In his heyday, Larry Bird was recognized as the ultimate three-point shooter. In 1986, a championship year, he made 82 threes. His team, the Boston Celtics, made 138 total. The league average was 77.

In the 2015-2016 season, all-star guard Stephen Curry made 402 three-point shots. His team, the Golden State Warriors, made over a thousand. Back in 1985-1986, only two teams even attempted more than 400 three-pointers. By 2015-16, the league average per team was almost 700 three-point shots made.

The game has expanded, and the trend is not going to change. There is even talk of adding a four-point line, as the range of so many players has expanded to nearly 30 feet from the basket (the NBA three-point line is at 23.75 feet).

I’ve been a partial season ticket holder for a few years, and I hear many of the old-timers rue the loss of defense, the pick and roll, and the disappearance of the midrange jumper. Despite all the rumblings, the game isn’t going back to what it once was with slowdown offenses, smothering defenses and scores in the 80s.

The pace has accelerated and doesn’t promise to slow down anytime soon. What is required? Broadened skill sets. Seven footers now have to be able to shoot the three-point shot if they hope to optimize their court time—there are, of course, a few exceptions for mutant species of rebounders and shot-blockers. Everybody needs to be able to shoot from afar or they become a liability on the court for their team.

Financial Advice In Flux

For the last couple of years as I’ve traveled the globe and addressed financial planning and advisory conferences, I have been telling audiences that the financial services profession is at a historic inflection point—and a radical and substantive shift in value propositions is required, immediately. This is not an overdramatization or a sensationalized siren. This is a reality check. As is the case in basketball, a broadened skill set is now required, and there is no turning back to how it once was.

After making these remarks recently at the FPA Congress in Sydney, Australia, I was followed to the podium by Stephen Glenfield, CEO of the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority, who informed the audience of 1,500 planners and advisors of how different their world has become. For example, a bachelor’s degree or better is now required to practice in financial advice. Those who have been practicing for years without this level of education are now required to complete specific educational courses to qualify.

In Australia, the “Future of Financial Advice” reforms, introduced in 2012, were enacted to better align the incentives of clients and advisors. In Canada, advisors have been working under the “Client Relationship Model—Phase 2,” also introduced in 2013. In the U.K., advisors are adjusting their practices to the “retail distribution review” (RDR)—a set of rules aimed at introducing more transparency and fairness to the investment industry.

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