Eddy Ricci is a Founding Partner of The Pontem Group, a consulting firm and Lead-Advisor, a wealth management collective specializing in talent acquisition and leadership development.  With more than 15 years in the industry, Eddy’s niche and expertise have evolved into delivering insights, leveraging time, and offering a creative perspective to wealth management firms and practices to guide them through the process of acquiring and developing talent. In addition to helping companies build their teams, Eddy also wrote The Growth Game, a professional development book, and Miss Money Plan, a book that educates children on financial literacy.

 

Eddy joins me today to discuss how financial advisors can build their team. He shares his advice for evaluating appropriate candidates for the growth of a firm or practice. He explains why financial advisors should engage their existing team members in the pre-hiring and interview process and highlights the importance of testing candidates. He also underscores the value of understanding your organizational culture before recruiting a candidate and shares his favorite go-to questions that reveal a candidate’s aspirations and ideals.

 

“Financial advisors don’t spend enough time on talent acquisition. But there’s going to be a point when talent acquisition becomes as important as client acquisition.” - Eddy Ricci, CFP ®

 

This week on The Model FA Podcast:

 

• Getting the entrepreneurial itch and launching a business during a global pandemic
• How Eddy built the confidence to take the leap and start his company
• The right time for a financial advisor to consider hiring additional staff
• The selection and recruitment process
• Why financial advisors should engage their current team members in the pre-hiring process
• Questions financial advisors need to ask their team to get their buy-in
• Energy audit and creating a phantom organizational chart
• Prospecting methods to find talent for financial advisors
• Hiring for attitude and identifying non-negotiable skills 
• Why compensation should be stated in a role description
• The importance of giving candidates assessments before deciding to hire them
• Setting a meet-and-greet interview between a candidate and current team members
• Eddy’s favorite go-to questions for job interviews and the two most important things candidates look for in an opportunity
• Candidate red flags to watch out for when interviewing
• Tips when hiring for remote-working roles
• Scott Galloway’s disruption equation and how industries become disrupted amidst crises like a pandemic

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

• Book: Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity by Scott Galloway
• Book: Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice by Alan Weiss
• Book: The Ensemble Practice: A Team-Based Approach to Building a Superior Wealth Management Firm by Philip Palaveev

 

Our Favorite Quotes:

 

• “Identify your culture — whether it’s within your business or with clients — or the culture you aspire toward.” - David DeCelle
• “All these should be done before you’ve interviewed somebody: engaging with your current team, coming up with a role description, and creating an onboarding plan.” - Eddy Ricci, CFP ®
• “Have a well-defined onboarding process for your clients, and they’ll continue to look for and notice amazing things.” -  David DeCelle

 

Connect with Eddy Ricci:

 

• The Pontem Group
• Lead-Advisor
• Email: [email protected]
• Email: [email protected]
• Book: The Growth Game: A Millennial’s Guide to Professional Development and the DAD System
• Book: Miss Money Plan: Part One: The Battle Against E-Motion
• Eddy Ricci on LinkedIn

 

 

About the Model FA Podcast

 

The Model FA podcast is a show for fiduciary financial advisors. In each episode, our host David DeCelle sits down with industry experts, strategic thinkers, and advisors to explore what it takes  to build a successful practice — and have an abundant life in the process. We believe in continuous learning, tactical advice, and strategies that work — no “gotchas” or BS. Join us to hear stories from successful financial advisors, get actionable ideas from experts, and re-discover your drive to build the practice of your dreams. 

 

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Our Team:

President of Model FA, David DeCelle

 

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