When's the best time to make the jump to independence? For former bank-based advisor Rebecca Boyd, it was Feb. 29.
"We lept into our new adventure on Leap Year. So we technically won't have a true anniversary every year, but that's OK," Boyd, CEO and founder of Kin Wealth in San Antonio, said in a recent interview with ThinkAdvisor. "For my entire career, the dream was to be independent."
Making the transition "was very scary," she said, "because all I knew was Frost Bank for my past 24 years in the industry."
Boyd started Kin Wealth with advisor Collin Fabac, whom she began working with in 2019. The firm is now affiliated with Commonwealth Financial, an RIA and independent broker-dealer.
In the interview, Boyd spoke at length about what this move involved and how Commonwealth worked with her team to make it happen.
Here are highlights of our conversation.
THINKADVISOR: How did you get interested in going independent?
REBECCA BOYD: I attended an American Funds advisor event about five years ago. I can recall looking at the roster of the 100 advisors who were there. I was the only one that did not have my own firm.
That kind of started the itch. I started to scratch the itch probably about three years ago — and began exploring other broker-dealers.
What were the first steps you took to go independent?
We actually looked at a large independent broker-dealer three years ago, and it just wasn't the right time or the right fit for us. When I was talking with one of our wholesalers, he said: "Hey, I have no skin in the game, but have you ever looked into Commonwealth? The advisors that I call on [there] seem to be extremely happy."
My husband started doing some Googling to find out who Commonwealth was. I just lived in my little Frost Bank bubble. He said: "Hey, well, they're No. 1 ranked by J.D. Power" and started to get some information.
I just went to their website and emailed their recruiter — who emailed me back immediately. He was actually the same recruiter I'd met through my conversations with another firm three years ago.
We scheduled a dinner [in September]. That's when we were also talking with two other firms. I wanted to make sure I did my due diligence on broker-dealers to find the best fit for us.
I went to Commonwealth's annual conference in Colorado in October, met with Becca Hajjar [the firm's chief business development officer]. What sealed the deal was that I really got a feel for the Commonwealth community, for the people who worked at Commonwealth and for the management of Commonwealth. I definitely did not feel like I was a number.
What also stands out is that Commonwealth was very quick to say, "We are going to interview you, just as much as you're going to interview us." Becca was very clear and said, "I have turned away brokers that have the same size book as you do time and time again, because they weren't the right fit for Commonwealth."
I like that they don't align with just everybody. I definitely got the boutique feel, the hands-on, personal touch and all of those things. That was very important to me.
What else tipped your decision to go independent with Commonwealth?
At their conference, there was a panel discussion with three women. One was in the middle of her 90-day transition and … two had [already] transitioned from other firms.
Listening to them talk about their experiences was very eye-opening … just hearing from other people about running a business, payroll and marketing … [rather than] having somebody else to do it for you.
