The Legends of WealthTech with Len Reinhart and Jim Seuffert

Jul 11, 2023

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Pioneers in financial technology have reshaped the industry with their visionary ideas and relentless dedication. Among these legends of wealthtech, Len Reinhart, President of Reinhart Consulting Group, and Jim Seuffert, Former Chairman of the Board of Envestnet Institute on Campus, stand tall. They revolutionized fee-based investment management. Len and Jim embarked on a mission that changed how wealth management was perceived.

In this episode, Jack talks with Len and Jim, who were co-founders of Lockwood Advisors. Lockwood was the first investment advisory firm to provide a turnkey investment consulting platform to independent broker-dealers, consultants, investment advisors, and financial planners. Len and Jim were early-stage developers and promoters of this newfangled way of doing business called “managed accounts or managed money”, now called “advisory”. They were among the first folks who came up with the idea of charging an advisory fee rather than a commission. In 2003, Len and Jim joined forces with Pershing to form one of the industry's largest providers of managed account solutions to financial organizations and registered investment advisors for a discussion.

As legends of wealthtech, Len and Jim talk about how they developed and promoted fee-based investment management from the ground up. They also share their thoughts on the future of managed money, their advice for future leaders in the industry, and the work they are most proud of.

Key Takeaways

[02:23] - How Len became head of the world's largest money management company.
[04:37] - Jim's story of how he got into wealth management.
[07:51] - The evolution of fee-based business.
[12:25] - The beginning of Jim's wealth management career.
[18:45] - How Len and Jim built a firm from the ground up.
[22:22] - How Len and Jim are part of the evolution of independent advisory services.
[27:01] - The results Len and Jim achieved in the early part of their business.
[30:19] - Len and Jim's experience working with Pershing.
[33:26] - Among the work Len is most proud of.
[36:47] - Len's thoughts on the future of managed money.
[39:20] - Jim's advice for future wealth management leaders.
[42:47] - What Len and Jim do in retirement that they enjoy and are passionate about.

Quotes

[08:29] - "No one understood what we did over the years when we found our business. We kept merging and merging or getting bought. But nobody knew what we were doing. No one understood what this fee-based business was." ~ Len Reinhart

[21:00] - "We learned how hard it was to recruit brokers, and we didn't have money to give them. So, we changed how and who we were targeting and switched to independent advisors with whom it was so much easier to do business." ~ Len Reinhart

23:44 - "If you're doing the right thing for the client and being as honest and transparent as possible, the next thing you know, you are training hundreds and hundreds of advisors at a time." ~ Jim Seuffert

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