FINNY

20 stories you can use to open client conversations this week (link in comment): 1. Scribe Therapeutics (SCTX) IPO'd at $15, popped 44%, raised $128.7M with Sanofi participating. Insider shares stay locked until ~January 2027. Highlight the "paper gain vs. sellable gain" gap to prospects with pre-IPO equity — plan before the lockup lifts. 2. Etched doubled to a $10.3B valuation in a $300M round, seven months after its last raise. Rising valuations aren't liquid — exercising options now can trigger a real AMT bill. Offer to model that cost before a prospect acts. 3. Utz Brands holders got a 91% premium in Intersnack's $2.9B buyout. Frame it as a windfall and an unplanned taxable event needing a plan — the first 90 days matter most for anyone who just sold. 4. Tesla dropped 14.4% in a day, its worst earnings-day drop ever. Use it to illustrate concentration risk with prospects whose pay and portfolio ride on one stock. Ask if they actually know their exposure number. 5. Alphabet posted a record quarter and still fell 7.4% on a $200B capex guide. With RSU-heavy prospects, separate "is my company doing well" from "is my portfolio diversified" — ask if their equity comp has outgrown their strategy. 6. Avanos Medical's buyout closed at $25/share, turning equity into cash overnight. Fast deals mean fast tax bills. If a prospect's company is being acquired, offer to get ahead of withholding and redeployment now. 7. Travis Kalanick's Atoms raised $1.7B, doubling down on physical AI. Rounds this size often precede employee secondaries. Help prospects with private-company options decide, in advance, how much upside to lock in versus keep. 8. Rate-hike odds jumped to ~38% (from 12%) ahead of the July 29 Fed meeting as oil tops $100. With prospects holding cash, CDs, or floating debt betting on cuts, flag that the "rates are falling" assumption may need a second look. 9. Samsung Electronics America is cutting 739 NJ roles as its HQ moves to Texas. For affected prospects, lay out the real math: severance vs. relocation, 401(k) rollover, and the health-coverage gap in between. 10. Disney's third 2026 layoff round hit Pixar, ESPN, and more. Severance plus vested stock is an easy combo to mishandle tax-wise. Offer to turn both into a stable income runway for anyone recently laid off. (continued...)

🫡 It was an honor to get a surprise visit from the ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve - New York), who presented Patriotic Employer Awards to Eden Ovadia, Victoria Toli, and Theodore Janson for their ongoing support to Veterans, Reservists & Guardsmen. The FINNY team comes from all walks of life, including the military, and it's a privilege to bring together such an amazing group of people. Coming right on the heels of Fleet Week and the semiquincentennial America250 celebration, it was truly an amazing time to be recognized with official certificates from the United States Department of War. Special thanks to Gene Westmoreland for making the trip to our office for a surprise presentation, and to all the citizen-warriors who find a way to support the US both in and out of uniform. Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve (ESGR), U.S. Navy Reserve

Ditch generic outreach - AI has enabled personalization at scale. Larger firms with multiple advisors can (and should) use each advisor's unique story and messaging when connecting with potential new clients. Check out Eden Ovadia's recent appearance with Ryan Nauman on Zephyr's Adjusted for Risk podcast to hear more about where outreach is headed and how proactive firms can maintain an edge in an AI-influenced market Full episode at: https://lnkd.in/gvayUKyp

15 stories to use in opening client conversations this week (link in comment): 1. Brookfield's data center firm Csquare priced its IPO below range at $21/share, raising $1.05B instead of its $1.35B target. Dallas-area employees holding new CSQR shares should set realistic expectations and talk diversification now, rather than wait for a bounce that may not come. 2. Netflix hit a 52-week low after solid Q2 results were overshadowed by soft Q3 guidance ($12.86B vs. $13.0B expected). Los Gatos employees holding RSUs have a low-drama opening to revisit concentration risk - the dip isn't catastrophic, which makes the conversation easier to have calmly. 3. Semiconductor stocks were down ~11%, after China's Moonshot AI unveiled a rival model reviving AI-capex fears. Intel, Micron, Applied Materials and Arm employees with concentrated equity built up during this year's rally have a genuinely urgent reason to check exposure. 4. Dimon revealed AI has cut headcount 30-40% in some JPMorgan units, though most staff were redeployed rather than let go. Affected employees facing a shifted role — even without an income disruption — have a good trigger to revisit their career trajectory and savings plan while things are stable. 5. Retail stocks bucked the market slide this week, with Group 1 Automotive and CarMax both up 8%+. Employees holding equity in either company have an opener for a rebalancing conversation, especially with the position now standing out against a down market. 6. First Hawaiian agreed to acquire TriCo Bancshares in a $2B all-stock deal. Tri Counties Bank employees and shareholders in Chico, CA are trading one equity position for another, not cashing out — worth understanding what the combined company actually looks like before assuming this is a simple exit. 7. Housing starts jumped this week even as industrial production disappointed — a genuinely mixed economic signal. Business owners in housing-adjacent trades should weigh the positive number against the softer manufacturing data before assuming broad-based strength is here to stay. 8. Mars Wrigley filed a WARN notice cutting 307 Newark jobs as it consolidates HQ functions in Chicago. Separations don't begin until October 16, giving affected New Jersey employees real time to compare relocating versus a local transition before any decision has to be made. 9. Oil topped $91 a barrel over the weekend as U.S.-Iran strikes expanded to civilian infrastructure in Kuwait. With prices moving sharply twice in one week, fuel-sensitive small businesses should build a wider cushion into cost planning rather than rely on a single price point. 10. The ROAD to Housing Act became law July 11, restricting institutional investors from buying more single-family homes. Individual real estate investors and small landlords competing for the same properties may see a shifting competitive landscape worth discussing before their next acquisition. (Continued...)

The people are the company. Thanks to everyone at FINNY for helping us earn a spot as one of the Top 50 Firms to Work for in WealthTech. As AI makes product moats ever thinner, team and culture become the true differentiators. Hats off to: Eden Ovadia, Victoria Toli, Theodore Janson, Aaron Gibralter, Eric Phillips, CFA, Joseph Ortiz, Bill Gentzlinger, Brendan W., Casey Zduniak, Curtis Oberg, Dimitri Rogé, Jack Vaughan, Jackson Hower, Jason Vigilante, Josh Park, Kelcy Koenig, Mahmoud Nabil, Mallika Suri, Max Zajec, Molly Chambers, Nael Ould Belkacem, Taejoon (Noah) Kim, Pablo Cordero, Peter Nesi, Peter Xing, Remy Zagorski, Rick Melucci, Rory Berry, Roy Kasten, Hafsteinn Thor Ingason, Tom Sandler, Wyatt Kane, Zachary Drake Read the awards post from Oliver Davis at: https://lnkd.in/gktU_-iF

Timing matters, often even more than the message, and a well-executed outbound campaign takes that into account. An analysis of FINNY data shows that messages sent between 5pm and midnight are more than 2.5x as likely to get a positive response than messages sent between noon and 5pm. Why? Because at 3pm, a lot of people are mentally taxed. Reaching out after hours creates the opportunity to be top or mind in the evening or the next morning. Building timing into your outreach is a very simple step to boost effectiveness. Of course, you could also just let your autonomous growth officer calculate optimal timing for you... @Hunter

15 outreach angles for this week (link to full article in comments): 1. SK Hynix jumps 13% in its Nasdaq debut. The second-largest IPO in history raised $26.5B on July 10. Early employees and investors in the U.S. now hold newly liquid ADS shares. The opportunity: a light-touch diversification conversation while the stock rides high, before any post-IPO caution sets in. 2. Redfin: OpenAI and Anthropic staff could buy 29% of SF homes. Combined pre-IPO equity is estimated near $200B. With no IPO date set, these employees have real but illiquid wealth today. Advisors can add value now by mapping out taxes and diversification ahead of an eventual lockup. 3. Dream Finders raised its Beazer Homes bid to $32/share. The $875M offer is a 70% premium, but Beazer's board hasn't engaged. Shareholders are watching an unresolved standoff play out in real time. The opening: help clients avoid reacting to headlines before a deal is finalized. 4. Diana Shipping extended its Genco tender offer to July 24. Two competing offers, two different structures, and a board publicly disputing the numbers. Genco shareholders face a genuinely confusing decision. An outside second opinion adds real value before the new deadline arrives. 5. Perfect Corp. agreed to go private at $2.00/share. The 48% premium deal is expected to close in Q4. Shareholders and equity holders have a known payout on a known timeline — a good moment to start planning for the cash before it actually lands. 6. Fed's June minutes flagged AI-driven energy demand as an inflation risk. Released this week, the minutes show a divided committee weighing a possible year-end hike. Clients assuming an imminent rate cut may need expectations reset ahead of the Fed's July 29 decision. 7. AMD rallied nearly 8% this week, reversing a rough stretch as its "Helios" AI push drew fresh investor attention. Sharp reversals in either direction are a good, neutral trigger to check whether a concentrated chip-stock position still matches a client's risk tolerance. 8. Bungie's 292 layoffs became final July 9. The date lands days before a notable four-year vesting anniversary tied to Sony's 2022 acquisition. Affected Bellevue employees should have their severance and any acquisition-related equity grants reviewed closely given the tight timing. 9. Newsom signed a 5-year extension of the California Competes Tax Credit on July 13. The program was set to sunset next year. Growing California businesses no longer need to rush expansion or hiring decisions to beat an expiring deadline — time to plan properly. 10. SBA doubled its combined loan limit to $10M, effective July 4. Capital-intensive small businesses in construction, manufacturing, and food production now have double the financing room. Owners who hit the old $5M ceiling have a fresh reason to revisit expansion plans. (Continues...)

The dogs approve! We're expanding our office space to make room as our team grows, and we've already received the bark of approval for the new space from Parker, Daisy, and Milo.

Commitment gets results: One new client and two more in pipeline. Learn how Connor Castellano, CFP® moved beyond waiting for referrals to take control of his own growth by using FINNY. His approach to cold outreach focused on using a conversational tone and emphasizing local connection, while utilizing best practices from FINNY's team and playbooks. Read the whole story at https://lnkd.in/eCbVGhXH

Cold Outreach works. Success Rate is defined here as the share of surveyed practices that landed at least one new client with the tactic. Referrals hold the #1 spot, but waiting for referrals is not a whole strategy. The next most successful tactic? Cold Outreach. And FINNY makes Outreach easier than ever by helping you refine you niche, find people who fit, then connect you with them with the right message at the right time. In a fraction of the time that it takes to record a podcast, write a book, or plan a client appreciation event, you could be launching effective outreach campaigns targeted specifically at your ideal clients.