Tony Robbins pumps up advisers

On a scale of one to 10, what's your energy level? Six? Four? Two? Tony Robbins is hoping that with a little motivation, the investment advice business can hit at least an eight. As part of a three-hour presentation at MarketCounsel's annual summit in Las Vegas, Mr. Robbins offered advisers a taste of what they would get from the adviser mastery programs he plans to launch. The session, which resembled a church revival at many points, with chanting and exercises that had the roughly 400 attendees shaking hands and high-fiving their neighbors, mixed the self-empowerment message with talk of the importance of the fiduciary standard, better disclosure of fees, increasing investor education and improving the ratio of women to men in the securities industry. (More: Tony Robbins gets advisers talking at the 2014 MarketCounsel Summit) Most of the time was spent asking advisers to take an introspective look at their business, including understanding their state of mind and identifying their goals. He asked them to identify a breakthrough in their business and then try to re-create that moment. At the end, he showed slides that featured some of the things he wanted to bring to the industry, including adviser coaching programs, more access to affordable alternative investments, and a way for clients to understand and determine the fees that they would have to pay an adviser. The reaction was mostly positive from advisers, although there was a healthy dose of skepticism, particularly around the some of the self-empowerment points, as well as Mr. Robbins' commitment to the industry. While most of the room was still cheering, the herd began to thin after the two-hour mark as some advisers left to preview the upcoming cocktail hour. Mr. Robbins addressed the skeptics, however, who doubted the more emotional or motivational portions of his book. While not everyone may utilize those segments, the encouragement and self-empowerment portion has been proven to help more people achieve the goals that his books lay out, he said. An owner of one large registered investment adviser, who said he had read the book and seen the presentation, didn't agree with everything, but said in a conversation on the sidelines that the core motivational message rings true. “If you think more about those things, you'll do a better job,” he said.