Torches of Freedom: The Women Changing Finance, Power & Influence
Welcome to the latest edition of Modern American Advisor.
This is one of our most distinctive issues to date, and a clear expression of what MAA is here to do: bring sharper thinking, better design and more ambitious editorial to the modern advice market.
The cover is deliberately different. It is glamorous, provocative and designed to make people stop.
That matters, because this is not a safe, predictable “women in finance” edition.
It is about power, visibility, influence and who gets to control the story.
The phrase Torches of Freedom has a complicated history. It was linked to one of the most famous publicity campaigns of the twentieth century, where the idea of women’s freedom was used as a commercial strategy.
Inside the issue
The main theme is women changing finance, but the issue goes much wider than that:
We look at women in advice through a data-led feature based on 155,351 records, asking what the numbers really show about experience, qualifications, seniority, visibility and ownership.
We also feature women building careers, firms and influence in different ways. Not as one neat “women in finance” story, because there is no single story. That is the point.
There is a piece on the new authority in finance, and why authority today is not just a title. It is a voice. It is trust. It is clarity. It is the ability to communicate in a way that people believe.
There is also a feature on the confidence gap, looking at women’s cash decisions and why this should be a better advice conversation, not a patronising product push.
Caroline Holt also writes about why the next generation of women in wealth management need more than another training course. Technical skill matters, of course. But so do confidence, poise, purpose, relationships and access to the rooms where real opportunities are created.
Beyond the cover story
This edition also reflects the wider editorial range of Modern American Advisor.
Ken Boyd interviews Brian Thorp of Wealthtender on how technology, online reviews and specialist positioning are changing the way clients find advisors.
Derrick Kinney writes on why elite advisors often do not get the referrals they should. It is a sharp, practical piece about timing, gratitude and helping clients remember why your work mattered in the first place.
Justin Burse looks at Regulation S-P and AI usage in wealth management. This is a big one. AI is already being used inside advisory firms, sometimes with very little oversight. The risk is not just AI itself. The risk is pretending it is not already happening.
Our WealthTech & AI coverage continues with one of the defining questions facing the profession: do not fear AI in financial advice, fear the lack of it.
The Build to a Billion section focuses on growth, scale and building advisory firms with real enterprise value. This edition includes a feature on Christine Wedell, Volare Wealth Advisors, empathy, scale and the future of the modern advice business.
We also cover concentration risk in public equities, inflation and income portfolios, the Great Wealth Transfer, client engagement, market intelligence and the conversations advisors need to be having with clients now.
That is where Play Verto comes in too. One of the things we are most excited about is using Modern American Advisor not just to publish to the market, but to listen to it.
Better questions.
Better insight.
Better conversations.
The wider MAA platform
Modern American Advisor is not just a magazine.
It is an editorial and audience platform for RIAs, wealth managers, CPAs, founders, firm leaders and the businesses that serve them.
Our core sections reflect the forces reshaping the advice profession.
Women in Finance focuses on visibility, influence, confidence, opportunity and the women shaping modern advice.
Build to a $Billion looks at growth, acquisition, succession, enterprise value and what it really takes to build a serious advisory business.
WealthTech & AI tracks the tools, platforms and ideas changing productivity, planning, communication and client service.
Advisor Brief delivers practical, relevant intelligence for modern advisory firms.
Client Engagement & Culture explores trust, referrals, family conversations, communication and the human side of advice.
Market Intelligence & Industry Pulse uses research, surveys and audience insight to understand what the market is really thinking.
Life & Style gives the magazine a more distinctive cultural edge, from luxury travel to restaurants and experiences relevant to successful advisors and their clients.
The Private Members Club brings together founders, rainmakers, successors, innovators and industry leaders for better conversations, private events, editorial opportunities and access to the people shaping what comes next.
MAA Talent supports the firms thinking seriously about people, recruitment and the next generation of advisor talent.
Why it matters
Modern American Advisor exists because the advice profession is changing quickly.
Clients are changing; Technology is changing; Ownership models are changing; Marketing is changing; The way advisors build trust, attract talent, win referrals, use AI, communicate value and create influence is changing too.
Our role is to track those changes, interpret them and create a more useful, more premium and more interesting home for the modern advisory market.
Not another commodity news feed
Not another stream of headlines.
A platform for insight, ideas, people, ambition and interpretation.
I hope you enjoy this edition.
More importantly, I hope you explore the site, share the pieces that resonate, and become part of the Modern American Advisor community.
Read Torches of Freedom now.
Alex Sullivan
Founder & CEO
Modern American Advisor
