Tag: Artificial Intelligence
RIA Edge Podcast: Building a Sustainable RIA with Oliver Cross

RIA Edge Podcast: Building a Sustainable RIA with Oliver Cross

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Oliver Cross, founding partner, senior advisor and head of growth at Verum Partners, about the firm’s path from a breakaway team to a rapidly growing independent RIA managing over $1 billion.

He shares how early growth was driven by focusing on a core group of founding clients, building a strong internal structure through systems like EOS and creating a team-based client service model. Oliver also explains how hiring, technology decisions and a long-term ownership mindset continue to shape the firm’s direction as it scales.

Key takeaways:

  • How a failed succession plan became the catalyst for launching a new independent RIA firm
  • Why focusing deeply on founding clients created strong referrals and early growth momentum
  • How implementing EOS improved structure, accountability, and long-term planning alignment
  • The importance of hiring for values and building a long-term talent pipeline from scratch
  • How AI, data control, and workflow systems are shaping the future client experience 

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Oliver Cross:

About Our Guest:

Oliver is a Founding Partner of Verum where he currently serves as a Senior Adviser and Head of Growth while also playing an active role in both the investment and financial planning committees. His penchant for prudent financial decision-making dates back to his early childhood lessons from his grandfather who often reminded him “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Oliver took this to heart and it became hardwired into his DNA, ultimately leading to career in wealth management.

As an adviser, Oliver caters to families who understand the importance of patience and discipline in building wealth and value the benefits of an independent firm structure that centers around problem-solving, thoughtful financial planning, tax-efficient and sophisticated investment solutions, and team-based client service. He and Verum promote the importance of alignment of interests which continue to plague the industry.

Prior to Verum, Oliver was an Investment Consultant and Director of Research at Carolinas Investment Consulting where he worked for nine years. Before pursuing his MBA in investment management at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Oliver was a Vice President at Trusco Capital Management in Atlanta for six years, where he served as an Investment Manager for endowments, foundations, and retirement plans across the Southeast.

Oliver is a native of Winston-Salem where he attended R.J. Reynolds high school before heading to Davidson College where he was a member of the golf team. While still an avid golfer, Oliver spends most of his free time with his wife and two children finding any way to keep active outdoors. With a passion for mentoring youth, Oliver coaches basketball through the YMCA and soccer through Charlotte Junior soccer and taught Sunday School with his wife at Myers Park United Methodist Church.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Scaling a High-Touch Wealth Firm with Stephen Rigali

RIA Edge Podcast: Scaling a High-Touch Wealth Firm with Stephen Rigali

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Stephen Rigali, executive managing director at Kayne Anderson Rudnick, about the firm’s evolution from a family office into a $55 billion platform and how it has approached growth with intention over four decades.

He shares how the firm prioritizes organic expansion, structured advisor development and long-term client relationships, along with how it balances high-touch service with scalability, uses specialized partners to extend capabilities, and evaluates the role of AI in improving efficiency without replacing human decision-making.

Key takeaways:

  • How the firm grew from founder capital into a $55 billion platform through steady, organic expansion
  • Why advisor capacity is managed through defined lifecycle stages and proactive resource planning
  • How long-term client relationships are built on trust, alignment and consistent human interaction
  • Why combining in-house expertise with outside specialists strengthens the client experience
  • How AI is being tested to improve research, workflows and operational efficiency across the firm

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Stephen Rigali:

About Our Guest:

Stephen Rigali is the Executive Managing Director and a member of the Executive Management Committee at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, a Los Angeles–based investment and wealth management firm founded in 1984. He oversees business development across the firm’s institutional, retail, and wealth management platforms and works closely with the firm’s Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer to help shape the firm’s long-term investment and business strategy. He also serves on the firm’s Risk and Compliance Committee, ESG Steering Committee, and the Investment Committee for the Wealth Advisory division.

Stephen has more than four decades of experience in the investment management industry and has been with Kayne Anderson Rudnick since 1991, playing a key role in the firm’s growth and evolution. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President at Shearson Lehman Brothers. Stephen holds a B.S. in Business and Economics from Loyola Marymount University and is a CFA charterholder.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Building a $700B RIA with Peter Mallouk

RIA Edge Podcast: Building a $700B RIA with Peter Mallouk

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong interviews Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning, about his journey from leading a small company with 30 clients to becoming one of the largest independent wealth management firms in the United States. 

He talks about how that growth was fueled by a focus on consistent, repeatable workplace processes, turning clients into vocal advocates for the firm, and how his acquisition strategy is largely guided by where he sees unmet demand for fiduciary advice growing quickly. 

Peter, who will be a keynote speaker at Wealth Management EDGE in June, also explores his unique leadership decisions, what he has learned from hosting his own podcast interviewing financial service executives, and how developments in artificial intelligence will “rattle our space in a way that I don’t think anybody’s ready for, including us.”

Key takeaways:

  • How he grew Creative Planning to $40 billion in AUM within 15 years—entirely organically—and how those years established the foundation for future success in the M&A market.
  • Why he still spends 75% of his time working directly with clients and prospects.
  • The single most critical metric he uses to assess the quality of an RIA.
  • The rationale behind last year’s acquisition of SageView Advisory Group and his perspective on the convergence of workplace retirement plans and wealth management.
  • How Creative Planning’s international expansion strategy mirrors its domestic one: target regions where there is unmet demand for fiduciary advice.
  • How AI may soon manage over half of the operational tasks within an RIA.

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Peter Mallouk:

About Our Guest:

Peter Mallouk is the President of Creative Planning and its affiliated companies. Peter’s companies provide comprehensive wealth management services to their clients, including investment management, financial planning, charitable planning, retirement plan consulting, tax planning and estate planning services. 

Peter graduated from the University of Kansas in 1993 with four majors, including degrees in business administration and economics. He went on to earn a law degree and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1996, also at the University of Kansas. Peter is a recipient of the University of Kansas School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, becoming the second-youngest recipient to receive the award. 

Peter is the founder, a current executive board member and a former five-year Chairman of KC CAN!, an organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the quality of life for children in Kansas City. He’s also the founder and a current executive board member of Pathway Financial Education, an organization dedicated to providing teenagers, adults and business owners in under-resourced communities with actionable financial education. 

Peter and his wife Veronica, are recipients of the Giving the Basics Human Dignity Award for their contributions toward helping those less fortunate meet basic needs. They’re also recipients of the Variety Presidential Citation Award for their work supporting those with special needs. The Mallouks funded the Kansas chapter of Give Back, a program that identifies high-achieving high school students who have faced challenges and provides them with not only college tuition but also coaching, counseling and volunteer mentors. To date, 300 Kansas students have been awarded scholarships. Peter and Veronica have three children — Michael, JP, and Gabby.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Client-Centric Growth and Innovation with Jon Beatty

RIA Edge Podcast: Client-Centric Growth and Innovation with Jon Beatty

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The future of RIAs is being shaped by technology, talent, and a renewed focus on client-centric leadership.

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong talks with Jon Beatty, head of advisor services at Charles Schwab, on the eve of Schwab Impact, about how the industry is adapting to the accelerating pace of technological change and what qualities differentiate the most successful advisory firms. 

In the conversation, you’ll hear:

  • What Beatty looks forward to the most at Schwab Impact, the firm’s annual conference for advisors and industry executives—and it’s not only what’s happening on the stage.
  • The takeaways from Schwab’s most recent Independent Advisor Outlook Study that Beatty found most revealing.
  • How some firms are maintaining, or even growing,  profitability even as they add new client services on top of a fixed revenue base.
  • How the most successful advisors are evolving in their use of technology, including artificial intelligence.
  • The key to balancing scale and efficiency without sacrificing personalized client service.
  • The most critical metric RIAs have to track meaningful growth.

Resources:

 Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Jon Beatty:

About Our Guest:

Jon Beatty is a member of Charles Schwab’s Executive Council. As Managing Director and Head of Schwab Advisor Services, he oversees the business that serves over 16,000 independent advisory firms that trust Schwab with $4.7 trillion in assets under management. 

Schwab Advisor Services provides RIAs with everything they need for custody and beyond, including innovative technology, the latest wealth management solutions, and an unmatched breadth of solutions to help advisors take their businesses further, all powered by more than 3,000 dedicated Advisor Services employees. 

You likely won’t meet anyone more passionate about helping independent advisors succeed than Jon. He joined Schwab 28 years ago and has been a member of the Advisor Services leadership team for 16 years. Jon has dedicated his career to working with RIAs and loves to hear from clients and prospects on how Schwab can best meet their needs.

Jon has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wittenberg University. He is registered with the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., and holds Series 7 and 9/10 registrations.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Integrated Partners’ Andree Mohr on Sophisticated Financial Planning and the ‘Ceiling of Complexity’ That Holds Some RIAs Back

RIA Edge Podcast: Integrated Partners’ Andree Mohr on Sophisticated Financial Planning and the ‘Ceiling of Complexity’ That Holds Some RIAs Back

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Live at the recent MarketCounsell Summit in Las Vegas, David Armstrong chats with Andree Mohr, president of Integrated Partners, a unique advisory platform assisting entrepreneurial advisors in scaling their businesses through strategic CPA partnerships. 

Mohr covers Integrated’s origin story and the dynamics of integrating wealth management services into accounting firms. The discussion highlights the importance of putting the client’s needs first in the business partnerships Integrated pursues and how that can sometimes require humility and adaptability on the part of the advisor. 

 Mohr discusses the technology advancements fueling the “personalization at scale” goal that most growth-minded advisory firms strive for,  and the need for advisors to evolve into “expert coordinators of experts” leveraging partnerships to address complex client needs. 

Highlights from this episode include:

  • Integrated Partners’ strategy of partnering with CPAs.s
  • What happens when advisors hit the “ceiling of complexity” when coordinating insurance, taxes, estate planning, and investment portfolios
  • Why client retention is really the key to growth, and how advisors can use their own stories to turn those clients into “rabid fans” and natural referrals.  
  • The importance of curating expert networks to bring more services to clients and the challenges some advisors have with outsourcing. 
  •  The impact AI will have in bringing higher degrees of specialization and personalization to financial services.

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect with Andree Mohr:

About Our Guest:

Andree supports growth on many levels as the President of Integrated. In this role, She oversees the day-to-day operations, manages budgets, and drives the firm’s key objectives to ensure the consistent and healthy growth of the organization. A particular passion of hers is helping entrepreneurial-minded financial advisors implement strategic operations that enhance efficiencies, foster practice growth, and bring their business visions to fruition. Through Integrated’s CPA Alliance program, she assists CPA partners in monetizing their most trusted advisor status while simultaneously aiding clients in their financial planning and tax needs.

She is also the co-author of “Center Stage: How to Become the Star of Your Practice” along with Matt Ackermann. The book focuses on operational, team building, and business processing efficiencies to help empower advisors to streamline their practices. The end result: advisors will have a roadmap to grow their business, leave a lasting legacy, and ultimately provide a boutique, concierge, memorable experience for their clients.

Her professional background includes graduating from Northeastern University, with an emphasis on experiential learning. She has been supporting advisors in various capacities for the last 13 years and truly enjoys helping them with their growth endeavors, facilitating business optimization, and ultimately watching them realize their goals.

Rounding out her life involves spending time with her husband and twin daughters, passionately cheering on the New England Patriots, traveling, and supporting charitable causes that are important to her.

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