RIA Edge

Plancorp, a $5.1 billion RIA, has been one of the fastest-growing – and most focused – firms in the industry. Plancorp’s growth has been fueled by an unrelenting emphasis on the client experience, and a commitment to enrolling its expanding team in the company strategy and success.  In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director of Informa Wealth Management, speaks wi...

Not many CEOs of multi-billion dollar RIAs started out as an intern at the firm that they are now running. Even fewer have followed that career path to the top of a $4.4BN RIA that boasts over 70 employers.  That’s the story of Neela Hummel , co-CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners, who recently took over as a co-head of the firm alongside Mary Beth Storjohann. In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, Ma...

In recent years, M&A has dominated the RIA industry. But Arnerich Massena is different—as one of the fastest-growing RIAs in the business, starting in 1991 they began achieving growth with a model that served several unique clients and business types. This required having multiple platforms of service for their clients but also beginning a journey to identify the best opportunities for creatin...

The leaders of RIA firms have more options than ever before when evaluating growth opportunities in today’s market. M&A activity continues at an accelerated pace – and technology is allowing advisors to extend their services to an ever-increasing number of investors and clients.    In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Michae...

A small, but growing, number of influential independent advisory firms are on the fast track to becoming truly national wealth managers. M&A has been a tool that has allowed regional firms to expand their footprints, and Merit Financial Advisors is perhaps one of the industry’s best examples of how strategic M&A can be transformational – and ultimately lead to accelerated growth.  In...

While every RIA has its own unique approach to adding new clients and talent, the top-performing firms share some common strategic approaches to accelerating and driving organic and inorganic growth.  In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, Managing Director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Jeff Pierce, CEO of Wipfli Financial Advisors, about the keys to his firm’s march to $5 billion in...

For the last decade, strong equity markets have powered a substantial amount of growth for tens of thousands of financial advisors. A handful of firms, however, have “cracked the code” and created blueprints for driving strategic growth for their firms that will extend well beyond this prolonged bull market.   In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management,...

As the independent and RIA channels have grown and become more influential, the challenges and opportunities aligned with running your own businesses have grown significantly in recent years.  To better understand and assess the options that are now available to advisors who are looking to build their own businesses — or accelerate the growth of their existing business — Informa’s Mark...

With more investors seeking out financial advice than ever before, RIAs are in a position to capitalize on an evolving mix of investing, planning and technology developments that can create long-term business growth.    In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Stan Gregor, CEO of Summit Financial. Stan shares details on Summit’s growth tr...

Every RIA firm is unique and has its own strategies and approaches for driving growth. But a handful of the fastest growing and most successful firms have one thing in common: They take an active approach to managing and thinking about growth on a daily basis – and ultimately how they can continue to improve the outcomes they are delivering to clients.   That is just what Wealthcare Capital...

Many in RIAs understand the importance of strong marketing strategies, but knowing what types of strategies – and then consistently executing – is a major challenge for a number of advisors.  In this episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Megan Gorman, founder and managing partner of Chequers Financial Management, about her approach...

Mergers and acquisitions are becoming a more common way for larger RIAs to grow. But successfully managing a merger or acquisition after the deal closes is anything but a straight line — and many RIAs are looking for guidance on how to build a “culture of one.”   In this episode, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Greg Friedman, chief executive officer &a...

While a number of RIAs have experienced significant growth in recent years, many have actually grown by default – not design: Often, advisors are relying on the market, existing clients and referrals to drive growth. But there are a number of steps and strategies that advisors can implement to drive intentional, sustainable growth. Few leaders in the wealth management industry have a command...

While the RIA channel has been growing at a steady clip for years, a handful of firms have grown at an accelerated rate and are now responsible for the lion’s share of assets and clients in the industry. Wealthspire Advisors has been one of the fastest growing RIAs in the business, and CEO Mike LaMena sat down with Informa Connect Managing Director Mark Bruno to discuss the firm’s success, strateg...

Finding business strategies that work, and promote continuous growth can be one of the biggest challenges when running a business, especially coming out of the pandemic.  But one firm, Cerity Partners has been able to maintain and continue their growth in tremendous ways. In this episode, Mark Bruno sits down with Claire O’Keefe, partner and head of corporate development at Cerity Partners....

The RIA channel has seen tremendous growth over the last decade, but a handful of RIAs have executed on M&A and marketing strategies that have positioned them as the industry’s truly elite firms. In this first episode of RIA Edge, Mark Bruno, Managing Director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Scott Hanson, co-founder and senior partner of Allworth Financial, about how he was able to g...