New Paper on Liability Management Shows Financial Advisors How to Optimize Client Wealth

Industry thought leaders at T3 and Oasis Group partner with Sora Finance, paving the way for financial advisors as they navigate today’s complex liability landscape for HNW and UHNW clients.

Sora Finance, an easy-to-use decision-support software that helps wealth managers and financial advisors visualize, analyze, and act to optimize the liabilities side of their clients’ balance sheets, today announced a new white paper that shows advisors how liability management provides significant benefits when added to a professional suite of comprehensive wealth management and financial advisory services. According to the paper, today’s clients need and expect financial advisors to look beyond the assets side of their balance sheet to help them optimize their liabilities. Historically, advisors have been hindered by a lack of access to timely and reliable liability data for their clients.

Written by John O’Connell, founder of The Oasis Group, a leading provider of hands-on consulting and advisory services for wealth management and financial technology firms, and Joel Bruckenstein, president of Technology Tools for Today (T3), the industry's leading conference on technology as it directly relates to practice management and building a profitable business, the new paper – “Unlocking Growth Opportunities: The Case for Liability Management in High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth Client Portfolios” – is hot off the press and available now.

“Liability optimization is the practice of making sure that your client's liabilities are always deployed in the most efficient and effective way,” said Bruckenstein, who is also a CFP® and formerly practiced as a financial advisor. “It is not about helping to get people out of debt. Virtually all wealthy people have debt. It’s one of the ways they structure their finances.”

“THE WHY” BEHIND LIABILITY MANAGEMENT

The new paper, being released today, explores the “why” behind liability management, while also taking a more detailed look at essential elements of the practice which ensures current debt is always optimized and new debt is taken out on the most favorable terms to the client. Other core elements include the complexities of accessing and managing liability data, debt assessments, use of SBLs (securities-based-lending) and SBLOCs (securities-based-lines-of-credit), as well as how wealth management firms can leverage liability management to drive growth. 

“High net worth individuals expect their wealth management team to offer liability management capabilities,’ said O’Connell. “This is particularly important for entrepreneurial clients who understand the value of liabilities on their balance sheet. Wealth managers have a huge opportunity to grow their HNW client base by engaging in liability management conversations.”

“Almost 100% of my HNW and UHNW clients have debt. They use debt to optimally structure their financial lives. It’s a core component of how they grow their net worth over time,” said Tushar Kumar of Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a wealth management firm based in California. “The Sora platform gives us great information, fueling meaningful conversations a we work to ensure that the client’s liability situation is always optimized for their unique situation and goals.”

Financial services for HNW clients typically include investment management and tax advice as well as help with trusts and estates and access to hedge funds and private equity firms. Liability management – a practice that looks at what clients currently owe (mortgages, college loans, credit cards, business and auto loans, for example) – has not, however, been as widely adopted by advisors.

"Liability planning is an essential tool in wealth management, especially for high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients,” said Chip Roame, Founder and Managing Partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors and the Tiburon CEO Summits. “The innovative approaches taken by startups like Sora are leading the way in transforming how financial advisors approach liabilities. Its cutting-edge technology and insightful strategies are empowering financial advisors to offer more comprehensive and effective financial solutions.” 

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES THE GAME

“Innovative tech that drives better client conversations is table stakes,” added fintech veteran Bruckenstein. “Clients expect their advisors to have the best tech stack available, including technology that helps them assess and strategically manage their liabilities.”

“Advancements in technology, like Sora’s platform, enable independent financial advisors and registered investment advisors (RIAs) to compete with the big Wall Street brokerage firms and wirehouses more effectively by providing RIAs and supporting financial services firms such as national wealth management firms and independent broker/dealer groups with superior data, analytics, recommendations, and robust lending options,” noted Rohit Agarwal, Co-CEO of Sora. 

“Managing liabilities effectively is an essential part of a good financial plan. Debt must be managed carefully and responsibly. Knowing the interest rate you’re paying, the terms, and the duration of any loans is required to properly manage the liabilities side of one’s balance sheet,” said Siddhartha Oza, Co-CEO of Sora.

Bruckenstein, O’Connell, Agarwal, and Oza will all be present at the upcoming T3 Conference, being held January 22-25, 2024 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas.

ACCESS THE PAPER NOW

Readers of the paper, will gain a comprehensive overview of the power of liability management to help advisors increase their clients’ net worth and demonstrate their commitment to their clients’ overall financial well-being, not just investment performance.

Unlocking Growth Opportunities: The Case for Liability Management in High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth Client Portfolios, is available as a free download here.

ABOUT SORA FINANCE

Founded by Siddhartha Oza and Rohit Agarwal in 2021, Sora’s debt optimization and liability management software seamlessly optimizes existing home, auto, student and personal loans, and finds the best rates for any new loans. The genesis of Sora was a shared belief that financial advisors could do more than simply manage assets. The co-founders saw an opportunity to empower advisors with the tools to help their clients grow wealth across their entire balance sheet. Sora’s product continuously scans and monitors US lenders in the background to find better rates for clients’ new or existing liabilities and alerts them about a potentially high-value next best action. The Sora solution supports financial advisors in their quest to help their clients manage the other side of their personal balance sheet – providing the insights they need to offer a more comprehensive service, not just investment management and traditional financial planning. Sora leverages advanced AI technology to push the boundaries of the traditional financial advisory realm. Sora selects the ideal loan option for the client and helps to seamlessly execute the loan, freeing up more capital for the advisor and clients to invest. Their user-friendly platform provides insights and recommendations, generates detailed reports, and offers effortless loan management – all with a focus on promoting net-worth-growth for advisors and their clients. To learn more about Sora, visit SoraFinance.com.

ABOUT T3 (TECHNOLOGY TOOLS FOR TODAY) 

T3 was founded in 2003 by financial services experts (and former financial advisors) David Drucker and Joel Bruckenstein. Together they are the authors of three books on applied practice management and technology for financial advisors. In the early years, they produced the T3 Technology newsletter, a first-of-its-kind publication in the financial services industry. From the newsletter, T3TechnologyHub.com, an online info-portal for financial services firms and financial advisors, was born. Twenty years ago (in 2004), the duo began hosting what has now become the industry’s leading conference on technology as it directly relates to practice management and building a profitable business. To learn more about T3, visit T3Conferences.com.

ABOUT THE OASIS GROUP

The Oasis Group was founded in 2019 by John O’Connell with the goal of helping financial service companies and leaders with their technology and revenue generation challenges. The team works with start-ups, emerging businesses, established firms, and publicly traded enterprises within the financial services space that want to take their organization to the next level of performance. O’Connell and his team assist their clients in various capacities through their consulting and advisory services. To learn more about The Oasis Group, visit TheOasisGrp.com.