Tag: High-Net Worth
RIA Edge Podcast: How a Focus on Process, Service and Scale Built a $4.2B AUM RIA

RIA Edge Podcast: How a Focus on Process, Service and Scale Built a $4.2B AUM RIA

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What does it really take to grow an advisory firm without losing control of culture or client experience?

Growth can look attractive from the outside, but building something sustainable requires discipline, structure and long-term thinking.

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong interviews JC Abusaid, president and CEO of Halbert Hargrove, about building a $4.2 billion RIA through disciplined organic growth. He shares how centralized operations, a well-structured internship pipeline and flexible minimums fuel sustainable expansion. JC also explains his employee-ownership model, his perspective on private equity pressure and how AI and technology investments are shaping the firm’s next phase.

Key takeaways:

  • Why centralized operations create scale, consistency and firm-wide efficiency
  • How lowering minimums for younger advisors drives long-term client growth
  • Building a structured internship program that becomes a hiring pipeline
  • Managing teams without advisor-led management to protect culture
  • Using AI and technology as productivity accelerators, not cost controls

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With JC Abusaid:

About Our Guest:

JC Abusaid is the CEO and President of Halbert Hargrove, a wealth advisory firm founded in 1989. JC earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Finance emphasis from the Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administracion in Bogota, Colombia, and his MBA from the University of Redlands School of Business. He was awarded the ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY designation by the University of Pittsburgh-affiliated Center for Fiduciary Studies. In 2016, JC earned a LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and in 2021, he took part in BlackRock’s first Emerging Leader Lab.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Ken Stern on Lido Advisors’ Path to $20B in AUM

RIA Edge Podcast: Ken Stern on Lido Advisors’ Path to $20B in AUM

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Ken Stern’s journey with Lido Advisors started almost a decade ago with a chance meeting at a family office conference. His initial connection with Lido’s founders quickly evolved into a shared vision of providing unmatched client service and scaling a national brand. In some ways, the Lido story is a bit different among RIAs—instead of a firm starting with retail clients and moving upstream to high and ultra-high net worth, Lido started in the family office space and under Stern’s operational guidance has brought the family office-style suite of services to a broader base of clients and prospects. 

In this episode, David Armstrong, managing director of editorial and content strategies for the Wealth Management Group at Informa, talks with Ken Stern, president of Lido Advisors, to delve into the approaches they’ve taken to scale, how he thinks about growth as almost a mandate to bring clients a top-tier experience, and how they’ve balanced organic growth and acquisitions. 

David and Ken discuss:

  • Lido Advisors’ impressive growth to over $20 billion in AUM and the strategies behind their rapid expansion.
  • Why cracking the code on multi-generational planning has become a key driver in the firm’s overall growth strategy.  
  • Why Lido Advisors chose to bring services like trust management and tax preparation in-house to provide better control and a seamless client experience
  • One potential, highly valued client-service area that remains largely untapped by most RIAs and is on Lido’s strategic roadmap. 
  • Lido’s approach to mergers and acquisitions and the role of partnerships with private equity firms like Charlesbank Capital Partners and Constellation Partners in fueling expansion

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Ken Stern:

About Our Guest:

Ken Stern is the President of Lido Advisors. Ken is focused on executing Lido’s vision of growing Lido Advisors into a nationally recognized leader in advanced wealth management and investment strategy. After working with and helping grow various financial institutions, Ken saw a need for a client-centric financial advisory firm focused on comprehensive planning and dynamic investment management. As a result, he founded both Asset Planning Solutions, Inc. and Ken Stern & Associates. Ken has authored seven personal finance books and appeared in or been quoted on several TV and radio shows including The Today Show, CNBC, and CNN.

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