EDDIE BROWN: Shannon, when you look at the growth of the ultra-high net worth population, and, really, the RIAs have become the preferred model to support the ultra-high net worth, it's double-digit growth. So what advice would you give them?
SHANNON KENNEDY: I would say what kind of clients are they serving? If you're going to switch to someone else, my experience sometimes has been you can go to different places, and you could change the name and we sound exactly the same. So I do think culture, number one, makes the most important… is the most important decision someone can make. So are you culturally aligned with the firm?
And for myself, as I made a couple of different moves, being ethically aligned with how they treated clients, and then the solutions that we provided or could be provided to the clients.
So for me, personally, I would say, 'What kind of clients do you have? What is it that they're looking for? Where can you culturally align where you feel really good?'
EDDIE: What do you think is going to be the most important objectives for your firm going forward?
SHANNON: Well, the 30 million and above space is the fastest-growing space, so there's plenty for all of us. I think the other things with next gen, they want snackable bites, you know, on demand, TikTok reviews. I'm sure you've seen all of that. And we have a lot of clients asking about different types of assets—NFTs, cryptocurrency, real estate. You know, and then just other education.
I think on the philanthropy side, a lot of clients write checks and they're charitable, but they don't really grasp what it means to be a good philanthropist. So that's something that we're trying to educate all of our clients on as we go forward.
And that's just talent. This is, as I said, a people person. And so working with Schwab and having access to all of your training and to all of the great advice you have just expands my ability to grow the talent and the careers of the individuals that I have, and the thought leadership that you all provide to us.
So I think anyone who is trying to do it on their own will find it a little bit more difficult as they continue to grow.
EDDIE: That's great to hear, and it ties back to the earlier conversation of what energizes you around, you know, the clients and seeing things through clients' eyes, which has been part of Chuck Schwab's vision for decades and is instilled in all of us today.