The COO Roundtable

For our latest episode, Matt welcomes two fantastic guests: Jennifer Wagoner Kirksey, Managing Director of Wealth Operations at Tolleson Wealth Management, and Trevor Phillippi, Chief Operating Officer of 6 Meridian. Originally founded as a single family office, Tolleson Wealth Management currently has $10B in assets under oversight and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.  6 Meridian, founded in 2016, is located in Wichita, Kansas and currently manages $1.8B in AUM.  Matt, Jennifer, and Trevor discuss how their role is critical to “running the business,” what excites them about the future, and much more, including: An overview of each firm, and how they have both grown organically Each guests’ professional background, specifically looking at Trevor’s long tenure at Meridian and Jennifer’s path from entry level to Managing Director The role of the performance reporting analyst and the importance of reliable, high-quality data The services each firm offers their clients beyond traditional investment management The challenges each firm contends with in acquiring talent in today’s market We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! To read our article, “Adding to Your Team? Consider a Performance Reporting Analyst” published in Wealth Management.com, click here. You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.The views and opinions expressed here today do not necessarily reflect the view of Tolleson Wealth Management.  The information discussed is for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy a security or instrument or participate in any other service offered by the firm.

For our first episode of the new year, Matt welcomes two highly accomplished guests: Jason Mirabella, Chief Platform Officer of Wealthsource Partners, and Tom Preston, Director of Client Service of Brighton Jones.  Founded in 2009, Wealthsource Partners is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, has 35 employees and manages $1.8B in AUM.  Brighton Jones was founded in 2000 and currently has 225 employees.  They are headquartered in Seattle, Washington and manage $8.5B in AUM.   Matt, Jason, and Tom discuss how operations plays a key role in firm growth, client experience, and much more, including:    An overview of each firm, including how each guests’ role fits into their overall firm structure Our guests tackle the “Sales vs. Operations” divide in the industry KPIs each guests calculate to gauge the health of their organization How to create actionable steps from those KPIs and implement them in a firm Where both guests see the industry trending in the next 18 months We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

For our special three-year anniversary episode, we put a twist to our regular format and Matt was joined by Karl Heckenberg, CEO and President of Emigrant Partners for a compelling conversation on the RIA industry.  Known for their strategic partnership with RIAs, Emigrant Partners is currently invested in 19 firms and has close to $90B in cumulative assets.  Matt and Karl talk about industry trends including the investment outlook for RIAs, the role of the COO moving forward, RIAs now being run as true business, and much more, including:   The history behind Emigrant Partners  After a bit of teasing by Matt, Karl shares an in-depth version of his professional background Karl shares the signs he looks for to determine if an RIA needs operations help What role the COO plays in an RIA’s M&A pitch to other firms The “gating issue” Karl sees when it comes to onboarding clients of different generations and how operations can enhance that client experience We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! Click here to read our article “Why Professional Management Fails for RIAs”. You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 35th episode of The COO Roundtable, Amanda Green of Matrix Private Capital Group and Gary Davis Jr. of Satovsky Asset Management join Matt to discuss all things RIA operations and change management.  Matrix Private Capital Group manages nearly $600 million of AUM, is headquartered in New York City, and has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, and Palm Beach, Florida.  Satovsky Asset Management manages $700 million from their headquarters in New York City.  Matt, Amanda, and Gary discuss how an operations professional who is new to their firm should conduct an early assessment of the RIA and much more, including:    A history and overview of each firm Each guest’s experience in the RIA industry, including Amanda’s time at BNY Mellon | Pershing and Gary’s time as a consultant How they each attain buy-in from management and staff when suggesting changes to the organization How each guest positions their firm for growth in a profitable fashion What opportunities they see in the RIA industry in the coming 18 – 24 months   We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 34th episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes two amazing guests: Jenn Papadopolo, COO of RegentAtlantic, and Matt Wiles, COO of Crestone Capital.  RegentAtlantic is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey and has a satellite office in New York City.  They have 70 employees and manage $6B in AUM.  With 50 employees and approximately $3.5 billion of AUM, Crestone Capital is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and has offices in Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, and a brand-new office in Salt Lake City.  Matt, Jenn, and Matt discuss the intersection of HR and Operations and much more, including:   An overview of each firm Each guest’s career background, including Jenn’s long tenure at RegentAtlantic and the unique perspective Matt has gained from being both an advisor and COO The different services each firm offers their clients beyond traditional wealth management How each guest acknowledges and empowers their ops teams The biggest challenge they are each facing today We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 33rd episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes two highly respected operations professionals: Jandy Rowe, Principal and Chief Operating Officer of Wipfli Financial Advisors, and Brad Hixson, Director, Mergers and Acquisitions of Lido Advisors.  Wipfli Financial Advisors has 90 employees, is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with 19 offices around the country and manages $5B in AUM.  Lido Advisors has 110 employees and is headquartered in Los Angeles with an additional 22 offices across the United States. Lido manage $10B in AUM.  Matt, Jandy, and Brad discuss how operations plays a key role in growth by attracting both ideal advisors and clients, and much more including:   Background of each firm, including Wipfli Financial Advisors’ use of the CPA services from Wipfli LLP and the development of their AVID platform for smaller clients, and Lido Advisors’ approach to bringing “family office style investment philosophy to the high net worth space” Our guests’ professional background, including how Brad’s career “started at the gym” and Jandy’s unlikely start with Wipfli 20 years ago How each firm structures their back office for maximum efficiency and growth What other outside resources our guests leverage as they manage multi-billion dollar enterprises How each guest manages to “do everything” with the help of their team Click here to read the Advisor Perspectives article Matt mentioned during this episode, M&A Requires More Than Securing Financing. We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

For the 32nd episode of The COO Roundtable, we wanted to pause from our regular interview format and answer some questions we have been receiving about our new digital consulting platform, The COO Society.  PFI Advisors offers one-on-one consulting services on a project or retainer basis, but we also wanted to create a DIY consulting platform for RIAs looking to gain access to our insights at a lower price point.  Our industry does a great job of providing sales training to advisors, and there are a lot of certifications investors and even compliance professionals can pursue, but we felt there was a void in educational and training resources available for those trying to educate themselves on how to run an RIA and position it for growth.  We are driven to fill that void with our latest consulting offering, The COO Society. Be sure to listen to the end of the episode, where we provide a promo code to get a discount on your first month’s membership! You can watch a promotional video and learn more about The COO Society here. For a sample of what the course material looks like, please watch this 4-minute clip from our latest course detailing Key Performance Indicators. You can view a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the key components of the platform here. Thank you for being a continued listener to the COO Roundtable Podcast! We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 31st episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes two operations professionals who have had a huge impact on their respective organizations, Natalie Wheeler, Chief Operating Officer at Berkshire Money Management and Eric Stephenson, Director of Client Advisory and Operations at Align Impact.  Celebrating 20 years in business this year, Berkshire Money Management is located in Dalton Massachusetts.  They have 15 employees and manage $775 in AUM.  Founded in 2014, Align Impact is headquartered in Los Angeles and has 20 employees.  They manage $1.6B in AUA.  Matt, Natalie, and Eric discuss how they have worked to standardize their firms’ processes and procedures and much more including:       Background of each guests’ firm including ideal client and service offerings Our guests’ professional background, including a fun story about Eric’s past as a pole vaulter and Natalie’s recent promotion to Chief Operating Officer How each guest “keeps their sanity” while juggling the many demands of their role How they impact organic growth at their firms How career opportunities come to those who raise their hands The “Profit vs Growth” question, or as Matt calls it “The Chicken and Egg Conundrum”     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. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 30th episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes Michael Paley, Chief Operating Officer at Klingman & Associates and Kevin Hrdlicka, Chief Operating Officer at Savant Wealth Management.  Klingman & Associates is located in New York City, has 18 employees and manages $2.7B in client assets.  Savant Wealth Management is headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, has 18 offices across the country and manages just under $11B.  Matt, Michael, and Kevin discuss how professional management drives RIAs to the next level and much more, including:    The background of each guest’s firm, their ideal clients, and how each firm has historically grown assets under management Our guests’ professional backgrounds, including Michael’s time as an early employee at Focus Financial Partners and his continued growth in the industry, and Kevin’s career-spanning journey with Savant Wealth Management How they, as COOs, support their firm’s growth, including Kevin’s input on “specialization” and Michael’s advice to think “five years ahead” How the COO is the “keeper of the client experience” What each guest does on a daily basis to make employees as successful as possible The KPIs our guests use to monitor the health of their respective firms We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe!   You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify   Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

In the 29th episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes two highly accomplished RIA professionals, Gina Bradley, COO & General Counsel of Colony Group and Susan Korin, COO & CCO of Balasa Dinverno Foltz (“BDF”).  Colony Group is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year and is headquartered in Boston, MA.  With 15 offices nationwide and 260 employees, Colony Group manages $13B in AUM.  BDF was also founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.  They have 67 team members and currently manage $5.3B in AUM.  Matt, Gina, and Susan discuss the many areas a COO impacts their firm, how the COO manages people vs infrastructure, and much more including:     Background of each guests’ firm including ideal client and service offerings Our guests’ professional background, including how they both became COOs and how they juggle their dual roles in their respective firms How their role as COO both supports and manages the growth in their organization and the infrastructure needed to achieve those goals Both firms’ vision (as of April 2021) of a post-COVID workplace The cultural impact the COO has on a firm   We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe!   You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.   Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.