Savant CEO and founder Brent Brodeski shares his playbook of success through M&A as a means to fill service gaps and to expand his service model across 15 states, with national ambitions. 

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, David Armstrong, editorial director for Informa Connect’s Wealth Management Group, talks with Brent Brodeski, CEO and founder of Savant, about laying a cornerstone to long-term success by drawing top talent and keeping relevant with clients’ changing expectations. Brodeski warns against the dangers of stagnation, advocating for a balance between client service and expansion.

Specifically, David and Brent discuss:

• What many firms get wrong about “growth.”
• What 2023 meant for Savant as it acquired nine RIAs and two accounting firms, and what those deals say about the firm’s national ambitions.
• How he doesn’t view deals as “big fish swallowing smaller fish” but rather looks to partner with specialized firms that see the benefits of the scale while excited—and incentivized—to add to the firm’s growth story.
• How he balances a commitment to employee equity with the recent investment from private middle-market investors Kelso & Co.
• Why the firm made the recent investment in Australian fintech firm Lumiant, what it says about where he thinks the industry is headed and why he expects they will make more such investments in the future. 

Resources:

• RIA Edge Podcast

Connect With David Armstrong:

• WealthManagement.com
• LinkedIn: WealthManagment.com
• LinkedIn: David Armstrong 
• Twitter/X: @djamesarmstrong
• LinkedIn: Informa

Connect With Brent Brodeski:

• LinkedIn: Brent Brodeski
• Savant Wealth

About Our Guest: 

Brent is the CEO and founder of Savant. He has been involved in the financial services industry since 1988 and previously taught investment and finance courses at Rock Valley College, Rockford University, and Northern Illinois University. Brent earned a bachelor of science degree in finance and economics and a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from NIU. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®).

Brent is a co-founder and past president of Zero Alpha Group (ZAG), an industry association. He is also a co-founder of the Alliance for RIAs (aRIA), a prestigious industry group. Brent was a long-term participant in Vistage (previously known as TEC) and The Strategic Coach™.  He is currently a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and serves on the boards of the Northern Illinois University Foundation and the Rock Valley College Foundation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

An early architect of Joe Duran’s United Capital, and a former Goldman Sachs PFM exec, Mike Capelle and his partners secured $200 million to build a national RIA with a vision of bringing all a client’s planning needs—tax, insurance, estate planning—under one roof.

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, David Armstrong, editorial director for Informa Connect’s Wealth Management Group, talks with Capelle, co-founder and co-CEO at Modern Wealth Management, about the firm’s goal to serve the mass affluent and the “millionaire-next-door” with a suite of holistic services, including financial planning, taxes, insurance and trusts. 

Specifically, David and Mike discuss:

• What Modern Wealth’s trio of founders learned from helping grow United Capital to a $25 billion firm acquired by Goldman Sachs.
• The 2023 launch of the firm and how they rapidly identified and acquired the building blocks to set the stage for future growth.
• What pieces of the puzzle the firm’s principals are looking for now.
• Challenges in the RIA Industry when it comes to attracting talent, and why it is important to execute on an organic growth plan even amid a phase of rapid acquisition.
• The strategy behind acquiring a retirement plan advisory business.
• How acquired firms will adopt the Modern Wealth Management brand and platform while retaining key personnel as managing directors.
• A potential expansion of Modern Wealth Management’s offerings into banking services, focusing on lending and cash management through strategic partnerships.

Resources:

• RIA Edge Podcast

Connect With David Armstrong:

• WealthManagement.com
• LinkedIn: WealthManagment.com
• LinkedIn: David Armstrong 
• Twitter/X: @djamesarmstrong
• LinkedIn: Informa

Connect With Mike Capelle:

• LinkedIn: Mike Capelle
• Modern Wealth Management

About Our Guest: 

Mike Capelle is a co-founder and co-CEO at Modern Wealth Management. From his decades-long career in wealth management, Capelle has experience building advisor-client wealth management platforms to drive continuous growth. Prior to co-founding Modern Wealth, Capelle was a managing director at Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, where he was the Head of High-Net-Worth Product.

In addition, Capelle was part of the team that co-founded, scaled, and sold United Capital, a $25 billion RIA with 90 locations, to Goldman Sachs for $750 million, where he served as Chief Platform Officer. Capelle was responsible for the company’s operating platform and technology and for driving enterprise innovation. He was also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, David Armstrong, editorial director for Informa Connect’s Wealth Management Group, talks with Craig Robson, founder of Regent Peak Wealth Advisors, about why, after 25 years at Merrill Lynch, he ventured into independent practice where, over the past five years, he’s built a growing practice catering to wealth creators by simply paying deeper attention and surrounding their families with advice. 

Specifically, David and Craig discuss:

• The specific situations that drove him to leave Merrill Lynch after 25 years to start his own RIA. 
• Training his advisors to uncover useful insights into a family’s values and motivators through one-on-one interviews, family meetings and an exercise in philanthropic giving. 
• Deliberately structuring his practice to have a higher employee-to-client ratio than most other firms, ensuring clients are never out of contact with a known advisor. 
• Managing a high rate of organic growth without asking clients for referrals. 
• How clients often bring investment opportunities that can be shared with other Regent Peak families, and why he invests his own wealth in the same portfolios.
•  The strategy behind keeping a referral network for ancillary services, like estate planning, instead of bringing those in-house. Hint: It’s less conflicted and a competitive differentiator. 

Resources:

• RIA Edge Podcast

Connect With David Armstrong:

• WealthManagement.com
• LinkedIn: WealthManagment.com
• LinkedIn: David Armstrong 
• Twitter/X: @djamesarmstrong
• LinkedIn: Informa

Connect With Craig Robson:

• LinkedIn: Craig Robson
• Regent Peak Wealth Advisors

About Our Guest: 

Craig is the founder of Regent Peak Wealth Advisors. During his 25 years at Merrill Lynch, Craig became the Founder and Managing Director of Robson & Associates, a high-net-worth wealth advisory practice within the firm. At Regent Peak, he serves as Managing Director and sets the firm’s overall vision and strategy. The creation of Regent Peak Wealth Advisors, an independent advisory firm, is a direct result of Craig’s desire to provide all relationships with objective advice free from the conflicts of interest that might come from large institutions.

Craig has been recognized for his investment acuity and was recognized by Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list in 2019. Craig holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation and he is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional. Craig holds all the relevant general securities registrations and insurance licenses.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS