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Four Wall Street brokerages on Friday upped their price targets on CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) ahead of the cybersecurity firm’s third quarter earnings report on Nov. 26. CrowdStrike stock has gained 40% in 2024 as shares rebound from a global IT outage in July.

JPMorgan, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Jefferies and Baird hiked CrowdStrike stock price targets on Friday. RBC Capital, Truist, Barclay and Morgan Stanley upped their price targets earlier in the week.

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CrowdStrike Stock: ARR Key Metric To Watch

“Results for Q3 could be much better than some anticipate,” said JPMorgan analyst Brian Essex, in a report. “This is the first full quarter following the July 19 outage. We expect we will see a material impact from the company’s sales pause following the outage, in addition to the impact of accommodations offered through CrowdStrike’s Customer Commitment Packages (CCP).”

He added: “We expect growth, margins, and cash flow will reflect the greatest pressure this quarter, with fundamentals improving the farther we move away from the date of the outage.”

The key financial metric for investors heading into the CrowdStrike earnings report will be subscription-based annual recurring revenue (ARR). Analysts polled by FactSet estimate ARR of $4.01 billion for Q3, up 27% from a year earlier and 4% from the June quarter.

“We believe CrowdStrike is capable of growing ARR in the mid-20s% over the medium term,” said KeyBanc Capital analyst Eric Heath in a report.

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Amid the IT outage, analysts expected lower growth for “net new” ARR because of delays in signing contracts and expectations that many customers will seek price discounts when renewing contracts to help cover the cost of business disruptions.

CrowdStrike’s negotiations with customers over pricing concessions are expected to play out through 2025 and perhaps beyond.

Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo said in a report: “The biggest question for CRWD this quarter is will investors even care about Q3/Q4 potential softness as long as the long-term ARR trajectory remains on course. We believe the next major catalyst for shares remains opening fiscal 2026 guidance, which will not be provided until March.”

He added: “For fiscal 2026, consensus ARR of $5.1B implies growth of 21% year-over-year versus 23% in fiscal 2025.”

On Friday, CrowdStrike stock rose 4% to close at 372.26.

$1 Billion In Quarterly Revenue In Sight

CrowdStrike earnings for the October quarter are expected to fall 1% to 81 cents with revenue rising 25% to $983 million. The company is on track to report over $1 billion in revenue for the first time in the January quarter.

When reporting July quarter financial results, CrowdStrike cut guidance due to the global IT outage, caused by a faulty software update. CrowdStrike’s software update required access to Microsoft’s operating system. The two companies have been cooperating to prevent future incidents.

Delta Air Lines (DAL), which took a one-time, 45-cent hit to September quarter earnings tied to the IT outage, has sued CrowdStrike seeking reimbursement for damages.

Further, CrowdStrike competes with Palo Alto Networks (PANW), SentinelOne (S), Microsoft (MSFT) and others in the “endpoint” market. Endpoint security tools detect malware on laptops, mobile phones and other devices that access corporate networks.

Also, CrowdStrike is building a broad, threat-detection cybersecurity platform called XDR, or extended detection and response. It monitors endpoints as well as web/email gateways, web application firewalls and cloud business workloads.

Meanwhile, CRWD stock is among cybersecurity stocks to watch.

Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.

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New research from Vanguard suggests people changing jobs put less into their 401(k)s, often without realizing it, and can lose out on as much as $300,000 throughout their careers.

Another theme among survey respondents was they waited too long to start saving. Two separate surveys from Transamerica Institute and Charles Schwab found that, on average, boomers waited until age 35 to start saving.

Nancy Seeger, 64, who lives outside Cleveland, said she made investing mistakes that had long-term repercussions on her finances. Seeger, who has two master’s degrees, worked for many years as a teacher and health librarian. She was laid off earlier this year from her $74,000-a-year job and while she’s not ready to fully retire and is still looking for work, she worries she won’t be able to land another decent-paying job given her age.

She told BI she wished she could have saved more when her children were young and started retirement funds earlier. While she had some savings, she began consistently putting more into her investments at age 50.

She also didn’t realize that because she has a pension in addition to receiving Social Security when she retires, she would be affected by a little-known Social Security provision that would lower her monthly check. Between her pension of $713 monthly and Social Security, which she expects will be between $1,200 and $1,400 monthly, she’ll have just enough to cover her rent.

“I was fortunate to get a small inheritance from my parents and an aunt, which saved me, but it’s unlikely that I will be able to do the same for my children, and that bothers me a lot,” Seeger said. “I had hoped to travel, and I wanted to leave money for my kids, but both of those goals are compromised now.”

Seeger said she has few regrets and “let life come to me,” though she’s planning to take a part-time job when she retires to supplement her income. She’s still digging herself out from bills from undergoing cancer treatment in 2022, and because she has a few months until turning 65, she can’t get on Medicare and has to pay her health insurance out of pocket.

“I’ve had a lot of unexpected things happen, but I’ve also come to understand that the unexpected things impact everybody, and you can’t really plan for them,” Seeger said.

While $1 million for retirement may be sufficient for some Americans, it could be too little for others.

Bank of America’s Financial Wellness Tracker suggests that Americans ages 61 to 64 should have about 8.5 times their current salary in savings. Someone with $1 million in savings at 65 can safely withdraw $40,000 in their first year of retirement, Bank of America said.

For some, saving just 1% more could have significant financial rewards down the line. If someone making $50,000 annually contributes 5% of their salary to retirement, they would save nearly $60,000 less after 30 years than if they’d contributed 6%.

Nevenka Vrdoljak, the managing director in the chief investment office for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank, told BI that calculating how much you need for retirement requires difficult estimations of life expectancy, spending in retirement, and retirement resources.

“Changes in government benefits can affect expected income,” Vrdoljak said. “Fluctuations in investment returns make it difficult to estimate how much savings you will have in the future.”

With cancer rates rising and diagnoses coming earlier in life, another difficult calculation is how to prepare for time off work and quickly mounting medical bills.

“The need for long-term care can cause more than financial strain in retirement. It can place a burden on loved ones,” Vrdoljak said. “Investors with substantial assets may prefer to self-insure against this risk. But for many other investors nearing retirement, long-term-care insurance can help mitigate the risk and cost of care.”

PJ White, 69, never had aspirations for a high-income career — but she never expected to be homeless.

Throughout her career, she worked for a lab supply company, retail companies, and as a secretary at law firms. She married at 21 and bought a house, but she divorced a year later, which set her back financially.

While she said she often lived hand to mouth, she wished she had been more cautious about spending on leisure and clothes — what she called “play money” — and set aside time to learn about investing. She said it was rare she had savings left over each month, and her peak income was about $41,000. She left work in 2008 to care for her partner’s mother.

“The money would come in and out it would go,” White said, adding she rarely put money into her 401(k). “I didn’t think about the retirement aspect because it was so far down the road, but here I am now wishing that I had.”

She recently lost her home because she and her partner couldn’t afford to pay property taxes. They now live in a camping tent in San Diego. She lives on about $1,500 in Social Security each month as they fight to get their house back, but she said much of her money goes to court fees. She’s received some assistance with groceries through her new health insurance company, but she hasn’t secured an affordable housing unit yet.

“He doesn’t make any money at all, so it’s all on me, and I’m feeling it,” White said of her partner. “I’m showing symptoms of stress, and I don’t have anywhere to go, no one to turn to.”

Are you an older American with any life regrets that you would be comfortable sharing with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form or email nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Earlier this month, the S&P 500 hit a record high of more than 6,000 for the first time ever. Based on that, you might assume that stocks may be too expensive to buy right now as the average stock in the index is trading at more than 25 times earnings. However, there are still many deals out there.

Two stocks that could be among the best bargains right now include AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA).

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Drugmaker AbbVie isn’t having a great year, but it’s not having a bad one, either. Its year-to-date gains totaled a modest 7% as of Monday’s close. That’s decent, but it’s nowhere near the S&P 500’s more impressive 23% rally.

For a while, the stock was outperforming the broad index. However, things went sideways for AbbVie recently after the company reported last week that its schizophrenia drug, emraclidine, failed to meet its primary endpoint in a phase 2 clinical trial. Emraclidine seems to have had the potential to be a blockbuster drug for AbbVie, and investors didn’t take the news lightly, dumping the stock afterward.

For a diverse business like AbbVie, that is by no means crippling to its operations or long-term outlook. In its most recent quarter, for the period ending Sept. 30, the company reported $14.5 billion in revenue, which grew by nearly 4% year over year — and that includes a 37% decline in Humira, which recently lost patent protection. AbbVie’s diverse business spans immunology, oncology, aesthetics, neuroscience, and eye care.

Yet, investors generally recognize that the company is no pushover. Abbvie has historically proven itself to be a growing business. While the pharmaceutical business is inherently risky, and failures will probably show up in Abbvie’s pipeline of drug therapies, that itself isn’t a reason to turn bearish on what’s still a top stock to buy and hold. Eventually, the risk-reward profile is too good to ignore.

AbbVie is facing a slowdown right now but the company expects that in 2025 it will “return to robust growth” and that through until the end of the decade, it will grow by high-single digits per year. And while Humira has lost patent protection, the company has effectively replaced that revenue with Skyrizi and Rinvoq, two immunology drugs which it believes will combine for higher peak revenue than its popular rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

For investors looking to play the long game, this sell-off can be an opportune time to buy AbbVie on weakness as it trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 14, which looks dirt cheap for such a great growth stock.

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Like all family and property law, divorce is a highly state-specific process. How you will handle a divorce and protect your assets, and what constitutes individual vs. shared assets, will depend entirely on your jurisdiction. As a result, how retirement accounts are treated during divorce proceeds can vary widely from state to state.

The first step is typically to separate personal from marital assets. In most cases, you retain assets and debts that predated the marriage, and you split assets and debts that you acquired while you were married. This is far more complicated than it sounds, as it’s very easy for assets to comingle and share accrued value during the course of a marriage.

For example, say that you are 55 years old with $800,000 in a 401(k). The most important part of this will be where you live and how much of the account was earned during the marriage. From there, a divorce court will typically divide up the 401(k) based on your household’s overall assets and, in particular, any other retirement accounts held by you or your spouse.

While a complete discussion of this issue is far beyond the scope of a single article, we’ll explore some of the most important factors to consider below.

If you need financial advice during or after a divorce, consider connecting with a fiduciary financial advisor today.

Divorce courts typically do not give special status to a couple’s tax-advantaged retirement accounts. A judge will treat these portfolios as a standard financial asset, splitting up each account based on the overall distribution of assets, the parties’ relative financial status and an account’s marital vs. personal status, among other factors.

There is no tax penalty for taking early withdrawals in order to transfer retirement assets between divorcing spouses. This is typically done through a “Qualified Domestic Relations Order” or a “Transfer Incident to Divorce” depending on the nature of the account.

You can move these funds directly into another qualifying pre-tax account without triggering income taxes or an early withdrawal penalty.

For example, say that you have $800,000 in a 401(k), of which you had $300,000 in the account when you got married. Typically, you will keep that $300,000. The remaining $500,000 might be considered a marital asset and be distributed between you and your spouse. You might then agree to split that money 50/50, and draft a QDRO to remove $250,000 worth of assets from your 401(k) and move them to an account of your spouse’s choosing.

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Retirement accounts may be distributed directly, with one spouse receiving the assets or their cash equivalent at the time of divorce. Assets can also be shared in retirement, with each spouse taking income or distributions according to the terms of their divorce. This is most common with a more structured retirement asset, like an annuity or a pension, which can be difficult to split apart.

Whether you’re just starting the divorce proceedings or have completed them, a financial advisor can help you set and plan for new financial goals given this major life change.

There are two main ways that states deal with divorce assets: community or equity.

Community property has become increasingly disfavored, so relatively few states (nine in total) still practice it. Under this scheme, a court will order marital assets split evenly between the spouses upon divorce, with each spouse taking half. Here, for example, under a community property scheme a court would simply give each spouse 50% of the marital component of the 401(k).

Equity, or “equitable distribution,” is increasingly the standard model. Under this approach, courts will attempt to distribute divorce assets equitably, not necessarily evenly. The court will consider several factors including (but not limited to) length of the marriage, child custody arrangements, work and careers, financial and personal contributions to the marriage, earnings potential, and in some cases, fault and bad actions.

In the case of a retirement fund, a court might also consider issues like age of spouses (who has more time to save up), future Social Security benefits of each spouse, and other retirement assets held by each spouse. For example, if you are 55 and your spouse is 45, the court might give you more of the 401(k)’s assets since you have less time remaining until retirement. On the other hand, if you hold $800,000 in your 401(k) and your spouse has $750,000 in theirs, a court might transfer few (if any) assets between two similarly-situated parties.

Whether you live in a community property or equitable distribution state, a financial advisor can help you consolidate the assets you receive in a divorce and construct a comprehensive financial plan around them.

The truth is, there are few legitimate ways to protect your marital assets from divorce proceedings. Much advice on this subject shades on illegality, since trying to hide your assets or obscure their marital history may constitute fraud. As a result, most advice to move your assets or change their tax status is at best unhelpful, at worst legally suspect.

Some advice recommends that you stop contributing to a 401(k) during divorce proceedings. While this will (modestly) reduce the gains that your spouse can claim, it will equivalently reduce your own gains, and will not change the distribution of the underlying cash.

While a financial advisor can be a valuable resource during a divorce, there are a few basic steps you can take:

First, once divorce begins, establish your own bank accounts. Cash flow will be critical. You will need to pay legal bills, establish your own household, begin building a separate credit history and more. You also may want to buy your spouse out of their share of the retirement portfolio. For example, say that you hold an $800,000 401(k) based on stock options from your employer. You might want to keep those assets invested. In that case, you might want to accrue cash so that you can pay your spouse the equivalent value for their share of the 401(k), trading the cash for the more-valuable portfolio assets.

Although your spouse may choose to decline your offer if they also prefer the long-term value assets.

You’ll also want to immediately speak with your divorce attorney and 401(k) plan administrator. It is not uncommon in divorce proceedings for spouses to attempt to sell, move or spend assets. In some cases, this is an effort to disrupt the proceedings, for example by converting identifiable securities into obscure personal property. In other cases, it is simply an attempt to destroy or devalue shared assets out of spite.

Regardless of the purpose, you want to address this up front. It’s far easier to prevent your spouse from cashing out the 401(k) than to try and claw that money back.

You want know exactly what you own and where. Clearly document any financial transactions that you make and pay attention to any conducted by your spouse. This paperwork includes addressing the beneficiaries on all policies, like your 401(k) and life insurance. You don’t want your spouse to retain authority or rights under those accounts, regardless of how they’re divided up.

Finally, pay attention to the tax status of your settled assets. For example, say that you have an $800,000 Roth IRA in addition to your $800,000 401(k). Don’t accept a divorce settlement that treats those as equivalently valuable assets, because the Roth account likely has far more value than the other. Make sure that you and your lawyer insist on treating your 401(k) as the pre-tax asset it is, and not the $800,000 asset it appears to be.

Protecting your assets during a divorce is difficult, because as far as the law is concerned they aren’t your assets. They belong equally to your spouse. But you can put yourself in a better position by remembering to track your money and valuing it for its long-term, after-tax value.

• Getting a divorce is stressful and painful, especially since it involves some of the most complex financial transactions any household will conduct. While it’s important to have legal and financial professionals there to help you through the process, you should also understand exactly what goes into it.

• Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

• Keep an emergency fund on hand in case you run into unexpected expenses. An emergency fund should be liquid — in an account that isn’t at risk of significant fluctuation like the stock market. The tradeoff is that the value of liquid cash can be eroded by inflation. But a high-interest account allows you to earn compound interest. Compare savings accounts from these banks.

• Are you a financial advisor looking to grow your business? SmartAsset AMP helps advisors connect with leads and offers marketing automation solutions so you can spend more time making conversions. Learn more about SmartAsset AMP.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen, ©iStock.com/Vimvertigo, ©iStock.com/Rawf8

The post I’m Getting Divorced This Year at 55 With $800k in a 401(k). How Do I Protect My Finances? appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.

There are currently eight publicly traded companies with market caps of $1 trillion or more: Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Berkshire Hathaway.

Those stocks are highly renowned, and for good reason: They have made plenty of investors wealthy. However, none of them are particularly known as dividend stocks, and thus far the trillion-dollar club has excluded longtime dividend payers. However, that could soon change.

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Walmart (NYSE: WMT), the world’s biggest retailer and the largest company in the world by revenue, has quietly blown away the rest of the retail sector in recent years as its commitment to omnichannel sales and reputation for everyday low prices have delivered steady growth. Meanwhile, many of its peers have struggled with inflation and weak consumer spending.

Walmart reported another round of strong quarterly results on Tuesday morning. Top-line growth was strong across the board with comparable-store sales (comps) up 5.3% at U.S. stores (excluding fuel), its best performance in at least five quarters. And Sam’s Club, its members-only warehouse retail chain, reported 7% comps growth excluding fuel.

At its international segment, which has historically been a challenging segment for the company, constant-currency revenue rose 12.4% to $30.3 billion. Overall, revenue was up 5.5% to $169.6 billion, which topped the consensus at $166.6 billion.

The retailer also delivered solid margin improvement, with gross margin increasing 21 basis points to 24.2%, driven by lower markdowns in U.S. stores and strong inventory management. Overall operating margin expanded as well, as operating income was up 8.2% to $6.7 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose from $0.51 to $0.58, ahead of the consensus at $0.53.

Walmart’s stores performed well, but it’s also benefiting from emerging growth businesses like advertising, where revenue jumped 28%, and global e-commerce remains strong with sales up 27% as it gains market share on Amazon and other competitors.

The company also raised its guidance, showing increased confidence in the holiday quarter. It now expects net sales to rise 4.8% to 5.1% and full-year adjusted EPS of $2.42 to $2.47.

Walmart’s market cap topped $700 billion for the first time on Tuesday, Nov. 19, meaning the company is approaching a $1 trillion market cap. At its current valuation, the stock would only have to grow by 43%, which seems achievable given its recent momentum. The stock is now up 66% year to date, though it will be difficult to repeat that performance next year.

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On Nov. 20, Nvidia reported financial results for its fiscal 2025 third quarter, showing stunning 94% year-over-year revenue growth. The business is absolutely booming, and so is the stock price. As of this writing, Nvidia stock is up close to 200% year to date.

As impressive as those returns are for Nvidia, it’s not the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) this year. That distinction presently belongs to energy company Vistra (NYSE: VST), which has gained 332% in 2024.

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Vistra provides residential electricity and owns power generation plants, including nuclear plants. And many investors believe that its nuclear assets set it up to meet the growing power needs of artificial intelligence (AI).

However, after gaining over 300% in under a year, is it too late to buy Vistra stock? Stock market history can serve as a guide.

Looking at top stocks from the past can offer some useful insights. For practical reasons, I had to limit the scope of this survey by setting some parameters.

First, I’m only looking at the last 10 years for the S&P 500. Second, I’ve only included stocks that were members of the S&P 500 for the entire year. Companies included in the index during the year were excluded from the results.

Over the last 10 years, Southwest Airlines, Netflix, Nvidia, Align Technology, AMD, Devon Energy, and Occidental Petroleum have all taken the top-stock crown at least once.

Return data from YCharts. Table by author. *Year-to-date return as of 11/21/24.

This data is actually quite surprising. After being the index’s top stock, one would think it would be due for a pullback. But in reality, the past decade’s annual best performers continued their winning streak the next year in eight out of 10 cases.

Moreover, the average gain in the second year was huge. Investors could have made a lot of money by simply buying whichever was the best stock in the past year.

Let’s say an investor bought Southwest Airlines stock on Dec. 31, 2014 and held for all of 2015. And let’s say that this investor sold Southwest Airlines at the end of 2015 and rolled that investment into Netflix for 2016, then did the same for Nvidia in 2017, and so on.

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Cultivating a personal brand can help advisors stand out in a competitive landscape. The most successful businesses understand the value of a highly recognizable, trusted brand image for attracting new clients. An impactful financial advisor branding statement can help you clearly convey what your business stands for and the value you offer to prospective clients.

Do you need help expanding the marketing of your financial advisor practice? Try SmartAsset AMP, a holistic client prospecting and marketing automation platform.

A branding statement is a concise statement that neatly encapsulates who you are, what you do and what makes your business unique. A well-crafted branding statement conveys your firm’s mission, values and key selling points.

Financial advisors may develop a branding statement that represents their firm as a whole. They could also write a separate personal branding statement for themselves.

Your firm’s branding statement communicates what your business does and how you meet your clients’ needs. A personal brand statement is an opportunity to demonstrate your personality and what you’re most passionate about when it comes to helping clients.

Financial services is a highly competitive industry. If you want to succeed, you have to give prospective clients clear reasons to choose your business over another advisor’s. A branding statement helps you to crystallize your messaging for maximum impact.

Developing a brand statement allows you to:

• Emphasize your expertise to your target audience

• Put your skills and unique value proposition in the spotlight

• Demonstrate the value you offer to your clients

The best brand statements for advisors are memorable or “sticky,” meaning their message lingers with prospective clients. Stickiness is an important characteristic in building your advisor brand, as prospects who remember you may be more likely to seek out your services.

It’s important to remember that a brand statement is different from a slogan or tagline. Brand statements are concise, but still detailed. Meanwhile a slogan or tagline is usually a catchy phrase that’s designed to grab attention.

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A branding statement is typically brief, no more than one to three sentences. So it’s important to choose your words carefully. Having some examples of financial advisor branding statements to follow can help you decide what to include:

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I help clients develop tailor-made financial plans that are designed to move with them through each stage of life. I excel in empowering clients to take control of their financial destinies with confidence.

My passion lies in helping families with young children build a more secure financial future. I sweat the big stuff for you, from college planning to retirement planning, so you can manage the smaller stuff and enjoy life.

I assist high-net-worth clients with developing long-term plans for wealth preservation that also allow them to further their philanthropic goals. My approach is proactive and client-centric. And my focus is on helping you create a comprehensive estate plan that incorporates a legacy of giving.

My clients’ financial well-being is a number one priority. I specialize in helping them develop custom pathways to reach their objectives. It’s my goal to ensure that you’re fully prepared for not only your financial future, but the here and now.

I work with young, unmarried professionals who need a dedicated problem-solver to help them navigate the challenges of creating a financial plan. My clients rely on me to help them produce results that align with their goals, needs and risk profile.

I help pre-retirees navigate the transition period from their working years to retirement as smoothly as possible. That includes developing a game plan for claiming Social Security benefits and timing retirement plan withdrawals to ensure maximum growth.

I help clients who are getting a late start on retirement planning get caught up, so they’re not shortchanging their financial goals. I understand the challenges of delaying retirement savings and offer realistic, proactive solutions for gaining ground.

Writing a branding statement requires some internal reflection and research to make sure you’re conveying what you want to say clearly and effectively. Here are five general tips that can help you craft a branding statement that sticks with prospects and clients alike:

• Think with your target audience in mind. Who is your ideal client? What messaging is most likely to convince that person to choose your firm over another advisor’s? How you answer those questions can help you draft your brand statement.

• Look at the competition. Pick three to five of your top competitors and review their branding statements. Where do you see similarities? What are the key differences? How would you feel reading each of these messages as a prospective client? Comparing competitor branding statements may spark inspiration for what to include in yours.

• Assess your values, mission and strengths. Your branding statement is a chance to highlight your strengths and broadcast your core message. Consider what you value most and what makes you unique, then use that to start formulating a first draft.

• Ask for feedback. It never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at your branding statement, and offer feedback on where you might be able to improve. If you have one, you could ask your mentor, or reach out to another advisor in your network who’s willing to review your branding statement.

• Modify as needed. Don’t be afraid to change up your branding statement if your business’s values, mission or niche change. You don’t have to do a complete rebrand. But you should make sure that your branding statement is always aligned with what your business is about.

If you’re having trouble creating your statement, you might consider working with a professional branding agency. Branding agencies can help you flesh out a winning brand image from scratch and manage it for optimal results.

Creating a brand statement for yourself or your firm can help you forge stronger connections with the prospective clients you’d like to serve. Whether you use the examples included here as a blueprint or develop a template of your own, taking time to develop a financial advisor branding statement can help you connect with more targeted prospects.

• Good branding tells a story about you and your firm, and storytelling is a critical component in marketing. Marketing, in turn, is critical for long-term growth. If you’re looking for a simpler way to promote your business and attract new clients, you might consider partnering with an advisor marketing platform. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.

• Cultivating your brand image is a facet of business development for financial advisors. Business development spans all of the things you do to encourage growth, from conducting marketing research to tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) to building strategic partnerships. Having a business development plan can help you scale at a pace that’s realistic and comfortable for your firm.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/courtneyk, ©iStock.com/ijeab, ©iStock.com/Pattanaphong Khuankaew

The post 7 Examples of Financial Advisor Branding Statements appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.