Traci Richmond, president of Bethesda, M.D.-based The Meakem Group, has an important piece of advice for any financial advisor thinking of going independent: Make the move sooner rather then later – especially if you feel you're the wrong fit for where you are.
Richmond, like scores of advisors across the country, spent many unhappy years at a large wirehouse that went through numerous iterations and top-down mandated changes. These decisions created an increasingly stifling atmosphere that not only increased Richmond's malaise, but also made her feel that her job had become meaningless and unfulfilling, and that as an advisor, she was but a "necessary evil" for the firm to put itself front and center.
"I felt like I had become a glorified bank teller and the obstacles provided were of no benefit to my clients," she said.
Finally, Richmond — who kicked off ThinkAdvisor's "Going, Going, Gone — Going Independent and Beyond" virtual conference on Wednesday with her keynote address: "Going Independent: Why, How and How Not" — decided to leave the wirehouse that she had begun to hate working at. After a period of serious soul searching, careful thought and many discussions with other independent advisors, she knew she wanted to go independent.
Today, as a member of the independent contractor division of Raymond James, Richmond is right where she wants to be. Her business is flourishing, and her clients are also extremely happy.
"Being in a good fit where I can serve clients better makes it a pleasure to go to work, and now that I know what it feels like to be independent, I will never go back again," she said.
There's no doubt that running one's own show can be very rewarding. But making the leap to independence is far from simple, and for most advisors (42% of those who listened to the keynote address said they worried about being independent), the prospect of leaving a larger firm to go out on their own is extremely daunting.
"I had a nice salary and a bonus, I was making decent money and that was hard to leave," admitted panelist Mike Patton, president of Baton Rouge, La.-based Integrity Wealth Management and a ThinkAdvisor contributor.
Still, the first step toward independence is actually making the decision to become independent, Patton said. When he took that step, "it was the best career decision I ever made."
There is no one-size-fits-all route to independence, but proceeding in a well thought out and methodical manner can go a long way. Patton spent a year and a half analyzing all the reasons why he wanted to be independent, and this helped him to eventually get to where he wanted to be.
