Episode 201: Peter Mallouk – #1 Financial Advisor In America: Creative Planning

Peter Mallouk is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Creative Planning and affiliated companies.  Peter’s companies provide comprehensive wealth management services to its clients, including investment management, financial planning, charitable planning, retirement plan consulting, tax, and estate planning services.

Creative Planning provides wealth management services to high net worth clients, manages over $20 billion for clients in all 50 states and abroad, and has been featured twice as the #1 Wealth Management Firm in America by CNBC (2014 and 2015).  Peter also co-wrote (with Tony Robbins) the #1 Best-Seller Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook.

Peter is featured in every eligible listing of Barron’s as one of the ‘Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in America,’ and is the only advisor to have ever been featured at #1 for three consecutive years (2013-2015).  In every ranking since 2005, Peter is featured on Robb Report Worth Magazine’s list of the ‘Top 100 Financial Advisors’ in America (2007).  Peter is featured in Boomer Advisor as the ‘#1 Advisor in America for Baby Boomers’ (2008).  Creative Planning was featured in Forbes as one of the ‘Top 50 Financial Advisory Firms in America’ (2013), and Financial Times’ ‘Top RIA List’ (2015).  Creative Planning is also featured in Ingram’s magazines’ issues on ‘Best Places to Work’ and ‘Most Charitable Organizations.’

Episode 201: Peter Mallouk – #1 Financial Advisor In America: Creative Planning

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The Learning Leader Show

“I was not the greatest student, but I loved learning.” – Peter Mallouk on why he earned 4 undergrad degrees, an MBA, a JD, and a CFP

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:
    • Realize there is a recipe: Like baking a cake
    • Bring incremental value
    • Energy
    • Discipline to do it over and over and over
  • Why start his business?  Was uncomfortable just doing Estate planning and working with unethical people
  • Key to success
    • Great early hires helped propel Creative Planning
  • Time management tips
    • Focuses on doing what he enjoys most – Spending time with clients and employees, not pointless meetings
  • “My #1 job is to be the best option for our clients as an advisor.  I spend 99% of my time with clients and employees.”
  • “I loathe meetings and seminars”
  • Key to all of the awards?
    • “Money follows value” — In 2008/2009, people started looking for another financial advisor
  • “We are very good at taking someone good and help make them great”
  • Interview process:
    • They receive over 100 job applications per week
    • Resume screen all
    • Pick the 5 best and do a phone screen
    • Bring the best of those 100 (1 person typically) for an in person interview
    • Meet with 6 different people
    • Within the first 30 days, it still feels like an interview “We throw the ball and they better catch it, it’s hard.”
    • Qualities needed:
      • Education
      • Ability to be detail oriented
      • Great communicator
      • Must be task oriented (“We can’t make them be this, they need to have it”)
      • Make sure they can meet the clients needs
  • How the Tony Robbins relationship started — Peter informed Tony that he didn’t fully understand what he was talking about (in regards to money)
  • “Tony got pissed off and wrote Money: Master The Game…”
  • What to look for in a business?
    • “Find something that is idiot proof because at some point an idiot will be running the company”
  • The keys to look for in a financial advisor
    • Independent – Gets paid the same on every investment no matter what
  • What response has Peter received from other financial advisors?
    • “It has been negative.  I’m okay if they don’t like me.  I’m competing against them, I don’t expect us to all get along.”

Continue Learning:

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Episode 071: Nate Boyer – Green Beret, Texas Football, The NFL

Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence – The Best Answers From 178 Questions

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

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Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

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