Financial Advisor Success

Jim Niedzinski is the Co-Founder of Motive Wealth Advisors, an independent RIA based out of Detroit that oversees $250 million in assets under management for nearly 50 households. Jim and his partner have established a successful boutique firm that competes with larger firms to attract and retain ultra-high-net-worth families by implementing a unique client task management system beyond traditional CRM, ensuring their advice is followed by clients. In this episode, Jim shares why he and his partner built their firm around Asana, a project management tool, instead of the traditional CRM system, as well as how he leveraged relationships with accountants, lawyers, and other professionals to gain a steady flow of referrals. He also talks about how they used those referrals to grow the firm from $0 in AUM to $250 million in less than 3 years and why he and his partner are intentional about serving only 25 clients each at a time. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/319

Ali Swart is a Partner and Managing Director for Waldron Private Wealth, a multi-family office based out of Pennsylvania that oversees nearly $3-billion in assets under management for 280 ultra-high-net-worth clients. Ali made a unique transition from a retail brokerage firm, where she served nearly 400 clients and was also responsible for acquiring more business, to a multi-family office where she works with specialized client relationship teams that limit the number of clients per advisor to no more than 10 at any given time. Listen in as Ali discusses the "white glove" service offered by her firm, which serves ultra-high-net-worth families through specialized client relationship teams focusing on wealth planning, investing, and client service, and details the in-depth financial plan offering for prospects, which can take several weeks to months to develop and aims to foster strong relationships with clients. We also discuss Ali’s personal journey, including her decision to leave her previous firm and negot

Jennifer Climo is the CEO and a Senior Advisor for Milestone Financial Planning, an independent RIA based out of New Hampshire that oversees $360-million in assets under management for 225 households. Despite already having a successful solo practice, Jennifer decided to merge with another solo practitioner when an opportunity presented itself during an unusual crisis, and she took on the challenge of managing the complex business dynamics that came with this decision in order to achieve her goal of expanding and growing her practice into a larger enterprise that would continue to thrive beyond her involvement. Listen in as Jennifer shares why she merged her solo practice with another firm due to an opportunity that presented itself during an unusual crisis, how she created a unique succession plan that included a 15%-of-profits retirement payout, and how this succession plan ultimately led to a second merger that allowed Jennifer to continue growing and scaling her business. We also discuss why Jennifer crea

Matt Sonnen is the founder and CEO of PFI Advisors, a consulting firm based out of Redondo Beach, California, that helps wirehouse advisors transition to independence and provides training and consulting services to the COOs of independent RIAs to help them develop and scale their advisory businesses. Matt and his wife have taken the knowledge and experience they gained from providing hands-on support to independent advisory firms to improve their operations, technology, and scalability, and turned it into a unique offering for Chief Operating Officers in the industry, dubbed the "COO Society.” Listen in as Matt shares what it takes to establish an independent advisory firm when it breaks away from a wirehouse, how he developed his "stand-up-from-scratch" breakaway experience to help RIA owners understand their operational strengths and weaknesses, and how his unique “COO Society” helps COOs become more well-rounded in their roles. We also discuss how Matt got started in his advisory career as a 22-year-old c

Lisa Brown is a Partner and Wealth Advisor for CI Brightworth, an RIA under the CI Financial umbrella with offices in Georgia and North Carolina that oversees nearly $5 billion in assets under management for over 1,500 households. By digging deeper into an existing firm niche focus of Coca-Cola employees within the organization, Lisa was able to write white papers for these employees that eventually built her expertise and client base within the company and led to referrals and growth from being so visible at the Coca-Cola offices. Listen in as Lisa shares how she became known as a familiar and trusted financial expert in the Coca-Cola community, how she is now beginning to guide and train the next generation of advisors in the firm on how to become effective business developers, and how she was able to build her confidence and expertise as an advisor. We also discuss how she has been able to prioritize her work so she can regain more family time, as well as why she believes the key to her success now is meas

Sue Chesney is the owner of Delegated Planning, which offers virtual outsourced financial planning support to 55 advisory firms, and co-founder of Planning Zoo, an outsourced financial planning data entry business that helps current and recently graduated students from college CFP programs connect with advisory firms for paraplanner support. Through both of these firms Sue has pioneered one of the largest outsourced financial planning support firms in the country, and she shares her experience in witnessing how many advisory firms are scaling the delivery of their financial plans by separating the delivery of the plans from the creation of the plans. Listen in as Sue shares why she launched Delegated Planning and Planning Zoo to help advisors find planning and data entry support, why she feels it is important to help new planners get real-world experience under their belts, and how advisors have been able to better align their fees with the financial planning offering by charging by the hour. We also discuss

John Stokes is the Founder and CEO of John Stokes Financial, a hybrid advisory firm based out of California that oversees more than $400 million in AUM for 1,800 client households. John has built a really unique expertise in layoff transitions, and has leveraged corporate layoff workshops that he delivers to soon-to-be-laid-off employees. He has also built a niche focusing on helping employees go through their layoff transition, allowing him to capture the inevitable rollover and other financial planning opportunities that arise along the way. Listen in as we discuss how John has established and built relationships with large companies, and then leveraged those relationships to be their expert in layoff transitions. You'll learn what led him to pursue this niche, how he has been able to achieve a steady stream of over a hundred in-person workshops a year and a steady flow of new clients in both bull and bear markets, and why he chooses not to charge for his workshops, but instead feels that it’s his duty to p

Emily Rassam is the Senior Financial Planner for Archer Investment Management, a virtual independent RIA based out of Texas that oversees $170 million in assets under management for 170 households. After struggling in a position with ever-mounting responsibilities and pressure that kept her away from her family, Emily made it a priority to find a position that not only appreciated the expertise she brought to the table, but also allowed for a better work/life balance. Listen in as Emily shares her experience working towards burnout at her previous firm, how this experience allowed her to get serious about finding a role that was ideal for her, and how she found her current firm and used key questions to determine whether they offered a positive work/life balance. We also discuss how she overcame imposter syndrome, how she became comfortable with shedding the typical stereotype of a financial planner focused on selling services, and why she believes that newer advisors should focus on the value they bring to c

Terry Parham Jr. is the CFO and Co-Founder of Innovative Wealth Building, an independent RIA based out of Maryland that oversees nearly $330 million in assets under management for nearly 900 households. After almost failing out of the business because of a struggle to secure new clients in the first two years of his career, he changed his approach and within 18 months was one of the fastest-growing advisors in his entire company. Listen in as Terry shares how the small pivot to asking prospects upfront to commit to making a referral—only after he had shown them real financial planning value—turned his career around. We also discuss why he took time to confer with colleagues and conduct research before deciding to go independent, how he used dinner seminars as a way to consistently get $ 3 million to $ 5 million of new assets under management with every event (that cost less than $2,000 to host), and how a simple tool early in his career helped him to gain confidence and better relay information and connect wi

Natalie Taylor is the owner of Natalie Taylor Consulting Services, an independent virtual RIA, and the Head of Financial Advice for Monarch Money, a personal financial management tool that helps consumers track their spending and net worth. While working for a FinTech company, Natalie realized that the way to provide the greatest amount of impact and value to the end consumer is to collect the data, deliver the advice, and filter out the rest. Listen in as Natalie shares how working for LearnVest inspired her to develop a framework for their financial advisors that focused on providing only the most impactful financial advice to help clients move forward, how she developed a brand voice to help advisors communicate advice to clients more consistently, and the catalyst that led to Natalie ultimately leaving LearnVest and dismantling the advice offering that she had originally built. We also discuss why she switched firms to get more hands-on mentoring and the opportunity to work with higher caliber clients, wh

Anh Tran is the Founder and Managing Partner for SageMint Wealth, a corporate LPL-affiliated RIA based out of California that oversees nearly $325 million for 195 clients. As a solo advisor, Anh differentiated her firm by leveraging the combination of a high-touch point concierge approach to client service with a unique investment management approach using very carefully chosen structured notes to differentiate her portfolio design from other advisors. Listen in as Anh shares why her firm integrates structured notes into their client portfolios despite the extra time and work that is required to conduct extensive due diligence and analysis beforehand, and how they ladder the structured notes on a rolling quarterly basis so clients can continuously reinvest at then-current rates and features. We also discuss why Anh pivoted to become a CFP from a career as an attorney, why she remains a licensed attorney still, and how she was able to find a community that uplifts her by leveraging study groups while also help

Matthew Blocki is the CEO of Equilibrium Wealth Advisors, an independent RIA based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that oversees more than $275 million in assets under management for 330 client households. Today Matthew joins the show to share why he and his firm decided to develop and then implement their pre-, during-, and post-meeting checklists as a way to create a more efficient process and better position themselves as their clients’ personal CFOs offering a more concierge experience.  Listen in as Matthew shares how he leverages one-to-many recorded videos and online FAQs to increase his communication with existing clients on key issues, what he attributes the 4x growth of his firm to, and why he made the decision to break away from a large insurance company. You will learn why he decided to go the independent RIA route, how he narrowed down the number of clients he had without losing a significant amount of revenue, and how he formulated the client capacity targets for his advisory teams that he set to

Stacey Hyde is the President of Envision Financial Planning, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $200 million in assets under management for 206 client households. Stacey and her partner decided to drop their FINRA licenses and launch their own RIA to gain more flexibility and independence for the firm, and in this episode, we talk about why they decided to drop their broker-dealer licenses and drop out of the corporate RIA structure. Listen in as Stacey explains what she did to simplify language for clients and help them better understand the firm’s offerings, as well as why her firm implemented a fee schedule where the tiers have hard breakpoints after a certain threshold. You’ll learn the processes she has put in place to more easily communicate the fee schedule to clients, how she and her firm built their client base by leveraging both client referrals and an advisor network that has many connections, and what helped Stacey to realize that she had a greater impact in her clients' lives than simply bei

Cean Kenefick-Rogers is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ironwood Wealth Management, an independent RIA based out of Arizona that oversees just under $550 million of assets under management for nearly 500 households. Cean and his partners inadvertently created a three-way struggle in the early days of their firm that forced them to seek third-party intervention, restructure their partnership roles and compensation, and ultimately unlock the next stage of business growth. Listen in as Cean shares the journey that he and his partners look from brokerage firm to their own independent RIA, as well as how infighting within their firm nearly led to its dissolution—and how they ultimately managed to turn the firm around and scale the business to the next level of success. We also discuss Cean’s role as CEO, including how he navigated having sole accountability and decision-making for the firm, how he adjusted his mindset from advisor to leader, and why he measures his success beyond his own contributions to the firm. For s

Mindy Crary is the owner of Creative Money, an independent RIA based out of Seattle that offers a unique 12-month financial planning engagement that has allowed her firm to work with almost 400 households this year alone. Using organic marketing and harnessing the power of Google and Yelp, Mindy has been able to attract clients who are interested in a firm that will advise them without trying to sell them on anything else—and made it possible for her to profitably scale to nearly $1 million of revenue.  Listen in as Mindy shares the journey that led her to launching her current firm and offering advice-only services with a limited-time engagement, as well as how this structure has allowed her to serve a large number of clients comfortably while scaling her business and charging lower fees than other advisors. We also discuss how Mindy has been able to attract hundreds of leads without much marketing spend, how she was able to stick to her convictions and offer financial planning in a way that made sense for h

Chad Chubb is the founder of WealthKeel, an independent virtual RIA based out of Tampa, Florida, that advises on over $100 million in assets for 110 households. Chad has not only implemented a “surge meeting” approach to meet with his ongoing clients, but he has also gone further to implement a “surge onboarding” approach, where he only takes on new clients twice per year. Listen in as Chad shares the realization that led to the creation of his surge meeting and onboarding approach to the client experience that eliminates the risk of burnout and allows for him to more easily scale and control the growth of his practice. We also discuss how his pricing has evolved, why he is focused on expanding his team further so he can step into the CEO role, and why he still deals with imposter syndrome—despite the fast growth and success that he has achieved so far. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/304

Louis van der Merwe is the Director of Wealthup, an independent advice practice based out of Cape Town, South Africa that oversees the U.S. equivalent of almost $600 million in assets under management for 115 households. Louis and his partner initially developed a robo-advice technology prototype that automated client services, but after it failed to gain traction, they pivoted to a “fully human” financial planning practice instead. Listen in as Louis shares his journey of developing—and then pivoting away from—the robo-advice prototype that he built with his partner, as well as why he ultimately decided to leave the firm he was at after they refused to purchase the prototype despite being interested in it. We also discuss why Louis feels that his young age gave him an advantage when starting his own firm, why he feels that running his firm is just as challenging today as it was when he first started, and how his definition of success has changed from the early days of his career. For show notes and more visi

Libby Greiwe is the owner of The Efficient Advisor, a financial advisor coaching and consulting firm based out of Ohio that focuses on helping advisors run their businesses in less time and with less stress. She does this by coaching advisors on the efficiency system that she developed by living through it herself, having grown to a $1 million revenue practice that she was able to support with a lean team and working only 25 hours per week as a busy mom. Listen in as Libby shares how she developed the system that she now coaches other advisors on, as well as how she was able to systematize the client experience. You'll learn why she decided to sell her firm and retire at the age of 37, how she was able to right-size her client load based on how much time and energy she spent with each client, and why it’s important for advisors to find support in like-minded communities and work toward their own personal vision of success. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/302

Ramit Sethi is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, and the owner of the online platform of the same name that offers financial educational content so consumers can get refocused on their personal finances. In this episode, Ramit explains how he encourages people to spend extravagantly on the things they love so that they can enjoy their money throughout their life and not just after retirement. Ramit also shares why he is unapologetic about his brand and how he got comfortable charging thousands of dollars for his financial education programs.  Listen in as he describes how psychology plays a major role in the way people prioritize their finances, why he supports the use of financial advisors (but is critical about the traditional AUM), and what forced him to reevaluate his company’s internal processes. You will learn what inspired Ramit to create a podcast that focused on couples and their money struggles, as well as why he feels it is important for younger adv

Joe Duran is a Partner and Head of Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, a national wealth management firm within Goldman Sachs that oversees more than $100 billion in assets under advisement for tens of thousands of client households. In this episode, Joe shares how he witnessed firsthand how the financial services industry is evolving as more banks and brokerage firms are implementing advisory services, how the shift of national firms into the advisory business is leading them to reach the next generation of clients, and why he feels that independent advisors are underestimating the power of a brand.  Listen in as Joe shares why he made the big decision for United Capital to be acquired by Goldman Sachs, as well as why he feels that financial advisors are doing a disservice to themselves if they are not utilizing Fintech to develop more efficient processes. You will learn what he believes is the real threat to advisory firms, the importance of finding a way to differentiate yourself through more s