It’s always a challenging question, but the current market volatility brings it particularly into focus. Normally, like many advisors, you may prefer calendar rebalancing—quarterly, semiannually, or annually. And, whatever the time frame you set, it’s likely that you’ve recently addressed the need for rebalancing during your end-of-year portfolio reviews. But now, given the significance of the economic downturn and widespread uncertainty regarding where the markets will go in coming months, what should you do?

To grow a successful fee-based practice, efficiency is key. But the more new assets you convert to fees, the more time consuming it becomes to invest and manage them. Many advisors solve for the time dilemma by outsourcing investment management, but many others prefer to have more control over their investment portfolios. If you fall into the latter category, what can you do?

You know you should be forming strategic alliances—and that these relationships are supposed to help you grow your business. But if you’re like many of your peers, you haven’t yet figured out how to make these alliances worthwhile. How do you get a firm to agree to a partnership? More important, how can you ensure that the “right” referrals occur between firms?

Financial advisors often establish ties with another professional—for example, a CPA or estate attorney—to refer clients to each other, generate leads, and offer more comprehensive services.

Unfortunately, many partners struggle because they don't co-market consistently—or fail to do so in the first place. Don't fall into this trap: once you establish a business partnership, implement strategies to succeed in co-marketing your strategic alliance.

It's no secret—strategic alliances for financial advisors can help catalyze business growth.

Uniting with CPAs, attorneys, real estate agents, and other professionals can add value for existing clients by allowing you to offer more comprehensive services, as well as help you generate referrals for new customers. In short, you can tailor these partnerships to form a unique win-win-win relationship.