Kay Lynn Mayhue is the President of Merit Financial Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based out of Georgia that oversees approximately $13 billion in assets under management for 26,000 households. What’s unique about Kay Lynn is how she cultivated her advisory, management, and leadership skills to progress to become president of a national RIA enterprise. In her role, she now spearheads the firm’s proactive mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Listen in as Kay Lynn shares her journey from client-facing advisor to firm leader, including the pivotal lessons she learned about leadership after her team once threatened to quit due to her early management style. She also discusses her approach to mergers and acquisitions, how her firm uses personality assessments to strengthen hiring and client relationships, and her firm’s “organic growth tracks” for advisors.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/422

Daniel Friedman is the CEO of WMGNA, a hybrid advisory firm based out of Connecticut that oversees approximately $270 million in assets under management for 200 client households. What’s unique about Daniel is how his firm offers “in-house” tax return preparation as part of its one-stop-shop service, while outsourcing the actual preparation work to trusted CPAs paid from his firm’s revenue. This allows Daniel’s team to focus on delivering tax planning analyses and strategies, which are central to the firm’s value proposition for clients.

Listen in as Daniel discusses how his firm combines a subscription-based planning fee with an AUM charge on investments it manages and how it has implemented a money-back guarantee with very few clients taking them up on the offer. Daniel also explains how his firm embraces the concept of "Restylement" to help clients redefine their next life chapter, the key role of a “director of first impressions” in fostering client relationships, and how persistence and exceptional service have fueled his firm’s long-term growth and success.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/421

Michelle Underwood Gass is the Founding Principal of Paradigm Advisors, an RIA based out of Dallas that oversees approximately $110 million in assets under management for 80 client households. What’s unique about Michelle is how she developed a structured meeting process to guide new clients through her in-depth planning system, ensuring a standardized experience while retaining the flexibility to customize each client’s financial plan, prioritizing their unique needs and goals.

Listen in as Michelle shares her 5-part planning process, beginning with a “Get to Know You” meeting that incorporates Life Planning exercises to uncover client priorities and ensure a mutual fit, followed by a tech-enabled “Uncluttering” process to streamline document collection and onboarding. She explains how her “Intrinsic Discovery” and “Discovering Opportunities” meetings prioritize key planning areas, avoiding overwhelm for busy working-age clients, while tools like eMoney’s Decision Center and Hubly workflow management software support efficient plan implementation. Michelle also discusses her combined flat planning and AUM-based fee structure that allows her to serve high-earning professionals and hedge fund veterans, and how launching her financial planning business brought her a renewed sense of purpose after stepping away from managing a hedge fund.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/420

Peter Krull is the Director of Sustainable Investing of Earth Equity Advisors, an RIA based out of North Carolina that oversees approximately $200 million in assets under management for 250 client households. What sets Pete apart is his ability to grow his firm by helping clients align their portfolios with their personal values, turning investments into a reflection of the businesses they want to support. He achieves this while maintaining well-diversified, market-aligned portfolios that are prudently allocated to sound businesses.

Listen in as Pete shares how his sustainable investing approach focuses on identifying sectors and companies poised for future success, differentiating it from socially responsible and ESG investing by taking a bottom-up, forward-looking perspective. He explains how he uses a combination of industry insights, quantitative metrics, and third-party evaluations to construct client portfolios with a mix of equities and fixed-income investments that align with sustainability criteria while meeting clients' risk tolerances. Pete also discusses how serving a well-defined niche has expanded his business opportunities, enabling him to attract clients who want their investments to support the future they envision, and how merging with a larger firm has allowed him to scale his offerings and reach even more like-minded investors.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/419

Stacey McKinnon is the chief operating officer of Morton Wealth, an RIA based out of California that oversees approximately $3 billion in assets under management for 1,300 client households. Stacey has spearheaded a leadership training program at Morton Wealth to support middle managers, many of whom transitioned from hands-on roles to managerial positions, equipping them with essential communication and management skills. This initiative was crucial as the firm's workforce doubled from 30 to 60 employees over four years, surpassing the capacity of senior leadership to manage a growing team.

Listen in as Stacey shares how she tackled common managerial challenges at Morton Wealth by identifying problematic archetypes and integrating the Admired Leadership Program to elevate managerial skills across the board. She discusses the firm's shift from a rigid to a flexible client meeting schedule—facilitated by WorkBoard's OKR tools—to better accommodate the dynamic work environment and enhance client interaction. Stacey also reflects on personal productivity strategies and the invaluable leadership insights gained from U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Head Coach Emma Hayes, emphasizing the importance of nurturing a self-sustaining team that can thrive even in her absence.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/418

Paul G McManus is the CEO of More Clients More Fun, a marketing company that helps financial advisors conceptualize and publish their own book in a consolidated 6-week process. Paul advises financial advisors to write books not for potential royalties, but rather to establish their authority, differentiate themselves from competitors, and enhance client engagement. In this episode, he talks about how even a short book can achieve these goals, as well as how advisors can use books they've written to foster initial trust with prospects.

Listen in as Paul shares how he assists advisors in creating concise books that can be read quickly—enhancing the probability of completion—and using Amazon's self-publishing platform for cost efficiency and update flexibility benefits. You'll learn about his six-week book production process, what he has seen advisors do to promote their books successfully, how a book can be used to grow marketing lists, and more.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/417

Fran Toler is the CEO of Toler Financial Group, a DBA firm under the RIA Rossby Financial, that oversees nearly $200 million in assets under management for 280 households. Fran discusses how she transitioned from an independent broker-dealer model to a 'supported independence' corporate RIA platform to reduce her compliance burdens while paying lower platform fees by partnering with a service provider that doesn't charge for functions her staff already performs. This strategic move enables her to have greater autonomy without the full list of compliance responsibilities associated with complete independence.

Listen in as Fran shares how her firm's public stance on progressive values has led to client and AUM growth by attracting clients and staff who share these ideals, why she offers new hires a stable base salary to ensure she includes talented candidates who might not have the financial backing to succeed in an 'eat what you kill' environment, and how she is approaching succession planning as she contemplates her eventual retirement.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/416

Erika Wood is the Director of Wealth Management of VisionPoint Advisory Group, a hybrid advisory firm based in Dallas that oversees approximately $3 billion in assets under advisement for both 780 client households and retirement plans. Erika’s firm stands out for its use of centralized financial planning and service teams, along with a ticketing workflow system, to streamline a firm-wide planning process, efficiently serving a private wealth client base with $600M in assets under management.

Listen in as Erika shares how her firm streamlines client meetings and task completion, ensuring efficiency and accuracy across all client interactions. She discusses her firm's approach to client segmentation and fee-setting based on a data-centric analysis of service costs, adding a profitability buffer to maintain a sustainable business model. Erika also talks about how her firm builds client loyalty, as well as the importance of advisors finding their niche in the financial planning field to maximize their unique strengths.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/415

Eric Franklin is the Managing Partner of Prospero Wealth, an RIA based out of Seattle that oversees $52 million in assets under management for 80 households. Eric uniquely grew his assets under management to $50 million in just three years by targeting employees at big tech firms and adapting his planning process into smaller, manageable segments. This approach, which spreads out financial planning over time, proved more valuable for his busy clients, preventing them from feeling overwhelmed.

Listen in as Eric shares how he enhances client engagement by focusing on a few planning priorities at a time and starting engagements with goal-setting exercises to clarify and prioritize their objectives. He details his targeted marketing strategy toward tech employees, his own transition from tech to financial planning, and the growth of his firm through hiring like-minded advisors from the tech industry. You'll hear how he's leveraging technology tools for efficient communication, why he recommends industry conferences for career changers to learn best practices before launching their financial planning careers, and more.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/414

Kevin Leahy is the CEO of Connecticut Wealth Management, an RIA based out of Connecticut that oversees approximately $4 billion in assets under management for 1,100 households. Kevin's firm stands out for its systematized training program designed to onboard and develop young talent straight out of college, effectively maintaining a robust advisory talent pipeline. This approach has supported the firm through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, ensuring a smooth transition of clients from retiring advisors to new ones, all while keeping a low client-to-advisor ratio of 35-to-1.

Listen in as Kevin shares how his firm's structured new hire training program starts with comprehensive initial training on systems and financial planning processes, followed by a focus on enhancing client communication skills. He also discusses sourcing new talent from a vetted internship program and how hiring in cohorts optimizes learning and integration. You'll also learn about the interview process Kevin's firm uses with veteran advisors, how his firm is able to maintain its core values as it grows, and more. 

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/413