Simplicity Lone Beacon is proud to have several employees who have passed the same financial exams many of our advisors have. We view ourselves not just as a marketing firm, but a comprehensive marketing firm specializing in the financial services vertical. Special knowledge of the financial and insurance products our advisors sell and of compliance regulations take our company to the next level. Here is a look at the qualifications of three Simplicity Lone Beaconites.
Diana Salvucci – Account Director, Series 66, Series 7, MA Insurance Producer Exam
Diana Salvucci comes to us having passed the Series 66, Series 7, and Massachusetts insurance producer exams, and with years of business consulting, marketing, and financial services experience. She spoke to Simplicity Lone Beacon’s core tenant after being on the job for less than a week: Just as a good advisor can take the stress out of complex financial planning for his or her clients so they can focus on their lives, “Simplicity Lone Beacon is able to take the stress out of an advisor’s marketing and business development efforts so that advisors can focus on their clients and continue to deliver a high-level of service.” Having worked for advisors in a combination operations and marketing role, she understands Simplicity Lone Beacon’s unique value.
The Series 66 and Series 7 exams cover a wide range of topics, including characteristics of investment vehicles, taxation, investment risk, securities, client investment recommendation strategies, laws and regulations, and ethical standards. She gained a firm grasp on both how financial products work, and the impact they have on real people. She originally took the Series 7 exam to work at a financial firm where she was involved with compliance procedure, business strategy, and marketing. She found that her interests were primarily in marketing, due to its ever-changing and dynamic landscape. From there, she continued to hone her business consulting and marketing skills in the financial industry. She’s worked on both the marketing side and financial side, “touching all the pieces of the puzzle”, from website building to event marketing to client relations, and “understands how they all fit together to form a comprehensive marketing ecosystem.” She’s excited to join Simplicity Lone Beacon because we offer the opportunity for her to combine her professional passions – marketing and financial services – and we’re thrilled to have her.
Stephanie Sjoblom – Vice President of Operations, Series 65
Last year, our Vice President of Operations Stephanie Sjoblom passed her Series 65 exam, which covers law, ethics, and regulations for financial advisors. She decided to take the test because “most of our advisors are fiduciaries, and I wanted to better understand how we could use that from a marketing perspective.” It also allowed her to gain an in-depth understanding of the advertising and marketing laws our advisors are subject to and “engage in higher-level conversations with them about strategy and compliance.” This has constant practical value when we create campaigns for our clients since it’s important for us to know what advisors can and can’t say in advertisements. For example, one advisor wanted a campaign to state that his clients were getting a certain average rate of return that others weren’t. “I was able to talk to him about ways to properly express his objectives without running into compliance obstacles. ”
Several of our clients were “genuinely appreciative that a marketing company was willing to go the extra mile to understand their business.” Stephanie’s knowledge helps with everything from creating a strategy for annuity marketing campaigns, to making sure blogs and website copy is compliant. Although Simplicity Lone Beacon isn’t a compliance company and ultimately doesn’t bear that responsibility, we always design campaigns and write with compliance in mind. This way, we aim to help keep our advisors compliant and hep make their compliance department’s jobs easier.
John Capuano – Founder, Insurance Producer License
John Capuano, Simplicity Lone Beacon’s co-founder, passed his insurance producer license exam just before starting the company. This technical exam covers important information on taxes, law, and insurance products, so studying for it gave him a much better understanding of what his company would actually be marketing. “You realize the serious nature of what we’re marketing and gain such respect for someone selling it – and an understanding of what it means for someone buying it,” he says.
Before Simplicity Lone Beacon, advisors had two options for marketing: They could go to a Field Marketing Organization (FMO), made up of financial professionals trying to do advertising and marketing, or they could go to an advertising agency that didn’t understand their business at all. Simplicity Lone Beacon is unique because we’ve chosen to become marketing experts in this vertical. We supplement our marketing knowledge with financial and compliance knowledge, and there’s no other marketing company out there who takes such steps to learn about advisor’s businesses.
John gives an example of when we work with an FMO or IMO when they introduce a new product: “Understanding how that fits in with someone’s financial plan is important for understanding how to market it.” And as a 57-year-old, John understands the target demographic’s concerns and makes a point of having all employees understand as well. Get in touch to learn more about Simplicity Lone Beacon’s unique marketing approach and offerings!
