Distribution is simple — but it’s not easy.

Everyone knows the fundamentals.
Consistently executing them—with structure, clarity, and consistency—is where it gets harder. Not because teams lack effort—but because it’s hard to see how execution is actually playing out.

Applied Distribution Lab (ADL) helps asset managers bring focus, alignment, and execution discipline to distribution. We work alongside leadership teams to clarify priorities, establish execution standards, and make how the business actually operates visible - and coachable.

Simple principles.

Serious execution.

That's how ADL works.

Request a Distribution Pressure Test

A 45-minute focused discussion about your priorities, challenges and how execution is working today.

From there, we can determine whether ADL can help — and what kind of support makes the most sense.

What is Applied Distribution Lab?

Applied Distribution Lab (ADL) helps asset managers simplify their go-to-market strategies — and then execute them with discipline, consistency, and visibility.

ADL works with leadership teams to:

  • Clarify who they should be selling to
  • Align the field around a shared execution system
  • Improve coaching, prioritization, and follow-through
  • Turn strategy into repeatable execution

ADL doesn’t add complexity.
It removes friction.

Most firms don’t have a strategy problem.
They have an execution problem.

Execution breaks down when systems, standards, and visibility don’t keep pace with growth.

Distribution breaks down when:

  • Activity replaces prioritization
  • Technology outpaces clarity
  • Coaching becomes inconsistent
  • Strategy never fully reaches the field

The questions are usually pretty practical.

Those are the kinds of questions ADL helps leadership teams answer — and act on.

Two Ways to Work With ADL

Different challenges call for different kinds of support.

ADL Advisory

For firms looking to build, improve or change something in their distribution model. ADL works alongside leadership on defined priorities — assessing what's working, identifying where execution is getting stuck and helping build practical solutions that can be put to work.

Explore ADL Advisory

ADL Membership

For distribution leaders who want fresh eyes on the issues, decisions and plans they're working through right now. Membership gives leaders an experienced operator in their corner — someone to pressure-test thinking, challenge assumptions and bring practical perspective to the challenges they're working through today, without the need for a traditional consulting engagement.

Conversations are confidential, so leaders can speak candidly about what they're facing.

Explore ADL Membership

ADL Advisory

When a firm wants to build, improve or change something in its distribution model, ADL works directly with leadership to understand what is happening today and determine what needs attention.

The ADL Diagnostic is often the starting point — creating a shared understanding of how distribution is actually operating before changes are made.

Explore the ADL Diagnostic

From there, ADL provides targeted, hands-on support across:

  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Advisor segmentation and prioritization
  • Wholesaler coaching and cadence
  • Territory and sales management systems
  • National Accounts integration and field alignment
  • Digital and resource enablement

I work directly with distribution leadership — asking questions, pressure-testing assumptions, identifying where execution is getting stuck, and helping leadership determine what needs attention.

There is no off-the-shelf ADL playbook. Only proven principles — applied deliberately.

The frameworks that guide this work are explored further in The Operating Discipline of Modern Distribution.

Featured Book:

The Operating Discipline of Modern Distribution

The principles behind Applied Distribution Lab are outlined in
The Operating Discipline of Modern Distribution.

The book introduces practical frameworks that help distribution leaders bring greater clarity, alignment, and execution discipline to modern asset management organizations.

Applied Distribution Lab works with leadership teams to apply these principles in practice—helping firms translate strategy into consistent field execution.

Many leaders first encounter these ideas through the book before engaging with ADL.

View the Book on Amazon →

How ADL Works With Leadership

ADL does not perform performance reviews or provide personnel guidance.

We work alongside leadership to bring greater clarity to how distribution is operating—how priorities are carried through, how time is allocated, and how execution is reinforced over time.

The focus is not on evaluating individuals, but on helping leaders operate with greater visibility, alignment, and consistency.

To support this, ADL’s work is grounded in a set of practical frameworks that make execution more visible, consistent, and easier to manage—without adding unnecessary complexity.

PLAN (Propose, Lead, Advise, Next Action)

How meetings translate into outcomes.

‍Ensures conversations lead to clear next steps and measurable progress.

AdvisorFit

Where time and attention should be focused.

‍Brings structure to prioritization based on opportunity, alignment, and engagement.

CLEAR (Clarity, Leverage, Execution, Accountability, Review)

How leadership sees and manages the business.

‍Creates visibility into execution so leaders can coach, adjust, and lead with confidence.

TAPs (Territory Action Plans)

How execution is reinforced in the field.

‍Aligns territories around clear priorities and consistent follow-through.

These frameworks aren’t additional layers—they’re ways to make how the business is already operating more visible, intentional, and easier to lead.

Who ADL is built for:

  • Asset management leaders looking to improve how distribution operates
  • Firms rethinking or evolving their distribution model
  • Sales leaders seeking clarity and consistency
  • Teams tired of activity without outcomes
  • Leaders who value an experienced outside perspective

ADL is not a volume consulting practice - and it's not designed for firms looking for quick fixes.
‍
ADL is selectively partnering with a small number of asset managers in 2026.

About the Founder

I'm Geoff Nance.

I spent more than three decades inside asset management distribution — leading teams, managing through change, building territory strategies, coaching salespeople, and working through many of the same execution challenges firms face today. Along the way, I held senior distribution leadership roles at Curian/Jackson National, John Hancock Investments, and Ivy Investments.

That experience taught me something simple: knowing what to do is rarely the hardest part. The challenge is keeping priorities clear, execution consistent, and leadership connected to what's really happening in the field.

That's why I created Applied Distribution Lab.

I built ADL to work alongside distribution leaders — asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, identifying where execution is getting stuck, and helping turn good strategy into better execution.

I also wrote The Operating Discipline of Modern Distribution: A Field Guide for Asset Management Leaders, which brings many of these principles together in a practical framework for modern distribution leadership.

This is not theory.
It’s applied.

A Conversation About Modern Distribution

Geoff Nance joins Brian Kirk on Inside the Bag to discuss execution drift, the changing wholesaling model, and what distribution leaders should be thinking about next.

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify

Ready to talk distribution?

If you’re rethinking your distribution model — or want to improve how your team executes — let’s start with a conversation.

Request a Diagnostic Conversation
Download the Executive Summary

Applied Distribution Lab

Execution Built On Experience.