Support for going independent

BRIAN HAMBURGER: Through MarketCounsel, we consult with investment advisors, and those who are looking to become investment advisors. We talk to them about the movement into independence, and how to create an investment advisor. We talk to them about building of businesses and recruiting of new talent to the firms. We talk to them about protecting the firms once they have it built, and to gaining efficiencies. And then thereafter, we talk to them about where the firm is headed and help them with strategic issues.

Now the folks who are really intrigued by independence aren't only those that dreamt of entrepreneurship, but they now include those that were willing, are willing, to be entrepreneurs. They're willing to be entrepreneurs because it means something better for them, for their teams, and primarily, at the end of the day, it means something better for their clients.

But when advisors are coming to us, they're not coming to us as a blank slate. They are coming to us packed with questions, and information, and unfortunately, a good deal of misinformation. And so they're coming to us and they're saying, "So here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it, and here's when I want to do it." And we're saying, "Timeout. Timeout. Let's start with the end. Close your eyes and what does this look like at the end? What does this look like to your clients? What does this look like to your team? How are you making this announcement?" And we'll work backwards. We've done this before. We can draft off of that experience, and we can get you there. But you're not going to direct this movie. This is one that we have to direct. You just tell us what you want it to look like.

The one thing I wish that advisors looking to become independent really understood is that they sit in a really unique position to take decades that they've spent in a really meaningful career and just leverage that to the hilt. Finally, turn that into being an expert in your craft to being a business owner that's able to make decisions that impact a team. Being part of a group who are making investment decisions not based upon what a firm says is available to them, but out of the entire spectrum of investments, and securities, and non-securities. And being able to sit in front of clients and say "We built this firm. We built this firm so that we can act in your best interest so that we're not riddled with the conflicts that are just inherent in a large organization involved in multiple business lines."

It is a bit of a rollercoaster ride. You are in for some of the most exhilarating and exciting times that you've had. Some of our...you know, many of our clients will come back and report to us that they felt their heart pumping again, that they finally reinvigorated the passion they had for the business. They felt that they were resetting and doing what they loved, but now for all the right reasons.

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Inside the RIA ecosystem. 
Orion Advisor Services

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Eric Clarke, Former CEO, Orion Advisor Services

As we built our business over the years, I've noticed that our advisors truly care about the financial well-being of their clients.  They're saddled with their concerns, their burdens, and the last thing that they want to deal with is the successful implementation of back office technology. So we take that responsibility off of their hands, allowing them to focus on their client relationships, and helping those clients meet their financial goals and objectives.

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Going independent means trading limitations for possibilities.

We talk to advisors every day that are frustrated by the walls that are being built up around them, the things that they can't do, the networks that they can't create, the services that they can't provide to their clients. And as they transition towards independence, those walls come down, the barriers, they go away, the networks that they can create open up, and they find themselves in an environment of independence that thrives on working with service providers that have to compete to win their business, to help them succeed each and every day, as opposed to keep putting up barriers to keep them in their current situation.

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Independence is about doing right by clients and building value.

There are two things that advisors have a real advantage of when they go independent. The first is doing the right thing for the client, setting themselves up under a business model that allows them to act as a fiduciary and do what's in their client's best interests. The second thing that it allows them to do is build value, because it allows them to build up the valuation of their firm over time, and have something that they can put a very successful plan in place for succession and ultimately transition that business off to continue providing best-in-class services to their clients.

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Large RIA firms are growing even larger.

We work with some of the largest investment advisors in the country, and those investment advisors are doing a phenomenal job at working with their clients, doing the right thing for their clients, and as that happens, they are really seeing their businesses grow. And the amount of scale that we have to provide as a tech provider has increased and it's definitely a focus of our business as we move into the future, as well.

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Information as of November 16, 2017. 
 
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