Wipfli’s Jeff Pierce: Strategies for Driving Quality RIA Growth

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While every RIA has its own unique approach to adding new clients and talent, the top-performing firms share some common strategic approaches to accelerating and driving organic and inorganic growth. 

In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, Managing Director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Jeff Pierce, CEO of Wipfli Financial Advisors, about the keys to his firm’s march to $5 billion in assets. Jeff specifically shares his thoughts on how his firm is beginning to use M&A to  acquire both clients and talent that will drive future growth. In addition, Mark and Jeff discuss:

  • Creating consistent, scalable growth
  • The current “talent wars” in the RIA market
  • 2022 M&A opportunities 
  • Opportunities to add planning and advice services for Wiplfi’s accounting clients

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About Our Guest:

When it comes to his client philosophy, Jeff says one key tenet has always been clear: Investing is about more than just money. It’s a guiding principle he reinforces across the business, emphasizing the importance of fostering client well-being beyond their financial lives. For Jeff, that means helping Wipfli Financial’s advisors create alignment between their clients’ resources, values and aspirations.

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Grow by Design, Not by Default: Journey’s Penny Phillips

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For the last decade, strong equity markets have powered a substantial amount of growth for tens of thousands of financial advisors. A handful of firms, however, have “cracked the code” and created blueprints for driving strategic growth for their firms that will extend well beyond this prolonged bull market. 

In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Penny Phillips, co-founder and president of Journey Strategic Wealth about the keys to creating sustainable growth and the evolution of options now available to independent advisors.

Specifically, Mark & Penny discuss:

  • Why Penny transitioned from her role as a successful consultant to launch an RIA
  • How M&A is reshaping and redefining the economics of advice 
  • How successful RIAs are approaching marketing, business development and client acquisition
  • Why not all growth is “good growth”

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About Our Guest:

Social, demographic, and technological changes are shifting the traditional financial services business model. Penny works to support financial advisors and institutions as they embrace change and discover new ways to thrive.

 

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The Evolution of Independence: Snowden Lane’s Rob Mooney

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As the independent and RIA channels have grown and become more influential, the challenges and opportunities aligned with running your own businesses have grown significantly in recent years. 

To better understand and assess the options that are now available to advisors who are looking to build their own businesses — or accelerate the growth of their existing business — Informa’s Mark Bruno and Snowden Lane’s Rob Mooney discussed major changes in the wealth management landscape. 

Specifically, in this episode of RIA Edge, Mark and Rob explore:

Mark and Rob discuss:

  • The primary drives of Snowden Lane’s growth over the last ten years
  • How to successfully navigate mergers and acquisitions, marketing, business development and client acquisition strategies
  • The emergence of new RIAs and mega-RIAs within the wealth management industry

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About Our Guest:

Rob co-founded Snowden Lane Partners in 2011, following a 22 year career in senior executive roles at Merrill Lynch. Snowden Lane is an independent, hybrid wealth advisory firm that operates at the highest standards of care and client focus. Today, Snowden Lane Partners is an internationally branded boutique, representing a culture that values integrity, transparency and putting the client first; along with state-of-the-art technology and innovative investment solutions.

Rob is Board Chair of Centurion, the oldest organization in the U.S. dedicated to freeing the wrongly convicted from prison. He is a founding Board member of the Christina Seix Academy, a residential school for underprivileged inner city children in Trenton, NJ. He is a former Board Chairman of the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey . Rob and his wife reside in Princeton, NJ and have four children.

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From Practice to Platform: Strategic RIA Growth With Stan Gregor

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With more investors seeking out financial advice than ever before, RIAs are in a position to capitalize on an evolving mix of investing, planning and technology developments that can create long-term business growth.  

In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Stan Gregor, CEO of Summit Financial. Stan shares details on Summit’s growth trajectory in recent years – while offering advice on how other firms can create scalable, repeatable growth strategies and transform their practices into truly unique advice platforms. 

Specifically, Mark and Stan discuss:

  • Balancing organic and inorganic growth strategies
  • How to identify the right types of acquisition, recruiting, and partnership opportunities
  • The difference between growth and “good growth”
  • The most valuable technology and communication lessons learned in the past 18 months

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About Stan Gregor:

As a senior executive with over 30 years of experience, I’ve operated in banking, private wealth management, investment management, fiduciary trust services, fixed income trading, investment banking, retirement services, insurance, financial planning and public finance. I’ve been involved in acquiring and integrating some of the largest and most complicated banking, wealth management, insurance, and capital markets businesses and cultures with a demonstrated track record of increasing productivity, profitability and shareholder value.

At Summit Financial, I apply these decades of financial services experience every day to ensure our firm continues to fully align client and advisor needs. Through SummitVantage, our fully integrated suite of advisor resources, we create legacy partnerships with leading advisors looking for full support–and full flexibility–to thrive in a crowded market.

 

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Drivers of Strategic RIA Growth: Wealthcare’s Matt Regan

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Every RIA firm is unique and has its own strategies and approaches for driving growth. But a handful of the fastest growing and most successful firms have one thing in common: They take an active approach to managing and thinking about growth on a daily basis – and ultimately how they can continue to improve the outcomes they are delivering to clients.  

That is just what Wealthcare Capital Management has done on it’s journey to becoming one of the top RIA firms in the industry. 

In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Matt Regan, president of Wealthcare Capital Management, about the growth he has experienced within his company, and how Wealthcare was able to become one of the largest and fastest growing firms in the industry. 

Mark and Matt discuss:

  • The most efficient and effective drivers of RIA growth
  • Understanding and marketing to clearly defined client segments
  • How technology can be the backbone of an RIA firm
  • Major contributions Matt has seen to both organic and inorganic growth 
  • Matt’s views on the RIA industry in the next 3 to 5 years 

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About Matt Regan: Matt Regan serves as Wealthcare’s President. Most recently and prior to Wealthcare, Matt served as the Chief Operating Officer of Wescott Financial, a $2 billion RIA based in Philadelphia. With more than two decades in the financial services industry, Matt has been involved in a number of transformative business models and has remained focused on building world class organizations with a focus on the client. As a founding partner of WR Hambrecht+Co, Matt launched the retail brokerage offering and helped to design and launch the auction-based OpenIPO system. As a consultant to Vanguard, Matt was involved in the technology and business transformation that created the infrastructure that underlies the firm’s Personal Advisor Services offering. Matt is a graduate of the University of Toronto and resides outside Philadelphia with his wife and three children.

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Marketing with Intent: Chequers’ Megan Gorman on how RIAs can build a brand and voice

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Many in RIAs understand the importance of strong marketing strategies, but knowing what types of strategies – and then consistently executing – is a major challenge for a number of advisors. 

In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Megan Gorman, founder and managing partner of Chequers Financial Management, about her approach to organic growth and how she has leveraged a range of marketing strategies to connect with clients and identify new client opportunities. Megan shares how to determine which strategies are right for you.

Specifically, Mark and Megan discuss:

  • The importance of strategic marketing to drive consist growth and relevance
  • How Morgan integrated her marketing strategies with her unique voice to connect with women investors and clients
  • The role social media can play in your marketing strategy
  • Balancing active marketing with client and management responsibilities

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Megan is the founding partner of Chequers Financial Management, a fee-only planning firm that specializes in high net worth and ultra-high net worth families in San Francisco, California. Megan heads the firm’s family office services practice.

As well, Megan is a Senior Contributor for Forbes in personal finance and tax. She is also quoted regularly in the press as a tax and financial planning expert including such publications as The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She blogs at TheWealthIntersection.com, has appeared on numerous podcasts, and is a regular weekly commentator on The Money Tree Podcast.

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After the Close: Building a Truly Integrated RIA Following a Merger or Acquisition

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Mergers and acquisitions are becoming a more common way for larger RIAs to grow. But successfully managing a merger or acquisition after the deal closes is anything but a straight line — and many RIAs are looking for guidance on how to build a “culture of one.” 

In this episode, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Greg Friedman, chief executive officer & founder of Private Ocean Wealth Management and Cynthia Greenfield, chief experience officer at Private Ocean Wealth Management about strategies for successfully navigating a company merger or acquisition. Greg and Cynthia discuss their most recent book, Integrating Culture in Successful RIA Mergers and Acquisitions, as a way to share their experience and expertise.

Mark, Cynthia and Greg discuss:

  • The importance of culture in the success of a merger or acquisition  
  • Strategies that have worked for Private Ocean in the past to build a active employee-employer relationship through mergers and acquisitions
  • How coaches and facilitators can help in developing more proactive and rewarding meetings 
  • Strategies to bring employees together after a merger  
  • What Private Ocean is doing today to enhance the culture they want to create in their workplace

Resources:

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Connect With Greg Friedman and Cynthia Greenfield:

About Greg Friedman: Greg Friedman is the CEO of Private Ocean, an innovative West Coast wealth management firm, and the founder of Junxure, a CRM platform that defined technology for financial advisors. In 2007, Charles Schwab honored him with its prestigious IMPACT Award® for “Best in Tech.” In 2008, Financial Planning Magazine included Greg in its elite list of financial “Movers and Shakers”. Greg was also recognized in InvestmentNews’ 2017 Class of Icons and Innovators for his contribution to the advancement of the financial advice profession and for conceiving new ideas and tools that have propelled the industry forward. In 2018, Greg was named CEO of the Year at the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards.

About Cynthia Greenfield: Chief Experience Officer, Leadership Coach and Author. Cynthia develops strategies that deliver on a company’s mission and enhances the employee and client experience through organization, communication and engagement. She combines over a decade of experience in the financial services and technology industries with life coaching techniques to help build people stronger relationships that lead to successful partnerships. She is a community liaison who strives to partner firms with non-profit organizations and external vendors and she spearheads the event strategy for a $2B+ RIA firm. An advocate of healthy company culture, she helps drive cultural integration efforts during times of growth and transition and is responsible for developing and training staff on how to deliver a consistent client experience. In 2021, Cynthia co-authored the book, Integrating Culture in Successful RIA Mergers and Acquisitions, aimed toward business leaders within the financial services industry.

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Brilliant Growth Strategies in the RIA World with Jeff Concepcion

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While a number of RIAs have experienced significant growth in recent years, many have actually grown by default – not design: Often, advisors are relying on the market, existing clients and referrals to drive growth.

But there are a number of steps and strategies that advisors can implement to drive intentional, sustainable growth. Few leaders in the wealth management industry have a command over these strategies the way Jeff Concepcion, founder and CEO of Stratos Wealth Partners, has demonstrated. In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, talks with Jeff about the growth and rise of Stratos into a platform with more than $19BN in assets under management. 

Specifically, Mark and Jeff discuss:

  • Stratos Wealth Partners’ story, business model and strategies behind their tremendous growth
  • The ideal acquisition target for Stratos 
  • Stratos’ approach to creating and driving organic growth
  • Jeff’s views on how the pandemic has changed, and will continue to change, the RIA space for advisors and their clients 
  • Strategic advice on how you can improve your overall growth rates 

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Jeffrey Concepcion is the Founder and CEO of Stratos Wealth Partners, a firm which he launched in October of 2008. Jeff is responsible for the acquisition, development and coaching of the firm’s expanding number of affiliated advisors from across the nation. This is a role he embraces, and understands due to the fact that in addition to his leadership responsibilities, he also maintains a personal planning practice.

Jeff’s entire professional career has been spent in the financial services industry. Prior to starting Stratos Wealth Partners, Jeff spent 22 years in senior management positions with Lincoln Financial Network, including being the Executive Director for the Eastern Region where he was responsible for fully one-third of the United States. He was then appointed Senior Vice President of Market Access and a member of the Executive Committee; where he was one of only a handful of executives responsible for Lincoln’s entire retail financial services business.

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Finding the right fit: M&A, Recruiting and Marketing Strategies with Wealthspire’s Michael LaMena

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While the RIA channel has been growing at a steady clip for years, a handful of firms have grown at an accelerated rate and are now responsible for the lion’s share of assets and clients in the industry.

Wealthspire Advisors has been one of the fastest growing RIAs in the business, and CEO Mike LaMena sat down with Informa Connect Managing Director Mark Bruno to discuss the firm’s success, strategies and future plans. Specifically, in this Episode of RIA Edge, Mark and Mike discuss:

  • Wealthspire’s history of M&A and growth
  • Wealthspire’s ideal acquisition target and how it evaluates opportunities
  • The recent acquisition StratWealth
  • How Wealthspire has approached marketing and new client acquisition – and driven industry leading organic growth rates

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Connect With Mark Bruno:

About Our Guest:

Mike LaMena has more than 25 years of experience building, operating, and leading global wealth management organizations. His commitment to service excellence and his fundamental belief in the power of the firm’s independent, conflict free model of financial advice and comprehensive wealth management, inspires his enthusiasm to serve clients and expand the business.

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Updating Growth Strategies for RIAs With Claire O’Keefe

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Finding business strategies that work, and promote continuous growth can be one of the biggest challenges when running a business, especially coming out of the pandemic. 

But one firm, Cerity Partners has been able to maintain and continue their growth in tremendous ways.

In this episode, Mark Bruno sits down with Claire O’Keefe, partner and head of corporate development at Cerity Partners. Claire reveals how Cerity Partners was able to become one of the top RIAs for individuals, businesses and nonprofits, and how they have fostered long-term, sustainable growth for their business. 

Mark and Claire discuss:

  • Primary drivers Cerity has had for effective organic growth
  • Five key areas Cerity focuses on when looking at potential “good-fit” clients
  • Ways to continue meaningful engagement between advisors and clients during and after the pandemic 
  • The strategies that Cerity uses to determine if their growth is high quality and will contribute to future growth

Resources:

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About Our Guest:

Claire is a Partner in the Chicago office and the Head of Corporate Development. She is also a member of Cerity Partners’ Executive Committee. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College and her Master of Business Administration from Stony Brook University. She is a member of Vistage International.

Prior to joining Cerity Partners, Claire served as an Executive Committee member and client advisor for two wealth management firms. In these roles, Claire’s responsibilities included strategic planning, client development, and client advisory. Throughout her career, she has focused her leadership on providing wealth management services to affluent individuals, business owners, executives, and nonprofit organizations.

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