Long before the COVID-19 outbreak, Brian Heckert, founder of FSM Wealth and a NAIFA member since 1986, embraced virtual client meetings as part of a strategy to grow his firm beyond his hometown of Nashville, IL, (population 3,200). InsuranceNewsNet profiles Heckert, who is also the immediate past president of NAIFA’s Illinois chapter, in its July 2020 issue.

Before the firm’s move to virtual meetings began in 2010, Heckert drove up to 65,000 miles each year for client meetings. The emphasis on going virtual has allowed FSM Wealth to expand its client base to 34 states.

“I Used to spend more time travelling than I did in front of clients,” he told the magazine. “Now it’s the opposite.”

The virtual meetings approach also allows Heckert to work with his financial professional sons, Brandon (who lives in San Jose, CA, and has been a NAIFA members since 2017) and Michael (based in Lexington, KY, and a NAIFA members since 2019). FSM Wealth has additional offices in Springfield, IL, and Janesville, WI. Brian Heckert’s daughter, Erin Soria, also works for the firm as director of marketing.

FSM Wealth emphasizes high-quality service for its financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, risk management, estate planning, succession planning, and higher education planning clients.

“What we’re most proud of is whether a client comes into the office or is having a virtual meeting, the meetings are identical,” Heckert told InsuranceNewsNet. “You sit down with a live advisor and a screen. What we’ve done is eliminate the inefficiencies of travel and paper preparation.”

Read the article in InsuranceNewsNet.