RPWM US Tour Day 11 – April 23 April 24, 2013

Last scheduled meeting this morning in New Jersey, about 45 minutes out of Manhattan.

We met with a firm that employs forty people and is as a result about four times our size. Our opening question was “so we suppose that you have four times the headaches that we do”.

It is a firm that has recently gone through a rebranding exercise as we have been doing, so it was good to exchange war stories about that process. We did a presentation to their firm and then had the opportunity to look at their impressive process infrastructure that maintains a client base of in excess of 1,000 people.

We finish off our last meeting promptly remove our ties (yes we wore ties!) and head back to Manhattan to experience more of the New York City action.

Took this pic today on the subway, there are certainly some interesting characters on the train network there. Dog, in a bag, catching the train.

 

You can see why everyone is wearing headphones and just not trying to make eye contact in the subway system. Mind you, it is a much safer place than what it used to be and I think the zero tolerance regime has been good for the city. For example there was a sign on the train that basically said that if you assault transit police you are looking at 7 years imprisonment. Perhaps we could take a leaf out of that book given some of the recent goings on our public transport system.

We finish off this evening with an NBA basketball playoff game that sees us watch New York Nicks defeat the Boston Celtics to go 2-0 up in the series. Big sell-out crowd of 20 odd thousand at Madison Square Garden to watch the game. Pretty feral atmosphere, but I suppose this is to be expected given they sell full strength beer in buckets there.

This will be the last you hear from us until we are back. We leave tomorrow for home, cannot wait to get back and see our respective families and friends. Not looking forward to the 30 odd hours of door to door travel.

Take Care,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 10 – April 22 April 23, 2013

Meeting this morning with a firm that surprisingly have a similar model to that of ours, which means very different to a lot of the firms we have been speaking to. This firm is a traditional financial planning firm with a strong focus on strategic advice as opposed to the “how much money do you have for us to manage” approach. It is quite a refreshing discussion with a philosophically aligned firm.

Our next meeting takes us to Park Avenue. Most of you are familiar with our story on fund manager selection, and the idea that unless we can eyeball the people that actually run the money we do not recommend the fund. We have recently placed a fund on our recommended list, and they have since had a merger and moved offices so like many of our clients that drive past our office to ensure we are still there we paid their new offices a visit. Pretty impressive setup, no questions on where the management fees go!

This is what the view from the 31^st floor on Park Avenue looks like (very similar to the view out of our offices! NOT!)

One of the highlights of this trip without question was a visit to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street. As official guests of the NYSE We had the opportunity to walk the floor and for those of you up early enough you probably saw us on TV during CNBC’s live cross from the floor of the exchange. Our timing was great, as we were there for the ringing of the closing bell.

ReireCare on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

 

A view of the world’s biggest TAB!!

From Wall Street we walk down to the emotional place of the 9/11 Memorial. For those of you that have ever seen the Twin Towers it is unbelievable to imagine that they are gone from the Manhattan skyline. They have done an amazing job with the memorial park and serves as a reminder of an event that changed the world for ever.

Some moving words from the 9/11 Memorial Mission Statement:

May the lives remembered, the deeds recognised, and the spirit reawakened be eternal beacons, which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance, and intolerance.

Take Care,

Luke, Mirko & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 9 – April 21 April 22, 2013

Sunday morning meeting in New York, with a lovely lady that runs a virtual family office out of a penthouse uptown. She utilises an amazing model to successfully deliver her value proposition to clients. She said something that I really thought resonated – “I advise you decide” meaning her job is not to make decisions for her clients but rather give them the necessary advice to enable them to make the correct decisions.

Here is a photo of Uptown New York. Really nice part of town, I am surprised they let us in! The doorman took one look at us and advised that the service entrance was around the side.

As we had hit it off with our newly met colleague we end up going to lunch at a local favourite restaurant Atlantic Grill. Very nice and not overly priced either. Place was packed with people enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

In case you haven’t picked up on it we really do like our sports, and having accommodation across the road from Madison Square Garden gives us a perfect excuse to catch any sort of game. We pick up tickets to an Ice Hockey Game – New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils. We correctly jump on the home team Rangers who manage a comfortable 4-1 win (ironically same score line in soccer last night). Fanatical crowd that provided for some entertainment. I asked the guy sitting next to me what they were chanting at one stage in the game, and he tells me they were chanting the Devils goal keepers name, I asked why and he promptly advised “to let him know he had conceded a couple of goals tonight” very funny!

Dinner tonight we venture to Little Italy, and you may as well be in Italy with the precinct full of Italian restaurants. We dine in a restaurant where the owner is operating out of the premises his grandmother started in 1945 when she immigrated to the US. Fantastic meal in a nice setting.

 

Take Care,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 8 – April 20 April 21, 2013

We decided that day eight was to be officially declared day of the tourists, as we had no meetings scheduled. We took the opportunity to take in the sights of New York.

One of the highlights this morning was the walk along the High Line. The High Line is a historic freight railway line located on Manhattan’s west side. It runs from the meatpacking district through to West 34^th street. The line has been transformed into beautiful gardens and a path for all to enjoy another side of New York. We joke about a section of grass that has been planted on the line saying that this must be where the children of New York that don’t have access to Central Park come to see what real grass looks and feels like, given everything else is basically concrete.

Picture of High Line

We finish off our morning walk with breakfast in the meat packing district at a French Bistro called Pastis. This we can highly recommend.

We knock off about four hours of shopping for gifts for our respective families (to keep us out of trouble!) and are all shopped out by late afternoon.

We organised tickets to watch The New York Red Bulls Football (soccer) team take on New England Revolution. The Bulls manage to demolish their opponents 4-1 and we are now on the NY Red Bulls official bandwagon. Bit of an Aussie connection at the Bulls as Australian star Tim Cahill plays there, as does the great one Thierry Henry. Here is a photo of someone that we always hoped we would have the opportunity to see play live.

 

Now someone thought it would be a good idea to schedule a meeting for Sunday so that is the plan tomorrow, we are meeting with another colleague who has kindly taken the time out of their weekend to meet with us.

Take Care

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 7 – April 19 April 20, 2013

What’s the one thing you don’t want to hear when you wake up in your hotel room in a foreign country. The city of Boston is in lock down, it is highly recommended that you do not leave your homes, hotels etc… That was what we woke up to today, with the overnight events of the hunt for the Boston bombers in overdrive, with one man killed and another fugitive on the run.

Our two meetings that we were really looking forward to were cancelled and we started looking at options to get back to New York. With no trains, airplanes, buses or cabs running we cut a deal with the hotel doorman and he organises a driver to take us to New York. Six hours in the car to get back here, however very pleased to be back safe in our New York hotel room.

Here is a shot of the boys about to jump in the car for a road trip.

 

Just as I am finishing writing this it is confirmed that the second suspect is now in custody and Boston is now open for business again. Unfortunately more people have died and been wounded during the process and we ask ourselves the inevitable question of WHY?

Take Care

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 6 – April 18 April 19, 2013

Busy day in Boston today we had four meetings lined up. Boston is similar to Melbourne in that it feels a bit like home. Whilst the city is certainly on edge at the moment you can see how in normal times the place is quite relaxed. Luke was here last year and confirms that this is exactly what the vibe about town usually is. Must say the people are very friendly around here despite the fact that they cannot understand us! Had I known I would have booked a translator to follow us around.

Our hosts were fantastic today, as they all have been to date opening their homes (ie: their offices) and taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with us. They had some excellent feedback on our business strategy and were very interested in the reforms taking place in the financial industry in Australia. Very similar to what is happening in the UK and reading between the lines it is a bit of a preview of what US advisors may be faced with in the future.

Still very much high alert on the streets here. Here is a photo that I took on the train today. Genuine photo, I have blocked out the guys face and Luke gave me a spray for taking a photo of a dozen military police fully armed and in flak jackets on the train. I would have apologised but they probably would not have understood me anyway!

 

I hate public transport at the best of times but was able to work out within minutes how to catch a bus and two trains and arrive at the selected destination. And NO I did not need a Myki card that does not work either.

The other thing I would like to touch on is why is it that we are stitched up so much in Australia when it comes to EVERYTHING.

Have a look at the photo I took of a petrol bowser. You will note that premium unleaded is $US3.78 per gallon. Just so happens that for the mathematically challenged that 1 gallon equals 3.78 litres. Guess what that is the equivalent of $1 per litre (assuming $US1 = $AUS1). Last time I checked premium unleaded back home was a lot more than $1 per litre.

As we walked back to the hotel I had a look at a pair of runners in the Nike store. $US110 for a pair of runners which back home retail for $200. What are they shipping the runners first class or something????

I know it tends to take a back seat because we do live in a great country but the cost of living in Australia is way too high.

Take Care,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 5 – April 17 April 18, 2013

We arrive today in Boston via train and are greeted by scenes that can only be described as high alert. There are military personal and police carrying machine guns on almost every street corner. ID’s and bag searches are the norm as the city tries to deal with this atrocious act on innocent people. Boston is a beautiful place and to be perfectly honest when planning our trip which included New York, Washington and Boston we would have had Boston on top of the safest cities we are visiting list.

We took this photo just down the street where one of the bombs went off.

 

I think it sums up the resilience of the people of Boston and the US. They will not let this break their spirits. I saw a man outside of Starbucks almost in tears as he thanked the police for their efforts and offered to buy them coffees. It is times like this that a city like Boston is tested, and we are confident as outsiders that they will get through this.

It is not often that as business owners you have the opportunity to meet with a Harvard Business School Professor of Administration to actually present your business strategy. Well that is exactly what we had a chance to do today. What a fantastic opportunity to meet with a highly intelligent individual that eats Strategy Statements for breakfast. He was able to give invaluable feedback on our Strategy Statement and I am sure you will be seeing his influence on our business in the future.

Harvard University is an amazing place and one cannot help but be inspired by such an institution. Harvard was established in 1636 (YES 377 years ago) and it is the oldest US institution of higher learning. Absolute privilege to visit and spend some time on campus to get a feel for this historic place. I am sure we have walked away from their at least 20% smarter (perhaps a combined 20% between the three of us!).

Take Care,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

Here are some pictures.

It was nice of the Professor to unveil this banner for the three lads from RetireCare before our arrival

 

 

The closest Luke & Shane will ever get to playing football for Harvard

 

RPWM US Tour Day 4 – April 16 April 17, 2013

We accepted an invite to visit the Bloomberg head office in New York. What an amazing world of data, analytics and financial information. Bloomberg employs 15,000 people delivering such information using the most innovative of technologies. 6,500 employees occupy floors 1 – 29 of the 55 storey building which has 130,000 square metres of office space (we have 211 square metres!!)

One of the few curved escalators in the world. Very Strange!

Meeting in New York today with a financial planning firm which runs the moto – Sophisticated Wealth Management from Independent Advisors. The similarities between our two firms was eerily close. The size of the firm, its advice and investment process may as well have been taken from the RetireCare playbook to use a US analogy.

Excellent meeting again with like-minded individuals with a refreshing view of the world of wealth management.

Next time you complain about term deposit rates have a look at the photo below. This photo was taken at Chase Bank. Have a close look – How about term deposit rates of  0.25% per annum for 15 months or 1.01% per annum over 10 years!

For you mortgage holders it looks a little better – 2.750% per annum fixed interest for 15 years or 3.500% for 30 years on home loans.

Off to Boston tomorrow, hopefully things have settled down there, however looking at the level of security in New York at the moment we seriously doubt it.

Take Care

Mirko, Luke and Shane 

RPWM US Tour Day 3 – April 15 April 16, 2013

 Meeting today in Washington, about 35 kms out of town in a place called Potomac Maryland. We are in a cab driving towards this place wondering why on earth one would want an office out here. Our questions are quickly answered when we start driving past the Mansions in the area. Ridiculous amount of wealth here, a combination of old and new money.

Here is an example of what $18,000,000 buys you in Potomac. Just a small 10 bedroom home perfect for a couple with no kids!

 

The firm we met with today has $10 BILLION of Assets under management. As we were unable to impress them with our size we thought we would remind them that in Australia our debt to GDP percentage at about 20% versus their 100% plus figure (we had to score a point somewhere!).

Very constructive dialogue with our host and some impressive ideas around how they interact with their clients. First time I head heard the idea of psychographic marketing which really does make sense given the nature of discussions we have with our clients.

In the afternoon we jump on the train back to New York and about an hour before we arrive in New York word gets out of the terrible bombing at the Boston Marathon. We arrive in New York about an hour after this happened and the whole city is on alert. I have never seen so many police, and emergency services people in my entire life. Times Square was in lock down (see photo below)

 

It’s times like this you realise how lucky we are in Australia. Thank you to all those that have emailed and phoned to see if we are ok. As I said to someone that rang saying that this must be a nightmare, I responded by saying there are plenty of people in Boston that would be happy to swap places with us. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all those families that have been effected by such a senseless act on innocent people. Let’s hope this is the last of this.

Take care

Regards,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

RPWM US Tour Day 2 – April 14 April 15, 2013

Train ride to Washington today from Penn Station in New York. What a great way to travel, time to catch up on emails, do some reading and actually see a couple of things on the way.

A fast train makes a lot of sense. We do the journey (approximately 400kms) in just over three hours, inclusive of a few stops.  The train hits speeds of up to 240km/h. It does beg the question however how we have no fast train in Victoria connecting us with places like Geelong, Bendigo, Shepparton and perhaps even Sydney. I suppose that would be making too much sense for the powers that be to actually implement such infrastructure.

We arrive in Washington and have a few hours to kill. We are staying near Capitol Hill so we go for a walk. We end up walking the area over a few hours and take in a fantastic precinct that takes us through the Capitol Hill district which takes us past amazing buildings such as, The Capitol (home of the US congress), the Smithsonian museums, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, The White House and I must mention my favourite building be the US Government Accountability Office (building was empty, no one in sight, I think they all went out to lunch !).

We were in luck today as the White House gardens are only open on four days of the year and today just happened to be one of those days.So instead of getting as close as about 500 metres we were able to stroll right up to the front door. Let me tell you there were a few nervous secret service members when they saw the Three Wise Men coming.

Luke asked a secret service agent if Barack Obama was home as he had invited us to a BBQ. Needless to say it did not go down to well.

In Washington we caught up with a guy that is part owner in a Wealth Management firm that manages $US1 Billion (that’s about $155 Australian these days)

It was an excellent meeting where we had an opportunity to exchange some ideas and road test some strategies that we have planned for the business. Whilst our markets are very different there certainly are some synergies between what happens in Australia and the US when it comes to Wealth Management.

I have attached some photos that we took today.

Take care,

Regards,

Mirko, Luke & Shane

The White House from the front door

The White House (from as close as you usually can get)

The Capitol

What we were hoping for