Tag: Private Markets
RIA Edge Podcast: Scaling RIAs While Preserving Advisor Control with Jim Dickson

RIA Edge Podcast: Scaling RIAs While Preserving Advisor Control with Jim Dickson

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Jim Dickson, founding partner and CEO of Elevation Point, about the firm’s approach to minority investing and helping independent advisory firms grow while maintaining ownership and control.

Jim shares how Elevation Point supports partner firms through technology, private markets, organic growth resources and M&A capabilities. He also explains why data infrastructure is becoming increasingly important as artificial intelligence develops, why alignment between advisors and investors matters when structuring minority investments, and why firms need to build the capacity to serve more clients as the wealth management industry continues to evolve.

Jim discusses:

  • How minority capital can support RIA growth while advisors retain meaningful ownership and decision-making control
  • Why organized data is becoming essential for firms that want to use AI in client service and advisor workflows
  • How private-market access, education, diligence and reporting can help advisors expand investment capabilities
  • Why technology, team structure, organic growth and M&A capacity shape which advisory firms can scale effectively
  • Why advisor-investor alignment and preparation for market volatility matter when RIAs make long-term growth decisions

Resources:

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Connect With Jim Dickson:

About Our Guest:

Jim Dickson is a growth-focused investor, born entrepreneur, and wealth management industry innovator, with more than thirty years of industry experience. Recognized for his approach aimed at championing and elevating independent financial advisors, Jim is a visionary leader skilled in crafting and executing high-growth strategies for advisory firms. Jim’s “advisor-first” growth mindset caters to the values and long-term visions of RIAs and independence-seeking advisors, empowering them to thrive in today’s dynamic marketplace.

Jim co-founded Elevation Point with Mark Penske in 2024 to support independence-focused financial advisors and RIAs. The firm executes Jim and Mark’s partnership growth model that includes strategic investments as well as granting entrepreneurial advisors and RIAs access to services, solutions, and support from the Elevation Point platform and those of its partners—elevating advisors and RIAs to their vision of higher ground. At its inception, Elevation Point’s dynamic and customizable OCIO solutions, alongside comprehensive back and middle-office support services are available to advisors nationwide for managing the complex needs of high-net-worth clients.

Previously, Jim founded Sanctuary Wealth in 2018, launching the Partnered IndependenceSM platform, empowering elite advisors with essential tools and resources. Under Jim’s leadership, Sanctuary Wealth grew rapidly into one of the industry’s top RIA firms, with more than $25 billion in assets and 76 partner firms in 28 states by 2023, when he left the firm.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Growing a $6B RIA Without M&A with Gregg George

RIA Edge Podcast: Growing a $6B RIA Without M&A with Gregg George

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Gregg George, founder and managing director of Crescent Grove Advisors, about how the firm grew to approximately $6 billion without acquisitions, outside investors or debt.

Gregg shares how the firm builds relationships with executives and business owners before major liquidity events, maintains a low advisor-to-client ratio and develops a talent pipeline internally. He also explains how Crescent Grove protects its culture, expands family-office-style services, and uses technology and AI to improve operations while keeping advisors at the center of the client relationship.

Gregg discusses

  • The organic growth drivers that have worked for their firm—and the ones that haven’t. 
  • How the advisors prioritize the future value of a prospect over the immediate assets they bring into the firm
  • How he thinks about client-to-advisor ratios and ensuring growth doesn’t outpace capacity.
  • Why the firm prefers a single point of contact for clients over a team-based approach.
  • Avoiding the culture clash that can come with pursuing outside investment and acquisitions.

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Gregg George:

About Our Guest:

As a Founder and Managing Director of Crescent Grove Advisors, Gregg George specializes in working with C-suite executives, entrepreneurs and business owners to coordinate the development and implementation of highly customized financial offerings. In so doing, he advises clients and their families on all aspects of their financial lives in an independent and unbiased manner.

Prior to co-founding Crescent Grove Advisors, Gregg was the Managing Director and a Senior Client Advisor at Cedar Street Advisors, a boutique wealth management organization catering to highly affluent clients. Before this, Gregg was an Account Manager with a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, where he was responsible for advising C-suite executives on their personal financial affairs.

Raised in New York, Gregg is currently licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and Illinois. He received a Master of Law (LL.M) degree in Taxation from Boston University School of Law, a J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law and a BS in Political Science from Boston College. Gregg is the President of a 501(c)(3) Donor Advised Fund and has served as Chairman of Best Buddies Wisconsin, a not-for profit. He is also a Registered Representative of The Leader’s Group, Member FINRA/SIPC. Gregg and his wife, Laura, reside in Kildeer, Illinois, and have four boys. In his spare time, Gregg loves watching his kids play sports and just have fun growing up.

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