5 QUESTIONS WITH GEORGE

NICHOLS OF THE AMERICAN

COLLEGE
Monday, April 05, 2021
George Nichols III is the 10th President and Chief Executive Officer in The American
College of Financial Services’ storied history. He continues to take motivation from
founder Solomon Huebner’s pioneering vision in 1927, while empowering The College
to usher in the next century of educational excellence. Before joining The College,
Nichols served as Executive Vice President, Governmental Affairs for New York Life
Insurance Company. The College and Ed Slott and Company recently came together to
develop Ed Slott and Company’s IRA Success program – which is now enrolling
students! You can read more of Nichols’ perspectives and announcements of College
initiatives at www.theamericancollege.edu/president.

1. When you talk about The College’s noble mission, you put extra emphasis on
“to benefit society.” Can you describe what that means to you?
The College’s value is in providing applied financial knowledge and education to
financial and nonprofit professionals, those on the frontlines and in the c-suite
responsible for helping people create, build, maintain, and pass on wealth. That has
been our noble cause for 93 years – and through education to one in five financial
professionals, we’ve had a tremendous impact on the financial stability of families,
businesses, and communities. Every program we develop, every scholarship we award,
every research paper we write and distribute is about advancing society’s relationship
with wealth through best-in-class education. Right there in that mission we talk about a
financial professional’s sacred bond with a client built on applied knowledge, a
commitment to lifelong learning, and an adherence to ethical standards. That’s what
benefitting society means to us.

2. As you know, the financial services profession is changing rapidly with friction
in the firm business model, challenges from low-cost mutual funds and point-
and-click brokerage accounts, and competition from robo-advisors. How do you
envision The College’s role in helping the average financial professional avoid
any pitfalls and seize any opportunities?
The College offers a robust set of educational programs, from foundational financial
planning and wealth management, to specialized knowledge on retirement income,
philanthropy, and special needs. Yet, as the platform of knowledge has expanded to
include digital entrants, just-in-time learning has become paramount.
We’re in the process of modularizing our programs into bite-sized, innovative learning
experiences. So, if a professional just needs a refresher on required minimum
distributions – they can learn a slice of it or a broad understanding in an hour instead of
going through an entire program.
Our IRA Success program with Ed Slott and Company is our first foray into non-College
credit, CE-eligible programs. You can finish the program in 12 hours, but you can also
just take a course on IRA trusts or on the latest IRA tax laws. It’s a good example of an
additional layer in our offerings – in the near-future, the student will be in complete
control of the knowledge they need and where, when, and how they want to consume it.

3. You mention the IRA Success program, and it adds to a College strength:
retirement distribution planning education. The Retirement Income Certified
Professional® (RICP®) program is one of the largest at The College, and now you
add this IRA Success program into the mix. How do you envision the tie between
the programs?
Adding Ed Slott to our faculty as Professor of Practice really expands our expertise in
retirement. The RICP® program provides the knowledge on helping clients generate
sustainable retirement income, and starting in late 2021, Ed will be the IRA expert in
that program. The two programs complement each other – RICP® on retirement income
planning and IRA Success on retirement distribution and tax planning. Both are huge
knowledge gaps in the profession – and these areas of expertise are in tremendous
demand with Baby Boomers retiring at high numbers.

4. What else are you excited about at The College in 2021?

Aside from modularizing our content and delivering exciting CE programs like IRA
Success, I’m passionate about The College’s Centers of Excellence. We hired new
Executive Directors for our Women’s Center and Ethics Center in 2020, and we’re
already seeing their growth.
In late 2020, we launched The American College Center for Economic Empowerment
and Equality to help bring about sustainable, generational change in underserved
communities. Our first initiative Four Steps Forward will aim to impact Black women,
financial professionals, aspiring and high potential leaders, and Black communities
across America. We now have an Executive Director, Karim Hill, an exciting partnership
with the Society for Financial Education & Professional Development to launch a
financial literacy program to educate underserved communities, and a web presence
that really exemplifies The Center’s mission. I’m really excited to see how all of our
Centers flourish in 2021.
These Centers represent the intersection of academics and the financial services
industry. Through education, research, scholarships, and practice enhancement, the
Centers reflect The College’s longstanding commitment to the advancement of
professionalism and innovation in financial services and, by extension, the increased
financial security of all Americans.

5. You’ve been in financial services for nearly three decades. What’s one
inflection point you’re keeping a close eye on in the New Year?
If I could, I’ll share two. First – interest rates and their impact on the profession, the
companies (especially life insurance companies), and on the economic recovery. We
know the market and the economy have been pretty disconnected during the COVID-19
crisis, and most experts believe rates will remain low at least into 2022. This impacts the
profession and income-seeking investors, which makes developing a sound,
sustainable retirement income plan even more important.
And the second is how the profession leans into technology and embraces robo-
advisors, artificial intelligence, and data analytics as complements or amplifiers of their
business instead of competition or a regulatory risk. I think how FINRA and the SEC
handle technology, and then how individual firms implement it, will go a long way to
fleshing out the professional advisor’s value in the years ahead.
I’m a big believer in the “personal touch” – and I think advisors more and more need to
lean into holistic planning, and perhaps utilize portfolio-building robo-advisors.
Technology is a tool – and if it maximizes efficiencies, then advisors have more time to
specialize in planning around retirement distribution tax planning for example.
I’ll be keeping my eye on that balance in 2021 and beyond.