The B2B Podcast Index
Index
All categories
MarketingSalesSaaSFinanceHROpsLeadershipCustomer SuccessAI & DataProductStartups & FoundersRevOpsEngineering & DevTools
MethodologySubmit
Best of:MarketingSalesSaaSFinanceHROpsLeadershipCustomer SuccessAI & DataProductStartups & FoundersRevOpsEngineering & DevTools
An independent project byFame
SearchBest episodesGuestsInsightsMethodologySubmit a podcast
Index/Finance/Heart of Advice Podcast, Presented by eMoney
Heart of Advice Podcast, Presented by eMoney artwork

Intentional Leadership and Inclusion in Wealth Management with Marcel V. Quiroga

Heart of Advice Podcast, Presented by eMoney · 2025-11-24 · 44 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

40 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density8 / 20
Originality7 / 20
Guest Caliber10 / 20
Specificity & Evidence9 / 20
Conversational Craft6 / 20

Marcel Quiroga brings hard-earned perspective on breaking into wealth management as a Latina woman and daughter of immigrants. Having started her career in Bolivia navigating machismo-dominated finance before joining a large US brokerage in 2005, she witnessed firsthand how women remained largely confined to support roles despite the industry's need for more advisors. Today, through TQM Wealth Partners, she's modeling a different approach: sponsorship over mentorship, intentional hiring of women advisors, and training programs using tools like eMoney to develop talent from within. The conversation covers concrete diversity statistics (women represent 24% of US advisors; Latinas just 5.9%), the critical difference between mentoring and sponsoring emerging talent, and why financial advice is fundamentally a practice of care - not just math. Quiroga emphasizes values-based planning, helping clients articulate their priorities and align daily actions (from family dinners to interactions with service workers) to those values. Her approach to legacy centers on living values intentionally every day rather than viewing wealth transfer as a transactional event. Advisors seeking to deepen client relationships and build inclusive practices will find concrete frameworks here.

Key takeaways

  • →Women represent only 24% of US advisors and Latinas just 5.9%, requiring intentional recruitment partnerships with colleges and professional associations rather than passive hiring approaches.
  • →Sponsorship - actively advocating, making introductions, and opening doors for emerging talent - delivers far greater impact than traditional mentorship models alone.
  • →Advisors spend approximately 80% of client meetings talking while believing they talk only 20%, making deliberate listening and validation practices essential skills that can be developed through recording and practice.
  • →Helping clients articulate their top five values and connect them to daily actions - including interactions with service workers - makes legacy planning tangible and values-aligned rather than purely transactional.
  • →Financial advice at its core is a practice of care and education that improves quality of life across emotional, relational, and financial dimensions, not a numbers-focused transaction.

In this episode

  1. 1Marcel's Journey: Building Your Own Table in Wealth Management
  2. 2Leadership Shaped by Machismo Culture and Fighting to Be Heard
  3. 3Diversity and Representation Statistics in Wealth Management
  4. 4Sponsorship vs. Mentorship: Moving Women into Advisory Roles
  5. 5The Heart of Advisory: Care, Education, and Empathy Over Numbers
  6. 6Living Your Legacy Daily Through Values Alignment and Intentional Actions
  7. 7Practical Tools: Net Present Value Balance Sheets and Values Exercises
  8. 8Creating Opportunities: Service-Oriented Travel and Philanthropic Engagement

Mentioned

eMoneyTQM Wealth PartnersMarcel QuirogaGirls Inc. of Boston and LynnCFP BoardUS Fund for UNICEFSasha GrobinstetterConnor Sugg

Guests

Marcel V. Quiroga

Topics in this episode

TQM Wealth PartnerseMoney platformNet present value balance sheetValues alignment exerciseSponsorship versus mentorship modelsUNICEF field visits and communal banking programsCFP Board diversity dataGirls Inc. of Boston and LynnListening skills trainingLegacy planning and philanthropy

Questions this episode answers

What percentage of financial advisors are women and Latinas in 2025?

Women represent approximately 24% of US advisors (up from 18% earlier), while only 5.9% identify as Latinas and 2.9% identify as women of color, indicating significant gaps in diversity representation.

What is the difference between mentorship and sponsorship for developing advisor talent?

Mentorship provides guidance and advice, while sponsorship involves actively advocating for someone, making introductions, opening doors, and having them sit in meetings with you - a more direct intervention that accelerates opportunity.

How much time do financial advisors actually spend talking versus listening in client meetings?

Research shows advisors spend about 80% of meeting time talking while believing they only talk 20%; this gap highlights the importance of developing intentional listening skills through practice and recording.

How can advisors help clients live their legacy rather than just leave it behind?

Advisors can guide clients through articulating their top five values, then connecting those values to daily actions and decisions - from family dinners to philanthropic opportunities - making legacy a lived practice rather than a one-time transfer event.

What concrete steps can firms take to hire and develop more women advisors?

Hire intentionally from partner organizations like women's associations and Latino groups, offer training on platforms like eMoney, provide transition pathways from support roles to advisory tracks, and engage in sponsorship activities like speaking at schools and boards such as Girls Inc.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

8 / 20

The episode has scattered data points and a few actionable frameworks (sponsorship vs. mentorship, net present value balance sheet as planning starting point, the 80/20 advisor talking statistic) but is padded heavily with inspirational generalities and eMoney product promotion. Novel-per-minute rate is low.

I recently heard an interesting statistic, um, that about 80% of the time advisors spend with their clients is spent talking. But advisors think that it's only 20% of the time.
one of the things that we do is we start all planning with a net present value balance sheet

Originality

7 / 20

There are a few genuinely fresh framings - defining philanthropy from its Greek roots to broaden client engagement, and the dual meaning of TQM - but the dominant themes (be intentional, align values to actions, listen more) are well-worn advice-industry platitudes dressed in personal narrative.

the true meaning of philanthropy in the first place means love for humanity, that's the root words of philanthropy
TQM Wealth Partners. Total Quality Management. Yes. But also te quiero mucho, which means I love you very much

Guest Caliber

10 / 20

Marcel Quiroga is a genuine RIA founder and practitioner with a real career arc spanning Bolivia to a US brokerage to her own firm, plus board service at Girls Inc. and the US Fund for UNICEF. However, her firm's scale is never mentioned (no AUM, headcount, or growth figures) and she functions partly as a values-forward brand ambassador rather than a high-scale operator.

I started here in the United States at a large brokerage firm in 2005
I sit on the board of Girls Inc. Of Boston and Lynn

Specificity & Evidence

9 / 20

There are some real numbers - 24% women advisors, 5.9% Latina, 2.9% women of color, $80-100 UNICEF micro-loans, age 11 as the starting point for children's financial education - but the data is cited without sourcing depth, and most frameworks (values cards, net present value balance sheet) are described without enough procedural detail to be directly replicable.

a 2025 report found that women represent about 24% of US advisors. Now that's up from 18% earlier...For Latinas only about 5.9%
giving indigenous Women loans about 80 to $100 so they can start these micro businesses

Conversational Craft

6 / 20

The hosts are largely affirmative and frequently insert their own anecdotes, and the conversation is shaped heavily by eMoney product promotion. Connor attempts a few genuine follow-ups (drilling into portal adoption specifics, sponsorship vs. mentorship), but there is zero pushback on any claim and guest answers frequently drift unchallenged into inspirational monologue.

I definitely agree with that, Marcel
That's a great question, Sesha

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Share of words spoken

  • Speaker A71%
  • Speaker D16%
  • Speaker C10%
  • Speaker B3%

Most-used words

clients35money34women33client19wealth18help17financial16important16advisors16advice14love14heart13advisor13portal12table11values11

Episode notes

Marcel V. Quiroga, CEO of TQM Wealth Partners, is a trailblazer with a personal, purpose-driven approach to financial planning. Marcel's journey as a single mother, daughter of immigrants, and woman navigating a male-dominated industry, highlights her philosophy of authenticity and inclusion. Her focus on empathy, connection, and actionable steps challenges traditional norms, encouraging financial professionals to move beyond transactional advising toward enhancing clients' overall quality of life. In this episode of the Heart of Advice Podcast, Marcel explains how her leadership style, shaped by her experiences overcoming cultural and systemic barriers, prioritizes empathy, listening, and creating opportunities for others. Marcel stresses that financial advising is not just about numbers but about empowering clients, fostering trust, and aligning financial strategies with values, healing, and dignity. Her mantra "If you don’t have a seat at the table, build your own," symbolizes her belief in breaking barriers and creating inclusive opportunities for representation within the finance industry.

Full transcript

44 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Speaker A: If you don't have a seat at their table, build your own table. And then you get to decide who you're going to invite to that table.

Speaker B: The Heart of Advice. It's personal. It's pragmatic. Here on the Emoney Heart of Advice podcast, we explore how to navigate both sides to help you take your financial planning practice to the next level. Join us as we speak with financial professionals to learn how they deepen relationships and improve client outcomes. This podcast contains purely educational information and nothing discussed may be construed as legal, tax or financial advice. Please consult a financial advisor for any financial, investment or money management questions. All views or opinions represented are solely the opinion of the speaker and do not represent those of Emoney Advisor or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries.

Speaker C: Welcome to the Heart of Advice podcast, presented by Emoney. I'm Sasha Grobinstetter.

Speaker D: And I'm, um, Connor Sugg. We're your E Money experts. Today on the podcast, we have Marcel Quiroga. Marcel didn't just earn her seat at the table, she built her own. As a Latina woman, single mother and daughter of immigrants, she carved out a space in this industry that wasn't designed for her. Today, as the founder and CEO of tqm M Wealth Partners, she brings a personal, purpose driven approach to wealth management. One that's rooted in authenticity, inclusion, and a lot of heart. Her path hasn't been easy or very straight. A moment that could have ended her career instead became her fuel. Shaping a company built on the belief that wealth should serve people, not the other way around, Marcel helps her clients see money as more than math. It's a tool for healing, access and dignity. She's here to remind us that true wealth isn't about what you have, it's about how you live and, and how you, uh, who you lift along the way. Marcel, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker A: Thank you very much, Connor and Sasha. It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker C: Of course. Marcel, uh, one of the big reasons we invited you today is because you can give us insights on what real progress and real challenges look like when it comes to diversity and obviously representation and wealth management. So, as a woman leading in a traditionally male dominated industry and someone who's navigated life between Bolivia and the United States, how these experiences really, uh, shaped your leadership style and business philosophy.

Speaker A: That's a great question, Sesha, because I think, um, who we are is obviously formed by our experiences, personal and professional. And I started my career in finance in Latin America, specifically in Bolivia. As you mentioned, um, many Latin American countries Including Bolivia, have a culture of machismo that has progressed where there are more opportunities for women, but they are still limited. And so I learned early on in my career that I really had to fight, uh, for my seat at the table. And one thing that I find interesting as a result is sometimes people say I speak very loud. And I've thought about why that is, and it's because for many years, really, until I started my own company, um, I was sitting in rooms with men, in, you know, conference rooms, meeting rooms with men. And in order to be heard, I had to raise my voice. Um, sometimes it seemed like I was interrupting, but it was really trying to get a word in edgewise. And I've become accustomed to speak that way so that I can be heard. My leadership style has been shaped by these experiences and many more, of course, in that listening is really important for me when I'm sitting with a client and when I'm sitting with my employees. Um, and really, in all relationships, we know that listening is key. I recently heard an interesting statistic, um, that about 80% of the time advisors spend with their clients is spent talking. But advisors think that it's only 20% of the time. And the way this study worked is that they recorded actual meetings. And so it is experiences like, um, being surrounded by, you know, very capable men, of course, but trying to demonstrate that I am just as capable and often having to work twice as hard to get the. Not only the recognition, because recognition for recognition's sake is really not the goal. It's to get the doors open, to create the opportunities. And what I sometimes say is, if you don't have to seat at their table, build your own table, and then you get to decide who you're going to invite to that table.

Speaker C: I definitely agree with that, Marcel. Um, obviously, as a fellow woman working in Fintech, uh, in a group of women, it's very rare. And so I obviously have a lovely opportunity, have my voice be heard at the. At the table.

Speaker A: So, yeah, it's really important, I think, to give everyone an opportunity to speak, to be heard. Um, I think part of the success I have with my firm and in my career is because when couples come to meet with me, or, you know, divorced women come to meet with me, they often will say, um, you know, the female will say, this is the first time I felt spoken to and not ignored. Uh, and I think that's really important. We all need to be validated. We all need to be recognized. Uh, and that is a skill set that if you don't have as an advisor. Uh, you can develop. It takes practice and I think recording uh, a meeting, if a client allows it will allow you to improve uh, how you engage with the client but also practicing at home with your family members or with your friends and definitely with your coworkers. Uh, how are those listening skills working? How much time are you giving others to speak?

Speaker D: Uh, I definitely want to circle back to um, the client engagements and some of the other skills and impact of engaging with both spouses or both partners in the relationship because it definitely leads to um, tremendously different outcomes and way better implementation. Relationship building, trust and loyalty and a lot of the sentiment based pieces. But coming uh, back to some of the advisor diversity and your experiences, kind of building your own table for Latinas and other women of color in finance. What, what progress are you seeing around diversity and inclusion in the wealth management space? And where do you feel like we still have some work to do?

Speaker A: Yeah, I think there's been progress made. I started here in the United States at a large brokerage firm in 2005 and um, my experiences until I started my firm were that women were more in support roles, you know, the customer service roles, the administrative roles, which are all very valuable, very important and should be recognized as such. But it was surprising that I didn't have more peers, you know, as financial advisors, uh, or that I did not see any women or very few women in executive roles, you know, at the management um, level. So I think there has been some progress made. It's my understanding that um, a 2025 report found that women represent about 24% of US advisors. Now that's up from 18% earlier, but that is still a pretty low number. Right? It's, we're almost at a quarter of the advisor population so but in, in the general population we are more than half the general population For Latinas only about 5.9% represent um, uh, or identify as Latinas of US advisors and about 2.9% identify as women of color. So I think there's still a lot of more work to do. Um, I think part of the work is in the large companies going from mentorship models to sponsorship models where you're actually advocating for um, your um, the person that you're sponsoring, sponsee, I guess. Um, and that means making introductions, opening doors, having them sit in meetings with you, which is very different than mentoring. Mentoring is great and it's important as well. But uh, bringing it up a level where you sponsor and then another level where you advocate for these Women is really important, but attracting women to the role is just as important, and that takes intention. I think this is a reflection of my philosophy in life overall and definitely of my philosophy as a wealth advisor is intention is what's going to get you the results that you want. If you don't know what you're trying to accomplish, then any road will take you there. So I think, uh, companies, whether brokerage firms or RIAs, um, have to have that on their radar. Um, but no, I would say not only on their radar. They have to have a purpose, a specific program where. How are we going to reach, um, these women, whether white, Latina or women of color? Are we going to partner with, uh, colleges, with women's, uh, associations, with Latino associations, um, et cetera? So I think there's still a lot of progress because still today, M. I've given you kind of the stats on the advisors. Um, there are women entering the financial services and investment advisory workforce, but they're still in very supportive, supportive roles mostly. And again, I do want to recognize all those women because oftentimes they're the ones that are keeping, you know, things running smoothly. You know, whether it's managing a calendar, reminding a client of a phone call, helping a client access a document, whatever it may be. All of that is just important because details matter.

Speaker D: Yeah. It's where the rubber meets the road, right?

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker D: Gsd.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker D: Just a quick echo. I know that the recently the CFP board just released some of their October 2025 findings. And it was just about exactly 24% of CFP holders are women as of today, which is definitely a drastic increase over the past five or so years. So definitely some good work being done there. Uh, but I also want to echo the commendation and appreciation for all of the support roles because it is definitely more aware the relationships being built, the satisfaction, uh, of all of the advice that's delivered, the implementation of the advice. But I want to circle back to. Well, number one, I totally agree that sponsorship is way different than mentorship, and it takes, uh, a lot more energy and effort. Do you have, um, some recommendations for folks that are listening today to get a little bit more involved, or can you just speak a little bit more about how you're participating in that space?

Speaker A: Well, personally, I, um, can say that I have been making, uh, concrete, taking concrete steps to hire more women and to, uh, help them grow in, uh, this space specifically. Um, I recently just hired another, uh, female, um, employee who will be on the advisory track. Um, also all my female employees, the the, you know, if they're in a supporting role, they have an opportunity if they would like. They don't have the obligation, but they have the opportunity if they would like to um, transition into an advisor role to get on that track. And they do receive training. So for example, I think it's opportune to say they receive training on E Money, um, how to use E Money, how to help a client use their portal. Um, and so I think those are you know, specific steps that some companies can take for the larger companies where there's more structure if you will, in terms of the role and what you, you can do and what you can't do. Um, because maybe there's a, you know, an advisor at a large company, but they don't own the company. Right. So they're not dictating how programs are run or what a track to an advisory role looks like. But sometimes it's just about inviting uh, someone maybe in a supporting role or maybe someone earlier in their career outside of the company to learn about that. You know, there are, or for example I sit on the board of Girls Inc. Of Boston and Lynn and they invite women to talk about their careers to the um, junior and senior students, um, at that organization. And so talk about what you're doing and encourage them and talk about the benefits of doing this because I think that's another um, reason why there's such low representation is because a lot of women, and maybe women uh, in minority of other minority groups. So women in, are minority. Right. But then you add the Latina or women of color. So uh, they may have never been exposed to this. And one of the reasons could be that their parents never really knew much about money if, especially if they come from a low income household. So they never really talked about it. And in general, um, I think we have an uneducated society when it comes to financial literacy and that tends to impact uh, women, maybe impact them more than men.

Speaker D: Yeah. And it's difficult to consider managing somebody else's money if you don't have your own money to manage. And then as you think about the, the pitch of becoming a financial advisor or whatever, you know, whatever your first step is into the advice industry. It's, it's so monetarily focused when some of the actual value, at least that I, I personally glean from it is the, the satisfaction, the relationship building, like some of the non tangible aspects of helping somebody else to get to that level of confidence or be able to achieve fulfillment or successive goals and see that, that build up of, you know, emotion and love and some of that. That more sentimental pieces.

Speaker A: I love that you said that, Connor, because I think that there may be a misconception around, um, advisory careers in that it's all about numbers and it's all about finance. And of course that is central to what we do. But that is not to use, obviously, your, um, your language. It's not at the heart of what we do. What's at the heart of what we do are people. And if we are going to do this right, we're here to help people. And as you were speaking, Connor, I was thinking how, for example, teaching and nursing are two, um, careers that traditionally have been, uh, in. On the radar for women mostly. You know, some colleges were originally just teaching and nursing colleges for women. Uh, obviously now women have opportunities in a, uh, greater variety of careers and they have demonstrated that they can stand out and that they do stand out. But one thing that comes to mind is that our practice of, uh, helping people have clarity, confidence and feel control around their financials, around their money, and around their futures is a practice of care. It's a practice of education, and it's a practice of leading, um, so that the quality of life is improved and quality of life is improved on so many levels. From sleeping better at night because you're not worried about your financial future to the actual results that you do have the money you need to do the things that you need and want to do, that you're preparing the next generation, if you're going to transfer wealth so that they'll be responsible with that wealth and that the wealth won't actually ruin them. Um, so there's so much responsibility from the human side, um, that it is so rewarding when you approach it from that perspective. Again, obviously having the appropriate training, the skill set in terms of the numbers, the math and the investments, um, but without that piece of care and uh, without the heart really in it, um, I think you, you can actually misguide clients instead of leave them to a better result.

Speaker C: Marcel? I obviously very much. I think most. If you're a routine listener, you've heard me talk about empathy and emotional intelligence, and we, you know, obviously work, um, to work help. One of the things I do, obviously at E. Money is helping advisors to find that emotional currency and really learn how to build those skills. Because it is a hard. It is a skill. It's a. And it's a hard skill if it's uncomfortable. So. But I really do want to transition because I think this is kind of where I Think we were headed next, but you've actually said that we actually live our legacies, not just leave them behind. So how do you help clients live their legacies? Is that through philanthropy, or is it value based investing or family conversations about money? I'd love to hear a little more about that.

Speaker A: Yeah, I strongly believe that we live our legacies, and we live them every day. With every action that we take. We all have a legacy, um, just like we all have a financial plan. Right. The question is, is it what we want, or is it just happening by default, without intention? So when it comes to legacy, the best way that I can help clients live their legacies, first of all, is articulate what their values are. And so we all know and have a sense of what our values are, but rarely do we actually need to articulate them. One of the exercises that we ask our clients to do is to select from a list of values that we give them, and then we obviously leave some blank spaces for them to fill in their own values. But to select their top five and then to prioritize them, you know, which of those five are the most important? Um, just going through that exercise and then connecting your actions. So what am I doing? So if, for example, if I say that family is my number one value, um, well, how am I demonstrating that? Am I spending time with family? I remember, uh, one of my clients, um, a few years ago when I first started TQM Wealth Partners, um, shared with me that because they were so busy working, they never sat down to have dinner together. And so they were there in the house, but it was like the last email, the phone call, so, you know, the kids would grab what, whatever they had on the table, and, you know, just in conversations. Well, how about if you don't. Can't have dinner together every night, why don't you start with one night a week and then push m it up to 2 nights to 3 nights? Because your kids are going to remember those conversations and those moments more, um, than they will anything that you could say to them. If all you're saying to them is, you know, you are really important to me, so you have to demonstrate it. Right. Um, but I think a lot of times when we think about legacy, we immediately go to philanthropy or we immediately go to inheritances. Um, when the true meaning of philanthropy in the first place means love for humanity, that's the root words of philanthropy. So we can all be philanthropic, and we can be philanthropic every day. And by being philanthropic every day, in other words, demonstrating our love for humanity and of course we have bad days where we, we may not feel like, you know, smiling and, and saying hi to everybody we come across. But for the most part, if we can be intentional, I want to make the, you know, the mail carrier feel, uh, appreciated, so. Oh, thank you. Maybe even going to the door to greet them if you have a moment, or the Uber driver, you know, I understand. Sometimes we just want to chill in the back of the car and not talk, but at least ask them how they're doing and wishing them a good day. This, this goes beyond the impact it can have on our own lives and on those we love. Obviously, this could improve society if we all thought that way and if we all acted that way. I think at, um, at its core, most people want to be kind, but I think we get so busy that it's easy to forget to be kind. And not because you're being mean, just because you're being kind of neutral in the whole process. So those kinds of conversations that are really, maybe not so related to money, but when I'm talking with clients about, well, what do you want for your children? Or, uh, what would you say to me would be a successful result of your journey in transferring wealth to your children? And if they answer, well, that I transferred it tax free or that I got them, you know, twice as much, uh, money than I have now, well, that's okay. We can talk about that and we will. But what else, you know, is this money gonna help them in their lives be, you know, better people, better professionals, better citizens? Or is it going to harm them and make them lose motivation, feel entitled, um, suffer from affluenza? Uh, so I know it's a long winded answer, but what I'm trying to say to sum it up is that being intentional and connecting your values with your actions and is really the best way that I can think of to live your legacy.

Speaker D: I'm, I'm glad that you said that because the. Throughout your answer, I was thinking about how quickly we went from how are we helping clients get to values alignment or, you know, family conversations into my, the way that folks interact with their Uber driver on the, you know, on any given day, just kind of riding around and it is, it's amazing how fast that happens now, talking about the true value of advice or advisors and that alignment to, well, helping align themselves to their own values and then helping others align themselves with their values. And then I think the, the math, the financial aspect of that comes pretty quickly afterwards. I do, I'm, I'm curious if you have any other opportunities where you feel like, um, advisors can be more intentional? You know, obviously we, you talked about values alignment and just day to day behavior aligning to those top level values. But as it pertains to advisor client relationships, um, you talked about going through like a values card type exercise and prioritizing them. But are there other things that you either do with your clients or that you coach your, um, your team to do with all clients that you feel like really helps make a difference with folks like getting across that message of like, hey, if family is the thing, then you need to treat your delivery person this way, your Uber driver. If you could just shed a little bit more light there, that would. I really appreciate it.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, I, I could cover this in, in many different ways. Um, from a numbers perspective, I'll start with that. Um, one of the things that we do is we start all planning with a net present value balance sheet. And the reason why I mention that is because the result of that exercise is showing the clients the size of their cushion. Cushion represents both risk capacity, so how much risk they can afford to take, which may be different to how much risk they want to take. Um, and it also represents their, the cushion also represents their capability for new opportunities. And one way that, um, clients and that we try to help clients think about these new opportunities are not only, you know, maybe a, uh, private investment in, uh, tech company or in an AI company that maybe for your core portfolio would uh, be, uh, too risky. But you know, if that's their interest, you know, I have clients asking me about those types of investments. Um, but maybe the opportunity to do some kind of, um, travel with your children that is service oriented. Um, so for example, I used to sit on the, uh, New England regional board for the US Fund for unicef. And they have what they called field visits. And so for donors at a certain level, they will take you to a country, um, where you will see their work in action. And they do family trips. They do, um, like mother daughter trips. They do, you know, trips that are more just for the adults, depending on the region you're going to and the type of programs that you're going to see. And so I had the opportunity to go with a group of women from Boston to Bolivia. Actually talk about going full circle to see the work that UNICEF does in remote areas of Bolivia with, um, what they call, uh, communal banking programs. So giving indigenous Women loans about 80 to $100 so they can start these micro businesses maybe selling flour and milk and eggs or some kind of um, artisanal project, you know, making belts and wallets to sell and things like that. And um, I introduced one of my clients to um, this program and she came on the trip with her daughter and we visited schools where unicef, um, has given support and give support for the children to be educated. Um, and they're also educating these women in these communal banking programs so that they're not only learning how to run a micro business, they're learning how to um, raise their children better. And the whole purpose of the program is if these women can make a little bit m of money, they don't. They can actually send their kids to school instead of having them work in the fields or shining shoes or cleaning homes. Um, but I heard from her that this was the most uh, impactful experience her daughter had ever had. Seeing other children, uh, living in conditions that were something she couldn't even imagine but that were still happy and were still grateful and um, and feeling that sense of empathy and compassion and the ability to use money for good. So modeling that I think is incredibly valuable. And, and it's not just me saying that. I mean it's the clients, it's hearing it from their own children. Um, another thing that we like to do, uh, for our clients is meet with the children individually. Um, and this usually starts around uh, age 11, um, where we'll teach them the concept of budgeting and investing and saving, but also the concept of giving. And so those conversations really um, help clients feel like their money has more meaning and they're like their children are being shepherded towards a, uh, more purposeful life if you will.

Speaker C: I just want to follow up with that and then I promise to transition. Um, but you know, I think that that's the idea of having these service oriented vacations. Not vacations, I guess, you know, trips, let's call them trips. That's a better way to say it. Um, my family and I, we did uh, the Salvation army angel, uh, tree last year and we picked up um, children who are close to my kids age. It was like the very first time they've ever gotten to like understand like oh, not everyone has what we have. And it was a very humbling moment for them. Um, and they got to learn a lot of empathy that day. So which I'm very, very grateful for. Um, but I do want to transition over to um, obviously we will. We love talking about e money. So as Fintech continues to kind of reshape our identity, how are you and your team at uh, TQ using technology, whether that's Digital tools, those data analytics client platforms. Um, while many that high touch relationship, first experience.

Speaker A: Yeah, that is something that is so important now more than ever I would say. I love that tech can help us be more productive. I strongly believe that that is the role of tech is to help us do a better job for our clients, to be more productive in our companies and to deliver the quality that our clients deserve. Um, one way we're using AI for example is, and I think most, and I hope most advisors are using it, um, at the very least this way is for note taking. M. You may have heard of a tool called Jump AI which was designed for advisors and I'm so excited because we've been using it and I learned just recently that it um, we can use it along with E Money. So it's an integration with E Money. Um, so. And I think that's, that's a recent thing that came out of the summit. That's you know one of my advisors told me that. So we're very excited to see how we're going to integrate that. Um, but speaking of E Money using the, what we like to call it the client's wealth site instead of a website, it's their wealth site. I know it's called a financial site, um, but we encourage all our clients to use it. Um, it's not just a nice to have. I think it's a very important tool for clients to really see everything in one place, uh, to be able to monitor their spending because you know, we do work with high net worth families. Um, and so sometimes there's I think also a misconception around um, the idea that people with money have no problems, they're always going to have money, you know, and we, I, I'd say, you know, most people listening to this and, and definitely the three of us here are very aware that it's not just about how much money you have, it's how much money you keep. And so having a budget, even if you have, you know, you're a multimillionaire, is really important. We've all heard of the famous athletes or celebrities that had multimillion dollar contracts and then went broke because they weren't managing their spending. Um, and so I love that um, feature of the E Money, um site for clients. Um, and we've gone from you know, doing planning with E Money to really learning more and more of all the different features it has, uh, to incorporate it into the different work that we do. So for example for that net present value, uh, balance sheet that we do we used to do that completely separate to E Money for a long time and now we've learned to use some of the features so that we can build it using, uh, E Money. Ultimately, I think, um, there's a lot more out there that can be used and we keep learning about that. You know, we obviously, uh, everything from accounting to compliance to marketing, um, we're using tech for that. I do believe strongly that the more we use that, the more important it is that we spend more time with our clients and it gives us the ability to spend more time with our clients and we actually give them that value of the human touch. Because if we're going to turn everything into technology, then there's going to be this gap in terms of the interaction with clients if you're not careful. And again, I'll use this word intentional about really spending that time with the clients, listening to them in a way that no technology can listen to them.

Speaker D: Yeah, and the productivity has definitely been shown across our research, um, extremely valuable as far as time savings across a financial planning process. Uh, I do want to just drill down one in one other spot on your use of E Money and I think that you may have taken a different approach to adoption of the tool than many of our advisors that have used the money for a long time, where they started using it for, primarily for financial planning purposes and then they started, you know, pushing the client. The, the client portal is our, our feature name, but the wealth site out to your clients, uh, as your primary starting place. Can you just give, uh, any other advice, um, to any of the advisors that are maybe struggling a little bit with, with experiencing some of the value of adoption of the portal, regardless of client demographics? Um, as you think about the way that you guys are using the wealth

Speaker A: site, yeah, I think that, um, one important thing to do, I mean, I think there are various important things to do, but there's a lot of training that can be done on how to use E Money. And um, I love that there's always improvements coming out and that we can give feedback and ask for certain features. But ultimately the portal becomes a way to engage with the clients, um, in such that even if they're not calling you for something, if they're logging into the portal, it's a connection with you. Right. Um, our logo is there. Uh, you know, we've input a lot of information and that information is reflected on the client portal. Uh, they're sharing information. So we upload all reports to the vault in the portal. So that forces the client to log in and to use the portal. But another thing that we like to do in our discovery meeting is walk them through how to use the portal and help them connect their accounts. Um, because, yes, you can give them the instructions and there are videos. And that goes back to maybe the, um, different personalities of clients. Some are more tech savvy than others, but at the very least, you know, give them a brief walkthrough. And if they're not that tech savvy, teach them how to use it. You know, have a session with them. And if you, as the primary advisor, don't have time, there should be somebody on your team that you're going to tell the client. You know, um, Jordi is going to call you or Maya is going to call you and set up a time so they can help you learn how to use the portal. And then when we do our review meetings, we're referring back to what they see in the portal. You know, I've, I've noticed that there's, um, you know, this level of spending and most clients are okay sharing their spending with you. I mean, it's a trusted relationship. And, um, I don't care what clients spend on in the sense that I'm not anyone to judge. I just want to know if I can help them. Um, so if I see, you know, that a client's burn rate is really high and I can help them identify areas where they may want to consider making some changes, they're like, oh, I never thought of that. Or I just didn't realize how many, you know, streaming services I signed up for. And I only use one or two of the ten I'm signed up for, uh, whatever it is, um, because, you know, just like with investments in the power of compound interest, uh, that helps investments grow with spending. It's the same thing. The power of compound interest, uh, because of inflation, is also, uh, impacting our, uh, cash flows, uh, if we have ongoing spending and things that aren't really adding any value to our lives, and maybe they're actually, um, eroding our wealth.

Speaker C: Marcel, we've covered a lot of ground today. Um, but I do want to circle back just quickly to this idea of those advisors who were listening and listening to you kind of bring on that value for clients. I think you have a really wonderful hands on touch approach, obviously, walking them through that client portal, really helping them understand where they're getting from point A to point B without them having to guess. I think that that gives them such a, um, high touch point for them. So I thank you for that. But as we wrap up, I just want to ask you, this is the question we ask every, uh, guest on our podcast is lastly, how would you define the heart of advice when it comes to financial planning?

Speaker A: The heart of advice to me is you are giving advice because you love humanity, because you love people. And that goes back to the name of my company, which is TQM Wealth Partners. Total Quality Management. Yes. But also te quiero mucho, which means I love you very much. And I'm proud to say we love our clients, we want them to do well. And so you can only do that with true heart.

Speaker C: Um, Marcel, I would just want to thank you for being on the podcast, for sharing your background from coming from Bolivia to the United States, from all the diversity conversation we had, I think our advisors can really benefit from thinking about how can we add more women into this profession, more women of color, and also bring more heart to the profession as well. So thank you.

Speaker A: My pleasure. Sesha and Connor, thank you very much. It's, uh, a privilege to spend some time with you.

Speaker B: The Heart of Advice podcast is produced by Emoney Advisor, a leading provider of technology solutions and services that help people talk about money. Learn more@emoneyadvisor.com where you can find additional resources for Advisor success, including the Heart of Advice blog, as well as eBooks, CE webinars and events.

More from Heart of Advice Podcast, Presented by eMoney

All episodes →
  • Pathways to Scaling Financial Advice with Jamie Hopkins
  • How Identity Shapes Money Decisions with Carl Richards
  • Helping Clients Make Better Decisions Through Value Alignment with James Werner
  • Getting Clients Out of Their Heads and Into Their Hearts with Brendan Frazier
  • Celebrating 25 Years of Financial Planning with Matt Schulte
Explore the best B2B Finance podcasts →
All Heart of Advice Podcast, Presented by eMoney episodes →