Mark Zinder

Is It Different This Time?

History or Hysteria? Which Will it Be?

(Best for general and financial audiences)

In the mid-’90s, Sir John Templeton told me that the investor who says, “This time is different, when in fact it’s virtually a repeat of an earlier situation, has uttered the four most costly words in the annals of investing.” That was over 20 years ago, and even though many of Mr. Templeton’s sentiments on investing remain true today, is this one of them? In this presentation, I will discuss current events that are playing out as they did in the past, but I will also explore events that are not rooted in any historical context that might have you asking, “Is it different this time?”

In this presentation you will learn:

- How the trade war and tariffs of the 1920s ended in economic calamity and why this one will not.

- How the events that are occurring in China today are similar to Japan in the 1980s.

- What “new tools” the Federal Reserve has implemented and what that means going forward.

- Why the recovery from the Great Recession was so slow but why it will continue.

What Happens Next?

Looking Backwards to See into the Future

(Best for general and financial audiences)

We live in increasingly uncertain times; rapid economic changes, global unrest, and bi-partisan bickering have all lead to an underlying sense of uncertainty. In addition to the current climate, headlines are screaming that robots and artificial intelligence are going to eliminate worker’s jobs.

What if they are all wrong? What if we are merely extrapolating the present and ignoring the possibilities of the future? History books are full of examples of previous revolutions that came and went: the industrial revolution, the railroad revolution, electrification, mass production, and now, quite possibly, the information technology revolution. In this presentation, you will discover how we are nearing the end of this revolution while another is just beginning, providing a fresh wave of prosperity.
Now is the time to ask yourself, “What Happens Next”?

In this presentation, you will learn:

- How history repeats itself will continue to do so in the future.

- How the evolution of a revolution unfolds and how it has always unfolded in the exact same manner.

- The eight steps that make up a revolution and the number of years it takes to complete the cycle.

- Why there are reasons to be optimistic about tomorrow.

“Righting” Your Book

Effective Practice Management Techniques

(Best for financial audiences. Excellent practice management material.) 

The business of financial advice has changed continually over the last 30 years. In 1983, when Mark passed his Series 7, his business card read “Stock Broker.” Then came the titles “Investment Advisor” and “Financial Planner.” Today the buzzword is “Comprehensive Wealth Manager”.

But this isn’t just a name change on a business card; it’s a fundamental change in the way we run our business and market our services. In this post-recession, DOL, highly regulated business, where we all provide a similar cookie-cutter service, we need to ask ourselves, “What am I doing to stand out from the crowd?”

Consider this: today, the average investor does business with six to eight different financial professionals: they have a banker, a CPA, a mortgage broker, a life insurance agent, and two, three or four different financial advisors- the average high-net-worth investor is working with four different financial advisors. When they retire, they want to go from working with six to eight professionals to one or two. The question you must ask yourself is: will I be the advisor that the money is being transferred to—or being transferred from?

I’m going to teach you how to be the former!

In this presentation, you will learn:

- How to grow your business.

- Proven techniques that will turn prospects into clients.

- What to say and how to say it.

- How to refine a plan to get your clients’ financial house in order.

- How to stand out from the crowd and become the single advisor of choice.

The 6 Common Traits of the Most Successful Financial Advisors

Navigating and overcoming the roadblocks to success

(Best for financial advisors)

For over six years Mark Zinder was employed as the national spokesman for one of the most respected money managers in the world, Sir John Templeton.

During this time Mark would be asked to speak on behalf of Sir John Templeton at locations around the world. Quite often, these trips were designed to reward some of the top producers in the financial industry. After his presentation, Mark would often speak individually and continue to correspond with these high-level producers. The most often discussed topic was, “Out of all the financial advisors in the United States (roughly 600,000 of them) what is it that you do that makes you one of the best?” Over the years of interacting with these advisors and evaluating what makes them successful Mark has pinpointed the common traits of the most successful advisors in the country.

In this high energy, thought-provoking presentation you will hear the insightful observations from Mark, who was in the trenches and learned from the people achieving the highest levels of success.

In this presentation, you will learn:

- A sales process that works in today’s environment

- That clients want to be taught not told

- How to talk in real time

- That facts tell but stories sell

Secrets of the Temple

How the Master Money Managers Manage Money

(Best for financial industry professionals)

In the 1990s, when Mark was National Spokesman for Franklin Templeton Funds, he frequently sat down with Sir John Templeton, Michael Price, and Dr. Mark Mobius with a simple request: “Teach me something I don’t know.” These brilliant individuals were named three of the “Top Ten Money Managers of the 20th Century” for their uncanny ability to see what the rest of the market was missing, and they passed their insights and knowledge on to him.

Although the world of finance is rapidly changing, their secrets are not lost. Through timeless stories and hidden histories, Mark Zinder uses the past to illuminate the future of the financial industry.

Mark is going to share some of the techniques he personally learned from these legendary money managers.

In this new presentation, you will learn:

- With 23 years of research history, how Equities Magazine discovered that Mr. Templeton was wrong only once in two decades of interviews.

- How Sir John Templeton was able to “see it before it was obvious”.

- How Michael Price adapted the principles of security analysis to unlock hidden value and how you can do it also.

- How to add alpha to a client’s portfolio.

- Learn why active managers will begin to outperform passive portfolios and what has been holding them back.

The History of the Fed and Their Next Historic Moves

A guide to monetary policy

(Best for seasoned financial professionals)

The economist Milton Friedman famously believed that the Fed caused the Great Depression. In 2002, Fed Governor Ben Bernanke agreed - "You're right. We did it."

We have entered an unprecedented era in the history of monetary policy. Are we fighting inflation or deflation? Are interest rates going to rise or fall? And why has this recovery been so weak? Are there lessons we can learn from our past?

This presentation examines the history of the Fed, how it caused the Great Depression, and how the Fed will make sure it never happens again. Mark boils down complicated Fed reports so that audience members can make sense of the changes taking place at the Fed. Participants will leave with a broader, better understanding of the Fed and the knowledge to better allocate their clients' portfolios.

You will be surprised to learn that what you thought was going to happen is no longer valid.

In this presentation, you will learn:

- How the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression

- Why printing over $3 trillion (QE1, QE 2, Operation Twist and QE3) did not create the expected inflation

- How, in some parts of the country, we are still fighting deflation

- Why the old method of moving interest rates of buying and selling bonds in the open market, is now outdated and how IOR and RRP are the new Fed tools of choice

- What is Blockchain and how is it disrupting money and banking

Playing by the Numbers

A Lighthearted Look at a Serious Subject

(Best for general audiences)

Making the complicated simple.

Even though numbers are a universal language, like many languages, for some, numbers are not easily grasped. However, in the industry of finance, it is the language we speak. Alphas, betas and R squared are terms thrown around with ease. Many of our clients, being more creative than analytical, are stymied by such conversations. They nod in agreement, as we explain our points of view in statistical detail, simply out of politeness.

What if we could learn to speak to them vs. at them. What if we could transpose the dialog from numbers to stories- is it possible that this could not only help our clients grasp the concepts we are trying to explain more easily, but help create a better connection to the advisor as well?

In this lively presentation, Mark shares stories that are both entertaining and thought provoking which advisors can easily use to help them make their point.

In this presentation, you will learn:

- How numbers got their shape; a fascinating story to help you “break-the-ice” early

- How we can use familiar stories, like the purchase of Manhattan and Van Gough’s, Sunflowers, to gain perspective on the stock market’s historical returns.

- How monetary policy was the actual backdrop to the classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of OZ.

- How to talk, so your clients will listen and how to listen, so your clients will talk.