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Next Mile

Next Mile

By: Milemarker
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Summary
 Next Mile is a podcast about bringing together the people and technology shaping the wealth management industry. Brought to you by Milemarker.Copyright © Milemarker Inc. Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales Personal Finance
Episodes
  • How to Turn Client Reviews Into Better Client Experiences with Brendan Frazier

    How to Turn Client Reviews Into Better Client Experiences with Brendan Frazier
    Nov 3 2026
    Episode 169: This week, Kyle Van Pelt talks with Brendan Frazier, creator of The Ultimate Meeting Series and host of The Human Side of Money. Brendan began his career consulting with advisors on retirement income before building an advisory business and focusing his work on behavioral finance, psychology, and communication. He created The Human Side of Money to translate those ideas into practical tools for advisors. Kyle and Brendan explore why annual review meetings often become routine maintenance instead of the anchor of the client experience. Brendan shares a framework built around whether clients feel understood, know how they’re doing, and believe they’ll be okay, plus why purpose and the desired client feeling should shape the meeting. They also discuss connecting with beneficiaries before wealth transfers, using AI for meaningful callbacks and better follow-up, and why trust, empathy, and behavior-change skills become more valuable as technology improves. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:41) - Brendan's money moment (08:17) - Why client review meetings fall short (10:04) - Reactive value versus intentional client value (14:18) - Designing the meeting around the client (15:29) - The three questions every review should answer (16:56) - Defining the purpose and feeling of a great meeting (18:49) - What “Am I going to be okay?” means for wealthy clients (23:16) - Rethinking the generational wealth transfer (27:34) - Building relationships with the next generation before the inheritance (30:28) - Using AI to create more room for human advice (33:23) - Using callbacks to make clients feel remembered (37:51) - Brendan's outlook on the future of the wealth management industry (40:55) - What human behavior tells us about the future of advice (43:10) - Brendan's Milemarker Minute Key Takeaways Design meetings around what clients need, not what you need to prove. A review meeting shouldn’t primarily showcase the work the firm completed. Start with the client’s questions, concerns, and desired outcomes, then build the conversation around them. Make sure every client leaves feeling understood, informed, and reassured. Brendan reduces the psychology of a strong review meeting to three questions: Do you understand me? How am I doing? Am I going to be okay? Those questions provide a practical foundation for deciding what belongs in the meeting. Build next-generation relationships before there is money to transfer. Beneficiaries are unlikely to stay simply because their parents did. Consistent contact, relevant experiences, and genuine understanding give the next generation a reason to develop their own relationship with the firm. Use AI to strengthen human skills rather than substitute for them. AI can surface personal details, reduce administrative work, and help prepare more thoughtful follow-up. But trust, empathy, curiosity, decision guidance, and behavior change remain skills advisors have to deliberately develop. Quotes “Nobody actually wants to maximize their wealth. Everybody wants to maximize their life. Money is just a tool to fund the life that you want to live.” ~ Brendan Frazier “The review meeting is quite literally the anchor of the client experience. And it’s average at best, and oftentimes we treat it as nothing more than a glorified maintenance task.” ~ Brendan Frazier Links Brendan Frazier on LinkedIn The Ultimate Review Meeting The Human Side of Money podcast Wired Planning RFG Advisory The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis Daniel Kahneman Amos Tversky Kitces.com Jeff Levine on LinkedIn Merrill Lynch Julie Littlechild / Absolute Engagement Dan Allison on LinkedIn Scott Galloway UBS Inside the Box by David Epstein Connect with our hosts Milemarker.co Kyle on LinkedIn Jud on LinkedIn Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube
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    45 mins
  • The Difference Between a Family Office and an RIA with More Services with Matt Celenza

    The Difference Between a Family Office and an RIA with More Services with Matt Celenza
    Oct 27 2026
    Episode 168: This week, Kyle Van Pelt talks with Matt Celenza, Managing Director and Partner at Americana Partners. Matt began his career at Morgan Stanley before joining Smith Barney, where he spent more than a decade with the Citi Family Office. He later led Boulevard, the firm he sold to Americana Partners in 2025. Matt shares why adding services in-house doesn’t make a firm a family office, and why the real work is coordinating each family’s needs in the order that matters to them. He outlines how complexity, not net worth alone, signals the need for that model, and why investing is often one of the last pieces of the conversation. Kyle and Matt also unpack how families with illiquid wealth find liquidity, how disciplined collateral management protects large loans, and why Matt expects firms using the family office label to be held accountable for it. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:13) - Matt's money moment (04:07) - What separates a true family office from an RIA (08:10) - When wealth becomes too complex for traditional wealth management (11:24) - Balancing customization with scale (12:59) - What brings families to a family office (14:42) - Managing liquidity when wealth is tied up in illiquid assets (18:59) - Managing collateral around concentrated wealth (21:57) - When wealth becomes collateral (22:59) - Why service still matters more than technology (26:53) - Matt's outlook on the future of the wealth management industry (29:39) - Matt's Milemarker Minute Key Takeaways Complexity—not simply net worth—determines when a family needs deeper coordination. Significant wealth can create interconnected decisions around liquidity, trusts, taxes, lending, philanthropy, and investments. The value of a family office comes from coordinating those decisions rather than treating them independently. Adding services doesn't automatically create a family office. A firm also needs advisors who understand how to use those resources together and an operating model capable of supporting the relationship. Capabilities matter only when the team can coordinate them effectively. Manage wealth according to its purpose, not a single return target. Different trusts, entities, liquidity needs, and liabilities may require different mandates. Matt's approach to "integrated investing" treats investments as one part of a broader balance-sheet and risk-management strategy. Technology should strengthen service rather than replace it. Reporting platforms and AI can make complex information easier to manage and reduce manual work, but Matt sees personal coordination and availability as the enduring value of the family office relationship. Quotes "Whatever you did to make your money, no doubt, was a difficult task in and of itself with experience and knowledge. None of that traditionally works with keeping your money." ~ Matt Celenza "There is a big difference between trying to sell and trying to solve." ~ Matt Celenza "Investing to me is one of the last things that comes into play with a family who has a lot of money. It's more preservation. It's more awareness of risk." ~ Matt Celenza "Technology is secondary to the service that we offer. It's the way that we deliver this coordination. That you can't replace." ~ Matt Celenza Links Matthew Celenza on LinkedIn Americana Partners Morgan Stanley Citi Wealth’s 2026 Global Family Office Report Merrill Private Wealth Management Jason Fertitta Addepar JPMorganChase WeWork A Better LA USC Thornton School of Music Buffalo Bills / Josh Allen Mammoth Mountain In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote Connect with our hosts Milemarker.co Kyle on LinkedIn Jud on LinkedIn Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube
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    32 mins
  • What RIAs Should Build Before Chasing AI with Marcos Segrera

    What RIAs Should Build Before Chasing AI with Marcos Segrera
    Oct 20 2026
    Episode 167: This week, Kyle Van Pelt talks with Marcos Segrera, Principal, Wealth Manager, and Director of Growth & Development at Evensky & Katz/Foldes Wealth Management. Marcos began his career in insurance before moving into the RIA channel, where his work now spans client advice, advisor development, growth strategy, and the firm’s next generation of leadership. Kyle and Marcos explore why sales is really a transfer of confidence, and why RIAs need to invest more intentionally in developing young advisors. Marcos shares how Evensky & Katz is expanding its approach to marketing and content as AI makes authentic human connection more valuable. They also discuss “funded contentment,” the role of advisors as guides, and why firms preparing for AI should focus first on clean data, documented workflows, and client-facing talent. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (02:33) - Marcos's money moment (06:31) - Why learning to sell still matters (10:09) - Developing advisors straight out of college (14:37) - Why Evensky & Katz is investing in content (19:45) - Why authenticity matters more in the age of AI (21:57) - Finding purpose beyond financial success (27:01) - Why AI won't replace human connection (29:49) - The value of an advisor who challenges you (32:12) - Preparing a 40-year-old firm for AI (35:41) - Designing the workflow before choosing the technology (37:07) - Marcos's outlook on the future of the wealth management industry (41:21) - Marcos's Milemarker Minute Key Takeaways Treat sales as a transfer of confidence. Technical expertise matters, but advisors still need the ability to connect, communicate, and help people feel confident making decisions. Developing those skills should be part of advisor training rather than something firms expect people to pick up on their own. Use AI to strengthen the human experience, not replace it. As information and automated advice become easier to access, trusted human judgment may become more valuable. The opportunity is to let technology handle more of the mechanics while advisors spend more time understanding clients, challenging assumptions, and navigating consequential decisions. Do the operational work before chasing the newest AI tool. Clean data and well-documented workflows determine what technology can actually improve. Before automating a process, understand how it works today, why each step exists, and whether the result improves the client experience rather than simply creating internal efficiency. Ask clients what they want to avoid. A question about goals can feel abstract, while a question about what someone is trying to avoid often reveals what matters most. Portfolios, tax strategies, and insurance then serve those bigger conversations. Quotes "Sales is a transfer of confidence." ~ Marcos Segrera “People tell you what their goals are when they tell you what they’re trying to avoid.” ~ Marcos Segrera “The people talking about it the most are the ones doing the least with it because they’re the ones getting to the quickest solution, which is probably not where you wanted to be anyway.” ~ Marcos Segrera “You should delegate everything that it’s humanly possible to delegate because you cannot delegate going to dinner with your wife. You cannot delegate taking your kid to school in the morning.” ~ Marcos Segrera Links Marcos Segrera on LinkedIn Evensky & Kats / Folds Wealth Management Prudential AXA UBS Merrill Lynch J.P. Morgan University of Florida To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink Shaping Wealth The Geometry of Wealth by Brian Portnoy The Money Guy Show Joe Schmitz Jr. From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks Dodge Viper Connect with our hosts Milemarker.co Kyle on LinkedIn Jud on LinkedIn Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube
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    45 mins
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