The COO Roundtable

We welcome Janelle Anderson and David Lehman for Ep 61!  Janelle is the Operations Manager and Chief Compliance Officer at Grand Wealth Management, located in Grand Rapids, MI.  The firm manages approximately $600 million and has 13 employees.  Matt and Janelle met at a DFA study group in May 2023.  David is a financial advisor and the Chief Operating Officer with Wealthbridge Advisors, headquartered in Lake Oswego, OR.  Wealthbridge is affiliated with Ameriprise Financial, has 18 employees and manages around $760 million for clients.  David has been a member of the COO Society since March of 2023.  Janelle and David discuss with Matt how they both juggle dual-title responsibilities at their firms, as well as: Their approach to finding and retaining employees How they have both impacted culture at their organizations Productivity tips to ensure they are getting the most important tasks accomplished each day Career paths for Operations staff How they have both approached the “Valley of Doom,” made famous by Echelon Partners’ Dan Seivert We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Episode 60 marks our 5-year anniversary, and Matt was feeling nostalgic for this conversation with Amber Salzman of Capstone Financial Advisors and Jean Paul Atallah of RZH Advisors.  Amber is Manager of Client Services and a partner of the firm, which is located in Downers Grove, IL, and manages approximately $1.8 billion with 35 employees.  She also has her Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional (FPQP®) certification.  Jean Paul has spent his entire career in the financial services industry, but only joined RZH Advisors about 18 months ago, where he is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.  The firm is located in Stamford, CT, manages about $1.6 billion and has 11 employees.  Listeners of this episode will realize quickly that Amber and Jean Paul are true students of the industry, and they discuss with Matt different sources and industry groups they rely on for best practices, as well as: How they each have approached CRM implementations at their respective firms The search for the RIA Operations “holy grail” and how they ensure clean data is flowing across their tech stack The optimal firm structure for delivering services to their ideal clients What strategies they implement to best serve and motivate their employees How they both approached the crunch of year-end tasks this year Here is the Wealthmanagement.com article that Amber mentioned: Growing RIAs Must Focus on Process, Not Technology We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

With “The Sabbatical Episode,” Matt welcomed two highly respected RIA professionals to tackle a topic not often discussed in our industry: mental health.  Allison Felix, a two-time guest to the podcast, is Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Cassaday & Co.  Erika Yelle is Chief Compliance Officer at Coldstream Wealth Management.  Both guests have been with their firms for over two decades and have held various positions and witnessed incredible growth at both RIAs.  Cassaday & Co. is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, has 86 employees and currently manages just under $5 billion of AUM.  Coldstream Wealth Management employs approximately 160 employees, manages just under $7 billion of client assets, and has 7 office locations in the Pacific Northwest.  Matt, Allison, and Erika have an honest conversation around the internal pressures we tend to place on ourselves to always be available, the fear of setting an Out of Office reply, our industry’s slow movement away from Gordon Gekko’s comment in the ‘80s that “lunch is for wimps,” as well as: Their respective firms’ policies around sabbaticals How employees who are so integral to the day-to-day operations of their firms can plan for an extended time away The benefits sabbaticals have not only to employees, but the broader organization Tips for “re-entry” after time away so as not to be too overwhelmed We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.  

For this episode, we step away from our normal format of speaking with operations professionals in the trenches, to speaking with an author and entrepreneur about the role of the COO.  Cameron Herold has written a fabulous book directed at CEO’s who are contemplating hiring a COO, titled, Second in Command – Unleash the Power of Your COO.  He is also the founder of the COO Alliance and the host of his own podcast dedicated to the role of COOs, Second in Command.  Cameron has sat in the COO seat himself, overseeing the growth at 1-800-GOT-JUNK from $2 million to $106 million in revenue in just six years. Matt and Cameron have an honest conversation around the CEO’s need to hire for their blind spots, as well as: The difficulty business owners have in finding the right person to fill the COO role Why RIAs need to keep the rate of change inside their organizations greater than the rate of change outside their businesses The seven types of COOs and what each brings to their organization Cameron’s advice for those who aspire to be a COO How a CEO and COO should work best together, and the proper expectations from both sides of that working relationship How CEOs can best judge the success of their COO When RIAs should consider replacing their COO for the next phase of growth We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To purchase Cameron’s book, click here. You can view Cameron’s COO Scorecard here.  

Matt welcomes two long-time RIA operations professionals for Episode 57. Trevor Hodges is the relatively new Director of Operations at Sax Wealth Advisors, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey with a few offices in the New York and New Jersey area. While he has spent his entire career within the RIA space, Trevor joined Sax Wealth a few months ago. Sean Chen has known Matt since they were both 21 years old and working together at Merrill Lynch, and continued their professional relationship at Luminous Capital. Sean is the COO and CCO at Validus Capital in Los Angeles. Sax Wealth Advisors formed in the late ‘90s underneath their parent company, Sax LLP, which is an accounting and tax practice firm. Today the firm manages roughly $1.7 billion and employs a team of 21. Validus Capital launched in 2022 out of a predecessor RIA, manages approximately $1.4 billion of client assets, and currently has 13 employees and one remote employee in Texas. Matt, Trevor, and Sean discuss what makes Sean unique among all previous guests on the podcast, how operations professionals can prove their worth in this client-focused industry, as well as: How they view the systems and processes utilized by their firms The additional services beyond wealth management offered by both firms to attract and retain more of their ideal clients How they both leverage portal technology to deliver services to their clients The importance of CRM for their internal teams and the delivery of consistent and scalable service Each guest’s approach to inorganic growth We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 56 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management For Episode 56, Matt invited two operations professionals that he met at a DFA Operations Strategy session earlier this year.  Rachel Rant is a partner and Director of Operations at Aspen Capital Management, located in Boise, ID.  Scott Swanson is a partner, Chief Operating Officer, and financial advisor with Quantum Financial Advisors, with several office locations in the Los Angeles area.  Aspen Capital management was founded in 2002 as a solo advisor practice and stayed that way until about 2017.  Fast forward to today, the firm manages approximately $900 million in assets and employs 9 full-time employees.  Quantum Financial Advisors was launched in 2022 out of a larger RIA and today manages approximately $900 million of client assets and employs 13 people.  Rachel, Scott, and Matt discuss the pros and cons of adding institutional complexity to the organization as you add more technology tools over time, as well as: When and how each guest landed in wealth management after successful careers in other industries What metrics they study to help determine when their growing firms need to add more staff The deliberate planning that has gone into the organizational structure of each of their firms Their early attempts to segment their client base and determine the appropriate service level Each guest’s approach to remote work vs. in-office work, and how the definition of “productive” changes from day to day We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 55 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management Matt was joined by two thoughtful and experienced Operations professionals for Episode 55. Tee Meeks is the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Waddell & Associates, headquartered in Memphis, TN.  Cory Jackmuff, from BLB&B Advisors in Montgomeryville, PA, is the firm’s Operations Manager. Waddell & Associates was founded in 1986, currently manages approximately $1.4 billion of client assets, and has 7 advisors with 19 full-time employees. BLB&B Advisors dates its inception to its broker dealer days, all the way back to 1964. The firm currently has 30 employees and has approximately $2 billion of assets under management. After detailing their career paths that led them to where they are today, Tee and Corey discuss the following topics with Matt: How they each approach the tricky task of integrating the various vendors that make up their RIA infrastructure What initiatives both have implemented at their firms to best achieve scale How those initiatives have allowed advisors at their respective firms to spend more of their valuable time on client-facing activities Hiring strategies they both have designed to ensure the best people are coming to their organizations How they promote personal growth at their firms, for themselves and their employees We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 54 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management In Episode 54, Matt is joined by two operations professionals he has worked with in the past.  Bryce Wisan is the Managing Director, CFO, and CCO with Sepio Capital, headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.  Angie Tower is Managing Director and COO at Prairie Capital Management, located in Kansas City, MO.  Sepio Capital manages approximately $7 billion for high net worth and ultra high net worth clients, many who have recently experienced an exit from a startup.  The firm currently has 28 employees and is contemplating a shift in focus from wealth management to asset management.  Prairie Capital Management’s team of 40 employees oversees more than $6 billion for individual clients, foundations, and endowments.  They consider themselves a holistic wealth manager with a focus on private equity and alternative investments.  Bryce and Angie both joined their firms about 18 months ago, and they discuss with Matt how they’ve looked to add scale and efficiencies to their organizations, as well as: How they each approach the people management side of their roles Strategies they both have implemented to increase user adoption of new tools and processes Where they see their firms getting more complex in the years ahead, and how they have started addressing that complexity today Their approach to client segmentation

The COO Roundtable Episode 53 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management With episode 53, Matt welcomes two guests that both take a very measured approach to Operations at their firms:  Julie Higgins, Chief Operating Officer at Geometric Wealth Advisors and Kevin Galvin, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor with Hopwood Financial Services.  Geometric Wealth provides comprehensive financial planning for executives and partners in management consulting.  The firm is roughly 8 years old, manages approximately $600 million of client assets, and has 21 employees, all working remotely full-time (the firm was fully remote pre-COVID).  Hopwood Financial Services is headquartered in Reston, VA, was founded in 2003 by Herb Hopwood, has approximately $500 million assets under management, and has 11 employees.  Matt, Julie, and Kevin discuss how they view people and process to best poise their firms for future growth and much more, including: Their take on the industry’s “old thinking” with respect to how Operations supports client service and ultimately, business development How both firms rely on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to better align their employees with the firm’s vision and values Each guest’s approach to hiring and onboarding employees How they design their org chart to ensure the right employees are in the right seats Client segmentation strategies used by both guests to determine the best service offering for their clients We hope you listen, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You can read the full transcript here.

The COO Roundtable Episode 52 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management In episode 52, Matt assures our listeners that no major changes will occur with the podcast moving forward, despite its new sponsor (and Matt’s new employer), Coldstream Wealth Management.  As of May 1, 2023, Matt has taken the role of Chief Operating Officer at Coldstream, headquartered in Bellevue, WA.  The firm employs 135 people and manages roughly $6.5 billion of client assets, spread across 7 client service teams.  Coldstream has three affiliated businesses (Fit Insurance, Ascent Capital, and Rainier Group) and has additional office locations in Portland, OR, Boise, ID, and Kenai, AK.  During this monologue episode, Matt discusses why he’s excited to join Coldstream, what his major responsibilities will be as COO, and much more, including: Advice for any RIA operations professionals approaching a transition to a new firm How to approach change management at your firm While referencing several past episodes, he reminds listeners how to ensure their success when joining a new organization and mistakes to avoid The five common business situations leaders may find themselves moving into Why his passion for professional management across the RIA industry will propel both the COO Roundtable podcast and COO Society coaching platform into the future Each guests’ career path and how they became operations professionals We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can read the full transcript here. You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Here is a link to Michael Watkins’ book, The First 90 Days