Ep 376: Accelerating Growth To 30 Clients/Month With Affordable Advice(-Only) Services Where Clients Can Keep Control with Eric Simonson
Release Date: 03/12/2024
Ep 430: Navigating The Fast-Growth Hiring Challenges Of Scaling From Scratch To $5M Of Revenue In Just 7 Years with AJ Ayers
Financial Advisor Success
AJ Ayers is the co-founder of Brooklyn Fi, an RIA based in Brooklyn—but operating as a fully remote business—that oversees $370 million in assets under management for more than 400 client households. What’s unique about AJ is how she and her business partner successfully tackled the hiring, training, and operational challenges of rapidly scaling their advisory firm from the ground up to $5 million in revenue in just seven years. Their strategic approach to systems and processes allowed them to sustain growth while maintaining efficiency and service quality. Listen in as AJ shares how she...
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Ep 429: What It Takes To Really Help (HNW) Business Owners Navigate Their Wealth With Purpose with Ali Nasser
Financial Advisor Success
Ali Nasser is the Founder of the Wealth Integration System for Entrepreneurs (WISE), an education and coaching company based out of Houston that works with entrepreneurs facing a liquidity event and trying to figure out what’s next—as well as the financial advisors who serve them. Having built a successful advisory business by helping high-net-worth entrepreneurs align their financial goals with their entrepreneurial mindset, even when it conflicted with traditional financial planning advice, Ali's approach was so effective that he eventually sold his advisory firm to focus exclusively on...
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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...
info_outlineEric Simonson, Founder & CEO of Abundo Wealth, joins the show to share how his 'advice-only' RIA model revolutionized the financial planning landscape. Despite launching just four years ago, Abundo has soared to oversee $600M in assets for 420 client households, with a unique approach generating over 30 new clients monthly. In this episode, Eric shares his strategies for empowering clients to implement investment decisions, maintaining advisor workload balance, and navigating the evolution of Abundo's fee structure, all while embracing the entrepreneurial challenges and growth opportunities of building a groundbreaking firm.
Listen in to hear why Eric believes the younger generation is shifting direction when it comes to giving up control of their finances, how his team schedules meetings with clients to ensure they feel comfortable, and the steps his team takes to set expectations for their clients. You'll learn about the pivotal role of referrals, the future of social media marketing, and Eric's unwavering commitment to his vision, even during the early days when financial sacrifices were necessary.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/376