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Five Things: Outsource Effectively

In our recent video series, The Five Things, we’re sharing what top-run wealth firms are focusing on. It’s an important opportunity for financial professionals to think about the big picture and where they hope to be in five to 10 years. In our first episode, AiK2 CEO, Jay Hummel, talks all things outsourcing. 

What are the benefits of outsourcing?

When firms outsource effectively, financial advisors and RIAs can maximize their time by spending it with clients. We know that independent firms have a lot of other duties that are necessary but also take them away from their main focus of working with clients. Outsourcing effectively can bring you back to what you are great at – and what drives revenue for your business. 

What are your concerns?

In our business, we work with a lot of RIAs and hear lots of questions and concerns. Here are some common ones:

Do I have the funds for outsourcing? Will I have to fire an employee?

We acknowledge that, yes, outsourcing does cost money. However, being able to focus on revenue-generating duties instead of non-revenue-generating duties offers the opportunity for a high return on investment. We have seen effective outsourcing provide firms with the ability to increase margins by over 10% and increase the firm’s value by 25-30%. Understanding your staff’s competencies and duties that drive revenue should guide you as you prioritize which functions to outsource. 

How do I manage all these vendors and choices? Where do I even start?

We get it – we’ve been to those vendor fairs at financial conferences, too, and there’s no denying they can be overwhelming! To effectively outsource, you’ll want to prioritize certain functions that are pulling your time and focus away from clients.

A good place to start is in these three main areas: 

  1. Middle-and back-office functions
  2. Compliance
  3. Financial books and records/billing

 

In our business, we work with RIAs and have seen many of them use outsourcing as a tool for growth. We’d love to partner with you and discuss options and opportunities for your firm to grow using outsourcing in the coming years. Have a question for Jay or want to talk more about outsourcing options for your business? Drop him a line! 

Third-Party Sharing Documents Disclosure

Third-Party Information Sharing (Advisor and AiK2):

The individual(s) agree that AiK2 will continue to work jointly with your financial advisor to achieve its business objectives of risk management. The parties agree to remain in regular contact with the other and to meet and share information as appropriate. The individual(s) will notify AiK2 if or when this sharing agreement should be terminated and information no longer shared with advisor.

Third-Party Sharing Documents Disclosure

Third-Party Information Sharing (Advisor and AiK2):

The individual(s) agree that Elk River will continue to work jointly with Aik2 to achieve its business objectives of risk management. The parties agree to remain in regular contact with the other and to meet and share information as appropriate.  The individual(s) will notify AIK2 if or when this sharing agreement should be terminated, and information no longer shared with Elk River.

Electronic Signatures Disclosure:

Each party agrees that this Agreement and any other documents to be delivered in connection herewith may be electronically signed and that any electronic signatures appearing on this Agreement or such other documents are the same as handwritten signatures for the purposes of validity, enforceability, and admissibility.

Quoting Disclaimer And Disclosure:

Quotes are estimates only, based on the information you provide, information from consumer reporting agencies and other third parties, and your insurance score, and are subject to change based on verification of information, including identification of the property or risk to be insured, claim and credit history, and/or information contained on other consumer reports.

As part of the underwriting process in most states, insurance companies order an insurance score based on your credit history that may be used to underwrite and price your policy. Consumer reports that contain information about your driving*, insurance history, and claim history are also obtained. You have the right to be told the name and address of the reporting agencies that provide these reports and to see and correct your personal information. Please note insurance score is not used in the state of California, for auto insurance in Massachusetts, nor for residential property insurance in Maryland.

User Agreement:

By providing AiK2 with the Personal Information through your use of the Site, you agree that authorized third parties, including affiliates, associate partners/business partners, will be granted access to your Personal Information. We may transfer or otherwise make available your Personal Information to authorized third parties for various purposes including, to process information on our behalf, including service providers, to host the Site, serve advertisements, send e-mails on our behalf, conduct surveys and research, process any online transactions and to operate certain features on the Site. Further, such third parties may obtain Personal Information that you voluntarily submit to them to make use of the products and/or services and/or any offers being provided by them. We are not responsible for the collection and use of your Personal Information by these third parties. The Company assumes no liability whatsoever for any disclosure of Personal Information due to unauthorized third-party access or other acts of third parties, or any other acts or omissions beyond reasonable control of the Company. In the event the Company is required to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, your Personal Information may be disclosed pursuant to such subpoenas, court order, or legal process, which may be without notice to you. As we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets or business offerings. Customer, email, and visitor information are generally one of the transferred business assets in these types of transactions. We may also transfer such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers, or any dissolution.

Privacy Policy for AiK2 LLC

1. Introduction

The services offered on our website, AiK2.com (the “Site”) are owned and operated by AiK2 LLC a subsidiary of K2 Placements LLC. (“AiK2”). Please read this Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) and our Terms and Conditions carefully, as you are agreeing to be bound by both documents by using our Service.

This Policy applies to all Users of the Service. If you do not agree with any part of this Policy, you must not use the Site. Your continued use of the Site will constitute your acceptance of this Policy. Any new features or tools which are added to the current Service shall also be subject to this Policy. You can review the most recent version of this Policy at any time here. We reserve the right to update, change or replace any part of this Policy by posting updates and/or changes. It is your responsibility to check the Service periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Service following the posting of any changes constitutes acceptance of those changes.

2. Definitions

Throughout this Policy, we may use certain words or phrases, and it is important that you understand the meaning of them. The list is not all-encompassing and no definition should be considered binding to the point that it renders this Policy nonsensical:

  • “AiK2” refers to our Company, Site, Service, or a combination of all or some of the preceding definitions, depending on the context of the word.
  • “Policy” means this Privacy Policy.
  • “Service” refers to the services that we provide through the Site, including, but not limited to, our insurance quotation service and the Site itself.
  • “Site” refers to the AiK2 website at AiK2.com and it affiliated partner pages.
  • “User” refers but is not limited to all visitors of the Site, including but not limited to registered and unregistered users, visitors, advertisers, viewers, customers, browsers, vendors, service providers, and/or merchants.
  • “You” refers to you, the person who is governed by this Policy.

3. Information Collected

Identifying Information

We collect certain personal information from you when you sign up for our Service that can be used to identify you, such as your name, address, e-mail address, and other information that we deem relevant for the purpose of providing you with our Service, and any information that you provide to us voluntarily. The information we collect from you to the extent that it is private, is disclosed only in accordance with our Terms and Conditions and/or this Privacy Policy.

Non-Identifying Information

Whenever you use our Service, we may collect non-identifying information from you, such as your IP address, referring URL, operating system, cookie information, and Internet Service Provider. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, this information alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

Information We May Request

We may request you to provide certain information in connection with your request for a home, auto, valuable, or excess liability insurance quote, including but not limited to the following:

For Users Holding and/or Seeking Home, Auto, Valuables and Excess Liability Insurance:

  • General Information: Name, physical address, email address, and other personally identifying information necessary to the insurance coverage.
  • Home Insurance Information: Insurance origination, limits, and other coverage information with respect to existing insurance coverage (if any).
  • Auto Insurance Information: Information on your driver’s license as well as information about your driving record.
  • Information necessary to identify your vehicle (e.g., make, model, number).
  • Other information about your vehicle age and condition.
  • Property Information: Property address, age, dimensions, and conditions of your property.
  • Safety Information: Safety implements and providers (e.g., fire stations) in or around your property.
  • Resident Information: Information about property occupants and pets (if any).
  • Insurance Information: Prior property insurance claims or losses.
  • Business Information: Whether or not business is conducted on your property and, if so, basic information about the business.

4. Use of Your Information. We may use your information to:

  • Enhance or improve User experience or our Service.
  • Contact you by phone, text, or e-mail about our Service or respond to inquiries.
  • Send e-mails and updates about AiK2 including newsletters and notifications of amendments to legal documents such as this Privacy Policy and our Terms and Conditions by e-mail or text.
  • Perform any other function that we believe in good faith is necessary to protect the security or proper functioning of our Service.

5. Cookies, Web Beacons, Browser Local Storage, and Similar Technologies Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or other devices by websites that you visit.

We may use cookies for various purposes including, but not limited to, remembering your preferences, maintaining user sessions, improving the security of our services, collecting usage information, and targeting ads.

Since cookies are used to maintain user sessions, it is necessary that you enable cookies in your browser to be able to log into AiK2, and you hereby acknowledge that we have informed you of our use of cookies and that you consent to our use of cookies in relation to the platform by which you are accessing our Service. We may use the Web Storage API (a.k.a, local or session storage) provided by your browser to cache information related to your account, including your personal data. We may use various third-party services that may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect information. Such services include, but not limited to, web analytics services, advertisement services, and social media services.

This Policy does not cover cookie practices used by third-party service providers. We will do our best to maintain links to the privacy policies of the third-party service providers that we use in this document.

We take no responsibility for stored information in your cache, or in other devices that may store information, and disclaim all liability of such. In addition, we may, from time to time, retain residual information about you in our backup and/or database.

6. Third Party Websites

AiK2 may post links to third-party websites on our Service. Additionally, other materials made available through our Service may contain third-party website links or files. These third-party websites and files are not screened for privacy or security issues by AiK2, and you release us from any liability for the conduct of these third parties. Please be aware that this Privacy Policy, and any other policies in place, in addition to any amendments, do not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to members of the Service. AiK2 bears no responsibility for the information collected or used by any advertiser or third-party website. Please review the privacy policy and terms of service for each site you visit through third-party links.

7. Third Party Access to Your Information

Although you are entering into an agreement with AiK2 to disclose your information to us, we do use third-party individuals and organizations to assist us, including contractors, web hosting companies, and others.

Throughout the course of our provision of our Service to you, we may delegate our authority to collect, access, use, and disseminate your information. For example, our web host stores the information that you provide us, and we may hire outside contractors to perform maintenance or assist us in securing our Service.

It is therefore necessary that you grant the third parties we may use in the course of our business the same rights that you afford us under this Privacy Policy. For this reason, you hereby agree that for every authorization which you grant to us in this Privacy Policy, you also grant to any third party that we may hire, contract, or otherwise retain the services of for the purpose of operating, maintaining, repairing, or otherwise improving or preserving our Service or its underlying files or systems. You agree not to hold us liable for the actions of any of these third parties, even if we would normally be held vicariously liable for their actions, and that you must take legal action against them directly should they commit any tort or other actionable wrong against you. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you authorize us to collect, share, store, exchange, and otherwise use your information in conjunction with AiK2.

8. Release of Your Information for Legal Purposes

At times, it may become necessary or desirable, for legal purposes, to release your information in response to a request from a government agency or a private litigant. You agree that we may disclose your information to a third-party where we believe, in good faith, that it is desirable to do so for the purposes of a civil action, criminal investigation, or other legal matter. In the event that we receive a subpoena affecting your privacy, we may elect to notify you to give you an opportunity to file a motion to quash the subpoena, or we may attempt to quash it ourselves, but we are not obligated to do either. We may also proactively report you, and release your information to, third parties where we believe that it is prudent to do so for legal reasons, such as our belief that you have engaged in fraudulent activities. You release us from any damages that may arise from or relate to the release of your information to a request from law enforcement agencies or private litigants.

9. Commercial and Non-Commercial Communications

By providing information to the Service that forms the basis of communication with you, such as contact information, you waive all rights to file complaints concerning unsolicited emails from AiK2 since, by providing such information, you agree to receive communication from us or anyone else covered under this Privacy Policy. However, you may unsubscribe from certain communications by notifying AiK2 that you no longer wish

to receive solicitations or information and we will endeavor to remove you from the database. (Click here to contact AiK2)

10. Security Measures

We take certain measures to enhance the security of our Service, including using SSL certificates. However, we make no representations as to the security or privacy of your information. It is in our interest to keep our Service secure, but we recommend that you use anti-virus software, firewalls, and other precautions to protect yourself from security threats.

11. Your California Online Privacy Rights

AiK2 permits residents of California to use its services. Therefore, it is the intent of AiK2 to comply with the California Business and Professions Code §§ 22575-22579. If you are a California resident you may request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to any third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Various provisions throughout this Privacy Policy address the requirements of the Californian privacy statutes. In summary, you must presume that we collect electronic information from all visitors. You may contact us at pcsales@aik2.com with any questions.

12. International Transfer

Your information may be transferred to—and maintained on—computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, AiK2 transfers Personal Information to the United States and processes it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

13. Amendments

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we amend this Privacy Policy we will post the changes here. Your continued use of our Service shall constitute your acceptance of such changes.

Terms of Use:

Customer’s access to and use of the Platform and Services shall be subject to and conditioned upon Customer’s continued compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Customer shall be responsible for ensuring that Customer’s users (including but not limited to Third Party Users) abide by the terms set forth herein and safeguard and protect the Platform and Services to the extent within its control in a commercially reasonable manner.

All of the content on the Site is made available only for your personal, lawful, non-commercial use in connection with seeking risk management. Use of the Site by a competitor company or other non-consumer third party is prohibited.

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