Building a Life of Significance—For His Clients and Himself
Advisor Frank Astorino has a passion for serving clients and delivering what he calls financial planning “without limits.” While planning might not have limits, people do—and Astorino found himself bumping up against his capacity.
That’s all changed as Astorino—founder of Astorino Financial Group in Fairfield, New Jersey—has taken key steps to focus his business on clients who are aligned and able to receive exceptional value.One of the first steps was to take the advice he got from advisor coaching and training firm CEG Worldwide: Focus on your top 10 clients—a decision that immediately helped his practice generate its best year ever. “I had to recognize that less is more and to accept new clients that can align with our values and processes, while also transitioning some households to next generation associates and rising accomplished advisors,” he says.
Today, Astorino describes his mission differently: “I call it ‘putting your money where your life is’—guiding individuals and families toward financial freedom and a life of significance.”
What’s more, Astorino is aiming to provide that guidance to as many people as possible. To that end, he’s leveraging technology to produce a regular podcast in which he covers hot-button issues that go well beyond simply investing—such as wealth protection, wealth transfer, advanced planning and charitable giving. He shares both his own insights and those of other experts in his professional network, who include tax attorneys, behavioral psychologists and others. “It’s important that people understand this isn’t all about me—it’s about the relationships we have and can bring to the table as well,” he says.
Astorino has also taken steps to improve the operational efficiency of his practice—chiefly by making sure he stays focused on his core competencies (the face-to-face planning with people) while delegating remaining aspects of the business to his team or others outside of the firm.
Helping him on his journey are his coach as well as the other advisors in the coaching program with whom he’s built relationships over time. “Being part of a community of elite, intelligent advisors to share ideas with has been a big part of my growth,” he says. “Coaching has also introduced me to experts in branding, behavioral finance, and even speech coaches, all of whom helping me elevate my efforts to reach the top of the advisor pyramid.”
Going forward, Astorino and his coach are plotting out the next stage of his business and his life: bringing family members into the business and building a lasting legacy as he looks to ensure that he (like his clients) is living a life of significance.
His advice to other advisors seeking to elevate their success:
- Don’t try to be all things to everyone. Not every perceived opportunity merits a “yes.” Instead, focus on where you can deliver exceptional value and be willing to move on from if the fit isn’t right.
- Use tech and other tools to your advantage. Podcasts and virtual meetings enable Astorino to have important conversations with clients more efficiently and deliver information to a broader range of people who can benefit from it. Ultimately, he says, tech is best when it’s used to support those human element aspects of being an advisor.
- Be kind to yourself. Find the right work-life balance, just as you aim to do for your clients. “We become workaholics in this industry, but you’ve got to smell the roses from time to time!”
FRANK ASTORINO
Wealth Manager
