April 01, 2025

Building Legacies That Last with Rick Simonetti

54 minutes

Episode 087: This week, Kyle Van Pelt talks with Rick Simonetti, CEO and Head of Wealth Planning of Fidelis Capital Partners, to explore what it takes to serve ultra-high-net-worth families with excellence. Rick shares how Fidelis was built on the foundation of faithfulness—delivering on promises through deep collaboration, proactive planning, and personalized service. They discuss the importance of mentorship, family meetings, interdisciplinary teams, and how true success lies in preparing future generations. From structuring internal teams to navigating external partnerships, Rick offers practical wisdom for firms looking to elevate their service model and create lasting impact for their clients.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(02:54) - Rick's money moment

(05:50) - CPA firms vs. wealth management: business model breakdown

[10:45] - Building collaborative relationships with experts

(16:35) - Why “faithfulness” became the foundation of Fidelis

(19:40) - Succession by design: mentorship and developing next-gen advisors

(26:55) - Crafting custom solutions for ultra-high-net-worth families

(32:24) - The power of integration: inside Fidelis’ team-based model

(36:30) - How Fidelis earns trust and referrals from ultra-high-net-worth clients

(42:32) - Rick's outlook on the future of serving ultra-high-net-worth clients

(46:29) - Milemarker Minute

Key Takeaways

Financial plans don’t fail because they were poorly designed—they fail because they weren’t maintained, optimized, or passed on well. Advisors should prioritize family meetings and mentorship to ensure heirs are ready to step into leadership when the time comes.

Wealth managers don’t have to do it all in-house. In fact, creating strong, collaborative relationships with attorneys and CPAs leads to better outcomes for clients and smoother execution. The key is showing you’re there to make everyone’s job easier—not replace them.

At Fidelis, planning and investment professionals sit in the same meetings with clients. This integrated approach allows for real-time problem-solving, clearer communication, and a seamless experience for families. It’s a model built on visibility, not silos.

Mentorship creates real succession—not disruption. Fidelis intentionally develops “next-up” advisors by embedding them in client relationships long before a transition is needed. It’s a model that preserves institutional knowledge, builds trust, and gives clients peace of mind about who’s carrying the torch next.

Quotes

"One of the foundational elements of our firm was that we wanted to be faithful to the promise of serving multiple generations." ~ Rick Simonetti

“There's just no better endorsement, nothing more humbling and nothing for which we're more grateful than being able to serve families the way that we do, which results in them being thrilled to the point of saying, ‘Hey, I'm going to entrust someone I care deeply about to you.’” ~ Rick Simonetti

"Nothing replaces sitting with clients and talking through issues, hosting family meetings, having all these questions come up and then figuring out how to explain them in a way that makes the complex simple or understandable." ~ Rick Simonetti

Links

Rick Simonetti on LinkedIn

Fidelis Capital Partners

Wells Fargo

Joe Diffley

Merrill Lynch

Christopher Gunster

Neale Ellis

Connect with our hosts

Milemarker.co

Kyle on LinkedIn

Jud on LinkedIn

Subscribe and stay in touch

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Spotify

YouTube

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