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Wow, this was a powerful interview with Dave Welty, a financial advisor who founded and developed what I would consider a well-managed RIA firm. Avier Advisors, based out of Bellevue, Washington, has nearly $800MM in AUM and almost 20 employees. Here are five things they’ve done differently at Avier, and why it’s helped them kick the competition’s butt.
For those of you who are new to my blog, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor marketing consultant. I have a newsletter in which I talk about financial advisor lead generation topics which is best described as “fun and irreverent.”
The high net worth wealth management firm model needs a CHANGE!
When I say the words, “wealth management firm”, here’s what you probably picture, right?
- A suffocating, top-heavy firm structure, in which the principal is in command of all goings-on at the company and is the primary contact for all client relationships.
- Dry, boring blogs about unappealing financial advisor topics that offer little practical insight to the consumer
- A vast control gap between the advisor and the rest of the staff
- Lack of meaningful diversity
- No identified successor or even potential for one
- An overall feeling of stodginess and stuffiness
- Little to no differentiation from one RIA firm to the next
- Lack of inspiration and in fact an overall impression of boredom
Am I crazy or am I right? Now let’s look at a different picture.
A glimpse into a well-managed RIA firm
As you will hear in the podcast, Avier Advisors has been strategically formed by Dave Welty to be a totally different type of wealth management company.
Here are the five ways Dave has managed his RIA firm differently and it’s kicked butt.
#1 Non-pyramid based company structure
The teams page says it all.
It says, “We are proud to have fostered a culture that values teamwork, collaboration, and integrity.” That is not just a tagline.
You don’t see Dave Welty’s picture and bio at the top as if he presides over all. In fact, he is positioned in the bottom of several rows. The bios are randomly placed on the page in a non-hierarchical way. This says it all – that everyone’s contribution is valued and like a true team everyone plays a part in the client’s success.
Wouldn’t you be excited about working somewhere like that? To be a client of a firm like that?
You can tell from their body language. People here look happy. Genuinely happy.
It shows a stark contrast to the top-heavy hierarchical way that most RIA firms are run, even the larger ones, where the founder or president is in control of everything. Nobody else seems to have any authority or say in anything meaningful that happens to the client. It squeezes the life out of the employees. This is not an ideal structure for employee satisfaction and the lack of motivation eventually will be known to clients.
#2 Hired by talent and attitude based on real life interactions not by resumes and job boards
It sounds counterintuitive but this has worked incredibly well for Avier.
- Dave Welty met Lars Phillips, a partner and Lead Advisor, when he was selling t-shirts at a baseball game.
- Nick Wright was shoveling mulch in Welty’s front yard when they two spoke and Dave decided to give him a shot at his RIA firm instead.
To quote Welty (12:53), “I guess my points is, you’ve got to keep an open mind. You’ve always got to be engaging with people, talking to people, networking with people.”
That’s right.
The job boards are a meat market where candidates are going to grind you down for salary and haggle you over the terms in the non-compete, then when they leave to start their own RIA firm, they’ll swipe half your clients anyways. The best way to attract wealth management talent in an intensely competitive job market?
(Frame 13:05)
“We created an environment at Avier where people want to be.”
Awesome.
Welty’ s suggestion? That other RIA firms should raise their game so that people want to be there. Word will get around.
#3 Nurtured succession plan
If you want employees to stick around, they have to feel like they belong to something, like they can take ownership of some aspect of their work. That is how you set employees up to stay committed to your clients.
Frame 6:24
“We’ve made a tremendous commitment to who we are and who we wanted to become. That’s on the marketing side. We’ve made that same commitment on the operational side of the business as well.”
Good for you, Avier.
This commitment has enabled the firm to grow, and it’s also allowed Welty to create an effective succession plan so that his firm can live on after one day were to decide to exit.
Succession is an epidemic problem for financial advisors. A lot of them wind up selling to awful RIA aggregator firms that are going to treat their clients badly. Welty knew he needed to be able to pass the torch. He treats his employees like owners. If they ask him a question about a client, he asks them back, “Well what would you do if you owned the firm?”
This way you get people to make decisions. Empower them, and then sit back and watch.
The result?
(Frame 10:01)
Welty is 63 with four young partners. He owns 50% of the RIA firm and they own the other 50%. They are transitioning over time. They are 31 to 37 years of age. He nurtured the succession process for about seven years.
BOOM there you go.
#4 Effective niche marketing
Any advisor can say they serve a particular niche. A lot of times this statement is made with no real substance or skill to back it up. The reality is that doing it right takes a ton of time and effort.
Avier Wealth focuses on tech employees – Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, etc. Check out their YouTube channel. There are in-depth videos going into granular levels of detail, and some has garnered tens of thousands of views. This has served them well, leading to a steady flow of new clients on a monthly basis.
Why the appeal?
Here is an example of the Microsoft page.
(4:48)
“It comes down to being an expert in people’s lives…I tell people all the time. I truly believe we know Microsoft benefits better than most any HR person at Microsoft. And that’s powerful to be able to say that.”
To get paid well you need to deliver well. Microsoft deferred compensation is complicated. Some people may downplay it, but it’s not simple when you dive down into the nuances and details of deferring and setting up the distribution strategy. They have done the work – they know the ins and outs and the nitty gritty. Unfortunately most advisors will not put in the effort to go this far, and that is why many financial advisors fail to market themselves effectively.
Many of you advisors complain about not being able to get clients from marketing and the reality is you deserve it. Look at what you have to say in terms of material, factual knowledge. Is it that valuable to the client or is what the next advisor saying even better? You have to compete and nobody is going to give you handouts. This is $10k a year. Stop whining and learn some things and be the best, know more about a particular topic than anyone else, and then you’ll see how people respond differently once you do that.
#5 Multi-dimensional, energized company culture
(Frame 13:20)
Avier’s team is described by Welty as:
- Average age of 35
- Highly credentialed staff
- More women than men
- All walks of life
That’s not by accident.
And here’s why it matters.
When people are looking around for a job at an RIA firm, they look at the Teams page and ask, can I see myself there? Create a team of people at your RIA firm that looks like how the world is. See employees as humans and as a part of the world around them – the world your clients live in. They aren’t just droids with a price tag attached. Actively make an effort to support diversity and a positive growth trajectory for the people at your company.
Sara’s upshot
Thanks for reading my blog about the RIA firm of the future. If you are finding this newsletter valuable, please feel free to support its production by making a $20 contribution via this PayPal link or via Zelle to sara@saragrillo.com.
- I am an outsourced CMO for companies who need regular, full service marketing – blogging, social media posts, newsletters, etc.
- I am an hourly consultant for those who just need one-time or recurring guidance
- People hire me as a ghostwriter to write content for a project fee
- I have a social media training program
- I have a book about what to say on LinkedIn messenger
Just letting ya know, in case you need me at some point.
-Sara G
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Grillo Investment Management, LLC does not guarantee any specific level of performance, the success of any strategy that Grillo Investment Management, LLC may use, or the success of any program.
Grillo Investment Management, LLC will strive to maintain current information however it may become out of date. Grillo Investment Management, LLC is under no obligation to advise users of subsequent changes to statements or information contained herein. There is no guarantee that the information contained herein is accurate. This information is general in nature; for specific advice applicable to your current situation please contact a consultant or advisor.
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Avier Wealth Advisors is not currently a client of Sara Grillo in any way at the time of publishing of this material. However, the past, the firm and some of its members have been clients of Sara Grillo.
