In this episode of The Purpose-Focused Advisor, Rob Brown sits down with financial advisor and entrepreneur Brad Sparks, who shares his journey from geophysics to wealth management, his leap to independence, and how he’s reshaping investment personalization through his innovative tech platform, Pomarium. Brad’s story is one of vision, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of better solutions for advisors and their clients.

Key Takeaways: 

• Breaking Free from Compliance Restrictions (03:01) – Brad shares how the limitations of traditional broker-dealers pushed him toward independence and innovation.
• The Birth of Pomarium (09:37) – After struggling to find a scalable solution for personalized investing, Brad and his partner decided to build their own tech platform.
• Revolutionizing Portfolio Management (14:07) – Most advisors outsource investment management, but Pomarium bridges the gap between personalized strategies and automation.
• Beating Fee Compression with Value (20:44) – Brad explains how advisors can shift fees from fund companies to their own services, increasing revenue while delivering more client value.
• How to Bring a Big Idea to Life (28:37) – Brad’s advice for advisors who want to develop new tools: Start small, test early, and refine as you go.

Brad Sparks: "The idea of improving the (financial planning) industry is something I couldn’t pass up. I love improving the lives of my clients, but improving an industry has the ability to improve the lives of many more people."

Rob Brown: "There is no fee compression for the advisor who is constantly delivering value. However, the value you deliver today needs to be built upon in the future; it can't stay flat."

About Brad Sparks: Brad Sparks has been an advisor for a decade and now runs an independent RIA with his partner Erik Sartin. From their RIA, they launched a tech platform, Pomarium, to make it easy for advisors to unlock personalized investment management in their model portfolios.

Connect with Brad Sparks: 

Website: https://www.getpomarium.com/

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyasparks/

Episode References:

• Truest Fan Coaching
• Business Optimization Scorecard

Connect with Rob Brown:

Website: http://truestfan.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/truestfan/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@truestfancoaching