When Experience Still Leads to the Wrong Advice with Andrew Kronschnabel (Ep. 5)

Even experienced professionals can end up with the wrong advice when planning is driven by products instead of perspective. In this episode, we unpack how “zombie advisors” quietly undermine good decision-making, even for highly sophisticated clients.

In this episode of Zombie Advisor, James Knapp sits down with Andrew Kronschnabel, SVP / Head of Investment & Marketing Strategy, Seaport Global. Andy shares his professional journey through multiple market cycles and offers a candid personal story about his own experience working with a “zombie advisor.”

Despite his CFA background and deep market expertise, Andy explains how fear, shaped by early career market crises, combined with a lack of holistic planning, led him into a whole life insurance policy that did not align with his age, risk capacity, or long-term goals. The conversation explores how siloed advice, poor questioning, and incentive-driven recommendations can result in misaligned outcomes.

James and Andy also discuss the critical differences between institutional and retail advising, the importance of context and accountability, and why true fiduciary advice requires advisors to challenge assumptions rather than simply sell solutions.

What to expect:

• A real-world example of how product-first advice can fail even sophisticated investors
• The difference between institutional portfolio management and comprehensive retail planning
• How life experience and fear influence risk tolerance more than spreadsheets
• Why fiduciary advice requires curiosity, context, and client-first accountability