Ep 347: When The Firm You Sell To Gets Sold And You Have To Reinvent Yourself With Cary Carbonaro
Release Date: 08/22/2023
Ep 428: Leveraging (Salesforce) CRM To Really Systematize A Mid-Sized Advisory Firm with Lorie Jones
Financial Advisor Success
Lorie Jones is the Wealth Manager at Fearless Financial Advisors, a DBA of hybrid advisory firm Fidelis Wealth Advisors based out of Colorado, where she oversees $30 million in assets under management for 88 households. What sets Lorie apart is how she maximized the capabilities of Salesforce CRM—typically used by larger firms due to its advanced features and higher cost—to streamline processes and workflows while working at a mid-sized advisory firm without the need for costly Salesforce developers, demonstrating how a well-optimized CRM can enhance efficiency across the firm. Listen in...
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Ep 427: Finding The Director Of Operations That Can Rebuild Your Team To Get To The Next Level with Sten Morgan
Financial Advisor Success
Sten Morgan is the owner of Legacy Investment Planning, a hybrid advisory firm based in Franklin, Tennessee, that oversees $220 million in assets under management for 90 client households. Today Sten joins the show to share how he made the difficult decision to turn over his entire original team and rebuild with a new director of operations to create a stronger foundation for future growth. He explains how he identified cultural and operational misalignments, navigated tough conversations with employees, and structured his hiring process to ensure the right people joined his firm. ...
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Ep 426: Rolling Out An Equity Compensation Plan To Align The Entire Team On Client Service And Profitable Growth with Jennifer des Groseilliers
Financial Advisor Success
Jennifer des Groseilliers is the CEO of The Mather Group, an RIA based in Chicago, Illinois, that oversees $15 billion in combined assets under management and advisement for approximately 4,400 client households. Today Jennifer shares how her firm has designed an program of broad-based equity awards across the firm to align the interests of employees with the firm’s long-term client service and growth goals. In this episode, Jennifer breaks down how her firm sets performance targets and ensures that employee incentives are tied to the firm’s enterprise value. We also discuss how...
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Ep 425: Implementing A Financial Planning Quality Control System To Improve Both Client Outcomes And Referrals with Sebastian Guerra
Financial Advisor Success
Sebastian Guerra is the President of Guerra Wealth Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based in Miami with nearly $15M of revenue and almost 60 team members, supporting over 1,700 client households. What's unique about Sebastian is how his firm has implemented a quality control system where a team member follows up with clients right after their advisor meetings to gather feedback and ensure high service standards. This approach not only improves the client experience, but also encourages referrals, online reviews, and social media engagement by prompting clients to act immediately after...
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Ep 424: Executing A Successful Internal Succession Plan In The Private Equity Era Of Advisor M&A with David Grau Jr.
Financial Advisor Success
David Grau Jr. is the president of Succession Resource Group, an advisory consulting and valuation business based out of Oregon that serves independent financial advisors with RIAs and broker-dealers. What sets David apart is his two decades of experience supporting financial advisory firms, which has allowed him to identify best practices for founders and successors navigating increasingly complex internal succession plans. This is especially valuable as founders face growing challenges due to frequent, high-valuation offers from private equity-backed acquirers. Listen in as David shares best...
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Ep 423: Expanding Across The Household By Helping (Affluent) Sandwich Generation Kids With Their Parents’ Financial Needs with Cristina Livadary
Financial Advisor Success
Cristina Livadary is the CEO of Mana Financial Life Design, an RIA based in Los Angeles (that works virtually with clients nationwide) overseeing approximately $70 million in assets under management for 119 client households. Cristina's firm helps “sandwich generation” clients by crafting financial plans that address their personal needs and goals while also offering optional add-on planning engagements to tackle the financial challenges of their aging parents, who may require support in the future. This dual-focus approach ensures comprehensive support for clients navigating...
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Ep 422: Developing Your Leadership Skillset On The Path From Intern To President Of A $13B AUM Enterprise with Kay Lynn Mayhue
Financial Advisor Success
Kay Lynn Mayhue is the President of Merit Financial Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based out of Georgia that oversees approximately $13 billion in assets under management for 26,000 households. What’s unique about Kay Lynn is how she cultivated her advisory, management, and leadership skills to progress to become president of a national RIA enterprise. In her role, she now spearheads the firm’s proactive mergers and acquisitions strategy. Listen in as Kay Lynn shares her journey from client-facing advisor to firm leader, including the pivotal lessons she learned about leadership after...
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Ep 421: Integrating Tax Preparation Without Hiring In-House CPAs To Bring More Tax-Focused Value with Daniel Friedman
Financial Advisor Success
Daniel Friedman is the CEO of WMGNA, a hybrid advisory firm based out of Connecticut that oversees approximately $270 million in assets under management for 200 client households. What’s unique about Daniel is how his firm offers “in-house” tax return preparation as part of its one-stop-shop service, while outsourcing the actual preparation work to trusted CPAs paid from his firm’s revenue. This allows Daniel’s team to focus on delivering tax planning analyses and strategies, which are central to the firm’s value proposition for clients. Listen in as Daniel discusses how his firm...
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Ep 420: Making Financial Planning More Repeatable Without Losing The Customization Where Clients Prioritize What Matters Most with Michelle Underwood Gass
Financial Advisor Success
Michelle Underwood Gass is the Founding Principal of Paradigm Advisors, an RIA based out of Dallas that oversees approximately $110 million in assets under management for 80 client households. What’s unique about Michelle is how she developed a structured meeting process to guide new clients through her in-depth planning system, ensuring a standardized experience while retaining the flexibility to customize each client’s financial plan, prioritizing their unique needs and goals. Listen in as Michelle shares her 5-part planning process, beginning with a “Get to Know You” meeting that...
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Ep 419: Attracting Clients Who Want To Align Their Investments With Their Values With A Sustainable Investing Approach with Peter Krull
Financial Advisor Success
Peter Krull is the Director of Sustainable Investing of Earth Equity Advisors, an RIA based out of North Carolina that oversees approximately $200 million in assets under management for 250 client households. What sets Pete apart is his ability to grow his firm by helping clients align their portfolios with their personal values, turning investments into a reflection of the businesses they want to support. He achieves this while maintaining well-diversified, market-aligned portfolios that are prudently allocated to sound businesses. Listen in as Pete shares how his sustainable investing...
info_outlineCary Carbonaro is the Senior Vice President and Director of Women and Wealth Services for Advisor Capital Management, an independent RIA with offices around the country that oversees more than $6 billion in assets under management for 1,700 households. Cary distinctively transitioned from selling her practice to United Capital to establishing a leadership role, only to later grapple with the sale of United Capital to Goldman Sachs. This shift presented complexities as she encountered a culture not attuned to her media-centric approach to advisor marketing.
Listen in as Cary recounts her decision to launch her own advisory practice during tech crashes and dwindling marketing budgets, as well as her subsequent choice to sell to United Capital. She also discusses the transformative sale of United Capital to Goldman Sachs and its impact on her marketing strategies, her efforts to buy back her practice, and her move to a smaller firm amidst personal challenges. You'll hear about Cary’s early career confidence struggles and how her evolving definition of success now goes beyond practice growth.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/347