts. To start a free trial and get 20% off your initial YCharts Professional subscription visit: https://...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson is joined by Joe Mallen, CEO of Modelist, to discuss how financial advisors can scale their investment process while maintaining control. They cover how Modelist helps advisors build and manage custom portfolios, how it differs from traditional Turnkey Asset Management Platforms (TAMPs), and the role of direct indexing, reporting, and AI in modern portfolio management. Plus, Joe shares insights on advisor education, content creation, and how firms...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Josh Brown is joined by Louis Diamond, CEO of Diamond Consultants, to break down the surge in advisor movement, with over 11,000 advisors switching firms in 2025. They discuss what’s driving the trend, where top teams are landing, and whether a “winning model” even exists anymore. The conversation also covers what 2026 could look like, the impact of the LPL/Commonwealth deal, and how AI is starting to shape recruiting and consolidation across the industry. Pl...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson is joined by Ehren Stanhope, a key leader behind OSAM’s Canvas platform, to break down how investors can create real tax alpha. They discuss OSAM’s evolution from a quant shop to a full portfolio solution for advisors, the growing appeal of direct and custom indexing, and why the concept “clicks” once you understand it. The conversation covers tax loss harvesting, managing concentrated positions, and solving the challenge of low-basis legacy holdin...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Michael Batnick is joined by John Giovannucci to discuss a shift few in wealth management say out loud: has the advisor’s role drifted away from doing the actual work? For years, strong markets made it easier to look smart and harder to tell skill from environment. Along the way, more of the thinking behind portfolios was outsourced to platforms, products, and managers. They debate whether that’s a feature or a flaw and what clients may be missing when the wo...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, Michael Batnick is joined by Stephen Caruso, Associate Director of Wealth Management at Cerulli Associates, to unpack the rise of the RIA and the growing pains that come with scaling it. They discuss insights from Cerulli’s The RIA Marketplace: Solving for Scale, including asset growth across channels, whether clients differ between wirehouses and RIAs, and what’s really driving that 10.7% growth figure. Plus: • Why scaling an RIA is harder (and more expensiv...

On this episode of Ben with Benefits on Talking Wealth, Ben Carlson sits down with Joe Mrak, CEO of Foundation Source, to discuss the often-overlooked role philanthropy plays in wealth management. Joe shares his background in the nonprofit investment world and explains how Foundation Source provides the technology and infrastructure advisors need to make charitable giving easier, more strategic, and more scalable for their clients. They explore how advisors can simplify the giving process, addr...

On this episode of Talking Wealth, On this episode of Talking Wealth, Josh Brown speaks with Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney about OpenArc Corporate Advisory’s $129 billion breakaway from Merrill Lynch.They discuss how a team of that size makes the leap to independence, what they couldn’t build inside a wirehouse, how Dynasty won the mandate, and whether this deal signals the next wave of mega-team breakaways in wealth management. This episode is sponsored by YCharts. Learn more at https://go.ycharts....