Ep 469: Specializing In (Sound) Income Sources For Retirees To Differentiate A $4B Advisor Enterprise with David Scranton
Financial Advisor Success
Michael Kitces
4.8 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 90 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Income-focused investing may seem old-school in a world dominated by total-return portfolios and model ETF allocations—but for some retirees, predictable cash flow is the key to peace of mind. This episode explores how a differentiated investment philosophy, rooted in individual income-producing securities, can become a powerful engine for both client trust and firm growth.
David Scranton is the CEO of Sound Income Group, an RIA based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, overseeing $4 billion for 10,000 client households. Listen in as David shares how he constructs income-focused portfolios using combinations of what he calls "insured options" and "contractual securities", as well as high-dividend equity instruments with a focus on individual securities rather than mutual funds or ETFs. You'll learn how steady cash flow has led to greater client retention in down markets, David's "four keys" to attracting clients, and why narrowing his investment focus (and creating systems to implement it) has ultimately allowed him to serve more families.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/469
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with |
| 0:07.1 | financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading |
| 0:12.4 | financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success |
| 0:17.4 | and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next |
| 0:22.2 | level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. Welcome, everyone. |
| 0:29.2 | Welcome to the 469th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast. My guest on today's |
| 0:34.9 | podcast is David Scranton. David is the CEO of Sound Income Group, |
| 0:39.0 | an RIA based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that oversees approximately $4 billion in assets |
| 0:44.0 | under management for 10,000 client households. What's unique about David, though, is how he |
| 0:49.0 | has built his business by standing out through his strategy of investing client assets in |
| 0:53.1 | income producing individual |
| 0:54.3 | securities to produce a steady stream of income at a time when many advisors have taken a total |
| 0:58.7 | return investment approach and build portfolios using mutual funds and ETFs. In this episode, |
| 1:04.0 | we talk in depth about how David builds portfolios using a combination of what he calls |
| 1:08.1 | insured options, such as bank CDs, government bonds, and fixed |
| 1:11.6 | index annuities, non-insured contractual securities such as individual bonds and preferred |
| 1:16.5 | stocks, and equity-oriented investments, including business development companies, real estate |
| 1:21.3 | investment trusts, and high-dividend stocks, why David prefers to invest in individual securities |
| 1:26.3 | instead of investment funds, both to control |
| 1:28.3 | the exact securities he's investing in and to avoid forced liquidations when investors in a mutual |
| 1:32.8 | funds sell at once. And how David finds that prospects are often receptive to this approach, |
| 1:37.4 | given the steady cash flow it generates without necessarily eating into principle to generate |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Michael Kitces, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Michael Kitces and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.