CEO: To Lead an RIA, 'You Have to Understand People'

Tax issues mattered enormously to the overall wealth of these high-net-worth families, and being able to speak that language and incorporate those principles in all aspects of what we've done from the very beginning have led to higher quality relationships and recommendations, and stickier clients overall.

Our [now-] affiliated accounting firm [of the founders] are partners of ours in the truest sense.

You aren't a financial advisor. But do you personally interface with clients?

On advice matters, absolutely not. I don't attend client meetings where advice is taking place.

But I do a lot in the community and bring in relationships. So sometimes I'll be in the first couple of client meetings.

And I have lunch with our clients just to hear their feedback, what's on their minds. I'll ask them how we're doing as an organization, what they'd like to see from us.

Tell me about your ascent to CEO.

I had worked [elsewhere] for two years as a financial planner, helped start a trust company and spent four additional years doing myriad things in the industry.

But I really loved the registered investment advisor space; so I applied [at F&D Advisors, the original name of SignatureFD].

It was a small firm, and the only position available was client service associate. I took it and helped with back office, operations-style stuff.

How did you move up beyond that role?

There was always an opportunity to lean in and learn different verticals.

In 2005, I became chief compliance officer and, at the same time, director of operations — two hats I wore for 15 years.

In 2020, I was [promoted] to president and CEO.

So becoming chief compliance officer was a real stepping stone for you. Right?

Yes. It put me in the boardroom immediately.

I learned to understand how the decisions around the business were made, how to assess regulatory risk, business risk, what type of risk we were comfortable with, learning how to take that risk in a way that was beneficial not only for our clients but for the growth of the business as well.

Are there any big industry trends that you recently, aggressively capitalized on?

There are two that the board and I continue to have conversations about. One is the big wealth transfer that's going to happen. 

A lot of wealth will transfer to the control of women over the next five to 10 years [mostly because of the death of baby boomer husbands].

Statistically, most widows don't stay with their husband's financial advisor.

So we're focusing on what their needs are and what do women want done differently, not only in a financial services relationship but in advice-giving, and what we need to do as an organization to ensure we're a destination for these women.

What's the other major trend you're discussing with the board?

The change in engagement with the next generation, and our strategy moving forward.

In the next five years, communication styles and technology will be different from what they are today. And firms like ours will need to have different tools available.

The technology will do a lot of things that advisors haven't been able to automate yet. We want to integrate that fully into our offering and client experience.

So we're really focused on what shifts we need to make to be ready to leverage those new technologies.

Will advice-giving undergo a change too?

I don't think the need for advice will go away, but I do believe that with the rapid shift in technology, advisors need to be more holistic and design-focused in the relationship. 

Do you see any other critical trends on the horizon?

One that's likely to come is that wealth management firms will want to bring clients' tax matters fully in-house.

I believe that we were one of the first firms to have a strategic partnership with an accounting firm, and that has been highly successful.

Who at SignatureFD helped you the most in your career?

I've had both mentors and sponsors. A mentor teaches you things, and a sponsor advocates for you and uses their power to influence and get you into rooms you wouldn't otherwise be in.

I've also had really powerful influencers, coaches and mentors outside our firm. Inside an organization, you can lose sight of what's happening at other firms and industries.

If you don't have that perspective, you can almost get blinded a little about your own organization.

So that's important as you humbly admit the things you're good at but also challenge yourself continually about the things you could be better at, not only as a business but as an individual as well.