Financial Advisor Success

Blair DuQuesnay is a financial advisor with Ritholtz Wealth Management, an independent RIA based in New York City that oversees nearly $1.3 billion of assets under management for more than 1,000 affluent clients. Blair had a unique journey to her current role, where she has built a strong client base managing $90 million of assets in under 2.5 years by focusing on client relationships and the investment committee work instead of prospecting. Listen in as we talk about Blair's journey through the industry, from a major wirehouse where she broke away after the financial crisis, to various operational and investment support roles, to launching her own independent RIA as a reluctant entrepreneur, and eventually landing in her current role with Ritholtz. She'll also be sharing why she believes that it's important to start at the bottom and take early entry-level roles that build a strong foundation for a long-term career as a financial advisor, and shares the moment she knew she had to make a major change while at a financial advisor conference. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/204

Maribeth Kuzmeski is the founder of Red Zone Marketing, a marketing consulting firm that helps independent financial advisors implement actionable marketing strategies to grow their advisory. Maribeth believes that marketing success does not have to involve reinventing the wheel, and that looking at what is already working in the world of financial advisors and adapting it to your unique business can bring greater marketing success. Listen in as she shares how she successfully niched down to focus on marketing consultancy for financial advisors, as well as how her very first client grew his business from $10 million to $200 million in assets under management in just five years. You will learn why finding your niche doesn't have to be intentional, how the pandemic has changed the way in which financial advisors are approaching client and prospect interactions, and why now is the time to embrace video calls if you've previously been on the fence. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/203

Pam Capalad is the founder of Brunch & Budget, a financial planning and coaching firm based in New York City that focuses on first-generation immigrants and communities of color. Brunch & Budget uses a unique approach to clientele-building through brunch sessions with prospective clients, where they discuss budgeting and cash flow planning issues. These sessions often turn into ongoing financial coaching, and have allowed Pam to build a client base of nearly 200 clients paying as much as $300 to $900 per month for her services. In this episode, Pam shares how she has grown her monthly fee significantly from the early days, as well as how she now justifies fees that can sometimes be 3-4% of a client's household income. We also dive into Pam's business model and workflow with clients, discuss why she niched down to focus on people who typically don't talk about money, and learn how working with first-generation immigrants is different than the typical financial planning client. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/202

John Wernz is the former Chief Marketing Officer for Wealth Enhancement Group, an independent RIA based in Minneapolis that has nearly $20 billion in assets under management for nearly 20,000 affluent clients. Under John's leadership, Wealth Enhancement Group went from nearly $1 billion AUM to $20 billion—and attracted more than $1.5 billion of net new client assets in the past year alone. John joins me today to discuss in depth how he built the organic marketing engine at his firm, why direct mail became a foundation in their growth strategy, and how they leverage third-party data sources to better target marketing initiatives. He'll also share why the firm uses a centralized sales team for inquiries, how he has structured a thirty-person marketing team to manage all of the different marketing channels, and why bird watchers make for their best client base. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/201

This is a milestone 200th episode, and we're doing things a little differently today! We put out a survey to the listenership asking who we should invite as our guest today, and overwhelmingly, you told us that you want to hear more of my own story on this journey of navigating the challenges of building a successful advisory business. So, you've got your wish! In this episode, Alan Moore joins me to talk about my career journey from college to financial services, why I split my time in the advisory firm between writing and speaking, and why I spend so much time advocating for smaller advisory firms despite switching to a much larger RIA myself. We also talk about all of the different ways that a career journey can unfold, and I'm taking you behind the scenes of kitces.com—including how I manage my own time and schedule to stay focused on having the biggest possible positive impact on the advisory community. I'll also be answering your number one burning question: Do I actually sleep? For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/200

Morgen Rochard is the founder of Origin Wealth Advisers, an independent RIA based out of Austin, Texas, that oversees nearly $35 million in assets under management for 25 affluent clients. Using a barbell approach to doing good in the world, Morgen has focused her practice to work with no more than 30 clients at a time at a rate of $12,000, which allows her the financial and time freedom to raise her family and create a book and podcast to disperse knowledge to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford her services. Listen in as Morgen shares how she structures her advisory firm to work with only a select number of affluent clients, why she structures her fees based on net worth but still views investment management as an essential service in her practice, and how she created a financial coaching business entirely separate from Origin Wealth Advisers. She will also detail her actual financial planning process with clients, why she focuses on what her clients can accomplish in a 12-18 month window instead of 20-30 years down the road, and what her secret is to being hyper-efficient. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/199

Bill Bengen is the former owner of Bengen Financial Services, an independent RIA based out of Southern California that oversaw nearly $50 million of assets under management for 80 affluent retirees. That's not all Bill is known for though—in fact, he is the father of the "4% rule" and the safe withdrawal rate research, which was published in a series of studies in the Journal of Financial Planning and put into practice with his own clients. Listen in as Bill describes how he first developed his 4% safe withdrawal rate research, how he started this research to get away from the rules of thumb that were popular at the time, and how, ironically, his research became a rule of thumb itself. He'll also share why he actually used a withdrawal rate of 4.5% with his own clients, why a safe withdrawal rate today could be as high as 5%, and why he ultimately made the decision to retire and sell his firm. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/198

Ashby Daniels is a financial advisor who personally oversees $38 million in assets under management for 43 retired clients with Shorebridge Wealth Management. Ashby launched his current practice, a hybrid advisory firm, by breaking away from a major broker-dealer after 10 years in the business in the face of a non-compete, and he was able to build his firm in such a way that his family's financial situation was never at risk. In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Ashby negotiated his compensation agreement with Shorebridge, how he navigated the non-compete agreement to eventually win back some of his prior clients, and how leaving most of his clients behind allowed him to focus on bringing in the right clients. Listen in to learn how his business has evolved deeper into niche territory, how he has built his current marketing funnel through blogging, and how his blog helped his former clients find their way back to him. For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/197

Daniel Hannoush is the co-founder of One & Done Financial, a virtual independent RIA that oversees nearly $70-million of assets under management for 350 client households. He has been able to consistently add five to ten new clients every single month since launching only four years ago. How has he done this? Hyper-focused niching. In this episode, we're discussing how Daniel was able to scale exponentially by niching down, how a fateful introduction led him to meeting his business partner, and why they chose to go with a 50/50 partnership deal despite advice to the contrary. Daniel will also share where he expects the firm to be in 10 years due to the exponential growth, as well as why he lives by the motto "if your visibility exceeds your ability, it destroys your credibility." For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/196

Echo Huang is the founder of Echo Wealth Management, an independent RIA that oversees nearly $120 million of AUM for 76 client households. Echo has built a niche serving corporate executives and has managed to build her firm almost entirely by word-of-mouth, through building her reputation within her niche. Today she joins the show to discuss how she grew such a successful career after starting out in the industry completely from scratch, as well as the challenges she faced along the way. Listen in as Echo shares why she decided to go out on her own—at the cost of losing to 2/3 of her AUM—to build the advisory firm she dreamed of. You will learn why she decided to get her CFA certification despite her success as an advisor, who she uses as her custodian, and the unique challenges she faces as what she calls a "triple minority." For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/195