Pitches wanted (wealth management, financial advisor market) | $500 up to $1 per word

[This opportunity was posted 30+ days ago and has expired.] 

We are accepting pitches. For new writers, we usually pay $500 for 500+ word stories to see how things work. If both parties are happy we then could explore longer features, which could pay $1 word. We also pay a flat fee of $700 for Q&As, which include a roughly five to seven paragraph intro followed by the interview itself.

Our readers work in wealth management or at least its ecosystem. Our focus is on financial advisors and registered investment advisors (RIAs). It can be a bit nichey, which makes it somewhat challenging to find writers who can tell people in the industry something new, but I think and hope these guidelines help.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• Access to the right people, disclosure of essential content, great narrative writing, and the highlighting of the central conflicts that permeate the RIA world.
• Pitch stories with an angle, or informed assumption — don't suggest the exploration of a topic. That doesn’t mean approach a topic with a rigid preconception. Do some legwork and find some evidence knowing certain topics result in good stories, regardless of how things play out. This is usually the case where there is a binary outcome.
• Stories that explore the inner sanctum of the wealth management industry and look at the people and companies making things happen. Bring the “blood, sweat and tears” of the industry to life.
• Stories that examine disruption of the status quo for wealth managers. How is the world of wealth management changing? What are the unrecognized or underappreciated trends? What must advisor and companies do?
• Articles based on novel data or research about the RIA industry. Academic studies are of interest and can be found on SSRN.com.
• Cultural stories about the financial industry (Dynasty Financial Builds New Home in Florida and Employees Are Awestruck by One Big Difference)
• Show, don't tell. Ideas come to life through people and companies, instead of discussing ideas in an abstract, theoretical way. For example, instead of "e-commerce enables a, b and c to happen" explain "Jeff Bezos did a, b and c at Amazon, etc."
• Reveal interesting information about the industry and the behavior of its main actors, be it good or bad. Tell advisors about their own biases. Some may be hurting their performance without knowing it. Puncture their swelling egos with humbling facts.
• Monitor Twitter and other social media. Is there a morsel of a bigger story? Is an RIA saying something incendiary? Etc.
• A perfect (and popular) story takes a topic the reader knows and gives them a new angle (“maybe I am making the mistake in my stock selection because my parents’ divorced”), or entertains them about their industry (“I had never thought about how hedge funds try to investigate their investment targets”).
• Give advisors information that they can apply to being better at their jobs – or tell them about a small part of their world they didn’t know about.
• Understand what advisors care about and take that to say ‘I have a story that will reveal something unusual about wealth management’
• More deeply-reported features or featurettes that run 1,200 to 3,000 words in addition to 500+ word stories.
• For Big Question interviews: Seek to interview people who are either so successful or respected that their name alone draws readers. Or, people who are doing new and interesting things but have yet to receive media attention, or minimal amount. The more reclusive, the better.
• Ideally, angles, headlines will be recognizable (granted, much of that is on the editors). Examples:
  • The World Schwab Thrived in Disappeared on Sunday
  • The Untold Story of the Professor, Advisor, and University That Plan to Save Wealth Management
  • 2.5 Million Emails, 14,299 Advisor Marketing Campaigns, and One Inescapable Truth

WHAT WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR:

• Articles pitched from PR people. Unless it’s an exclusive it’s safe to assume that they are pitching multiple journalists at the same time. We don’t want to be writing stories that our competitors will write.
• Hard news stories (unless we are breaking news) and wire-like reports.
• Generic stories about people moves, fines, and mergers or acquisitions, unless the names involved are notable enough to warrant a Day 2 story with a unique angle.
• Stories that can be found elsewhere with a Google search.
• Dry, regulation-centered articles.
• Interviews with people who regularly comment in the press but give little substance, especially the “Johnny One Note” simply regurgitating the same talking points.
• Evergreen stories unless they have not been done, which is admittedly a hard task. Evergreen angles retrofitted to reflect a significant change (the novel coronavirus), however, might work.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

[This opportunity was posted 30+ days ago and has expired.]