Finance author-podcaster expands into wealth services

A former CNBC and Bloomberg anchor who started a financial education content company three years ago has branched into direct wealth management services.

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Nicole Lapin’s Private Wealth Collective will cater to millennial and Generation Z viewers of the podcasts and other content from her Money News Network who can choose between financial coaching and on-demand video content or fiduciary wealth management services through a registered investment advisory firm collaborating with the new company. The Money News Network — which has grown to more than 5 million downloads per month from an audience that is predominantly affluent women “zillennials” — and Connective, a technology firm that will be providing the wealth management services through Connective Wealth Partners, launched the new service earlier this month. 

After authoring several books on money and co-founding the network of 15 podcast shows, Lapin passed the Series 65 examination and registered with Connective as an investment advisory representative last month.

“We’re really catering to that first-time wealth builder, the first-time investor who wants to grow their wealth but just doesn’t know how yet,” Lapin said.

In doing so, Lapin and Connective co-founders Ian Rosen and Andrew Nigrelli are trying to disrupt an industry they view as shutting people out from helpful knowledge and resources through minimum account sizes and jargon that can be hard to understand. They’re also testing the latest combination of how-to financial content and wealth management services. Other forms of that pairing include many financial advisors with strong media skills, social footprints or their own shows or TV personalities and writers who refer business to wealth management firms. The recent rise of so-called finfluencers in social media has altered that equation.

Nigrelli, a 20-year industry veteran of firms such as Ameriprise, LPL Financial and Carson Group, and Rosen, a former CEO of the Stocktwits social investing network who has had tenures with Marketwatch and technology firm TIFIN, bring experience in wealth and media.

“There’s an unbelievable opportunity right now to bring services that have been reserved for a smaller segment of the population to everyone,” Rosen said. “I think making everyone feel comfortable and confident in their financial situation and future is a worthy goal of our industry.”

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A competitive industry

The existing RIA chassis and base of prospective clients from the podcasts provide an edge compared to many startup advisory practices that may open without a ready group of potential customers or their registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Melissa Caro, founder of advisor training and coaching firm My Retirement Network. Regardless, the new firm will face the challenges of “scaling advice and not content” when entering a crowded marketplace that is rapidly consolidating at the top, Caro said. She praised the founders for trying to demystify finance, but she pointed out that discussing budgeting or how to save money is a much different business than full-bore wealth management.

“We always want to pay attention in the industry to new models. I think that the profession as a whole has grown and matured quite a bit,” Caro said. “I always root for anyone trying to close those gaps, so we’ll see how it goes.”

With an assertion that “Wealth management is broken” because of hefty account minimums, hidden fees and advisors “who don’t return calls,” the Wealth Collective’s website informs users at the top of the page that Lapin created the firm in order to fix those problems. The users can pick between a “wealth coach” option or fee-only wealth management services. In addition, the Wealth Collective offers a five-module video course called “The Money School” for $149. The firm pledged never to sell or share client data and to uphold a “fiduciary commitment” through fee-only services without any “commissions or hidden revenue streams.”

“I’ve been where you are,” Lapin wrote in a message on the site. “I started at 18 as the youngest — and one of the only females — reporting on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I’ve interviewed billionaires, covered market crashes and written three New York Times bestselling books on money. But here’s what I learned: the financial industry wasn’t built for people like us. The gatekeeping. The jargon. The million-dollar minimums. I spent years decoding Wall Street so you don’t have to. Now I’m using everything I know to give you access to the same caliber of guidance the ultra-wealthy get — without the attitude.”

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Crossover appeal by partnering with RIA

After her time covering finance with CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg, Lapin wrote the books “Rich Bitch,” “Becoming Super Woman” and “Boss Bitch.” On the Money News Network, she hosts or co-hosts the podcasts, “Money Rehab,” “Help Wanted,” “The Money School,” and “Wall Street Daily.” Her transition to getting her Series 65 license and accredited investment fiduciary designation grew out of talking to many podcast listeners about their financial concerns “to help as many people as possible” with advice “in time for this great wealth transfer,” Lapin said.

“You don’t need a million dollars to get help. You shouldn’t,” she said. “You just really need a team that gets it.”

The Connective RIA is bringing a team of 10 advisors to start rolling out those services after its parent firm purchased The Financial Gym, a subscription-based financial coaching firm that has worked with more than 15,000 customers over roughly a decade in business, and Water Street Advisors, a small RIA, last year. Wealth Collective clients will either pay subscription fees that cost about $125 per month for individuals and $175 for couples or a percentage of assets under management, according to Rosen. The firm aims to expand through Lapin’s listener base and deployment of technologies enabling advisors to serve more clients at once, he said.

“If you think about a world where AI and just content in general is so ubiquitous and pervasive and easy to produce, things like audience trust become really important,” Rosen said. “We’re hoping to really make a statement as to a new way of combining these industries.”