Tag: RIA Firms
RIA Edge Podcast: Building a Full-Service Financial Firm with Marty Bicknell

RIA Edge Podcast: Building a Full-Service Financial Firm with Marty Bicknell

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In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong sits down with Marty Bicknell, president and CEO of Mariner Wealth Advisors, to discuss how the firm has grown into one of the biggest RIAs in the country.

Marty shares how Mariner approaches acquisitions with a strong focus on culture, builds in-house capabilities across tax, trust and insurance services, and structures business development to support advisor growth. He also explains how artificial intelligence and operational systems may reshape advisor capacity, scalability and the future direction of wealth management firms.

Key takeaways:

  • What’s driving Mariner’s current acquisition strategy
  • How Bicknell thinks about bringing client services like tax, trust, insurance and estate planning into the Mariner ecosystem
  • Why Mariner bought a small boutique M&A firm
  • Why niche markets like dentists, athletes and first responders are a key part of Mariner’s future growth focus
  • How he sees AI tools impacting advisor capacity and the firm’s operations

Resources:

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Marty Bicknell:

About Our Guest:

As the CEO and president of Mariner, Marty drives the strategic direction for the firm. As a recognized leader in wealth management, he devises innovative solutions to help meet the needs of our clients. He has extensive personal and professional experience with closely held family businesses and their unique complexities. He often mentors other successful entrepreneurs.

Marty, along with seven others, founded Mariner in 2006 with a goal of keeping the client at the center of all we do. He wanted to build a firm that could simplify our clients’ lives by having all the resources they need under one roof. The day the doors opened, Marty made the promise to put the clients’ interests before anything else…a promise he still holds dear to this day.

Marty has a bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan

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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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