A Prescription for Independence: A Merrill Breakaway’s “Financial Physician” Approach to Client Care and Growth

About this episode…

Not every advisor aims to work in wealth management—and even fewer begin in medical school. However, for this episode’s guest, the similarities between medicine and financial advice are strong: empathy, the desire to help, and the commitment to “do no harm.”

Alex Markowitz couldn’t imagine taking on the debt of medical school. But he could envision serving those who needed his help another way: as a financial advisor. That belief would ultimately lead him from the world of medicine to Merrill Lynch, and later, from Merrill to independence.

After more than a decade in the wirehouse environment, Alex found that the rules, quotas, and bureaucracy left little room to be a true fiduciary. He couldn’t thrive in a profession where corporate structures dictated both his future and the outcomes of those he served.

The turning point came when he began asking a simple question: “If I were fully independent, how would I serve my clients differently?”

A year and a half later, as Founding Partner of Alteri Wealth, Alex is answering that question every day. Built around a “financial physician” approach to client care, the firm’s growth comes entirely through referrals—no marketing, no lead generation, just radical candor and results.

In this episode, Louis Diamond speaks with Alex about his journey, including:

• Recognizing misalignments with the wirehouse—and how that reality set his thoughts on independence in motion.
• Leaving Merrill to build an independent firm—and how that unlocked the ability to merge multiple solo practices into a unified team.
• The value of hiring a COO—and why they saw the role as “essential” from day one.
• The “clients first” approach—and how it serves as both their guiding principle and a powerful growth strategy.
• The “gathering assets” mindset of the wirehouses—and how being free of that allows him to think of his business as a business.

It’s a candid look at what life after the wirehouses can look like—and how independence can transform not just a business, but the very way an advisor defines success.

Want to learn more about where, why, and how advisors like you are moving? Click to contact us or call 908-879-1002.