Transition To RIA Podcast

There are several reasons advisors choose to join an existing RIA versus starting their own.

But that’s not the only decision to be made.

There are a wide variety of “flavors” of RIAs to then choose from.

Differing economics, flexibility, approach to branding, taxation, succession solutions, are just some of the many variables that can differentiate them.

But of all the options, which is the most popular?

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain how these solutions are often differentiated…..and which is the most popular.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-most-popular-type-of-ria-to-join/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

When a new client comes to you for help managing their financial life, there are many steps involved. Some are more exciting for the client than others.

• Opening accounts.
• Pulling old statements.
• Filling out financial profiles.

Those are some of the important, though less glamorous steps.

• Talking through life goals.
• Travel plans in retirement.
• Ways to help family and important causes.

Those are the exciting steps!

But the latter can’t be achieved, without the former.

It is the same when transitioning your practice to the RIA model. There are necessary, those less glamorous steps involved.

However, there are exiting parts as well.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain what the exciting parts of a transition are.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-most-exciting-part-about-starting-an-ria/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

"Fee-based" revenue is often "reoccurring" revenue.....

.....but "reoccurring" revenue is not necessarily "fee-based" revenue.

Confused yet?

Often incorrectly used interchangeably, these two phrases can mean entirely different things.

Depending on the profile of your practice, it's a difference that could determine whether your practice is a fit for the RIA model….or not!

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain how these two variables differ, and what it could mean for your practice.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-difference-between-reoccurring-revenue-fee-based-revenue/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

You’ve likely heard it before, the economics are better in the RIA model.

But why is that?

To name a few:

• Higher top line revenue
• Ability to control expenses
• Operating leverage
• Tax advantages
• Flexibility to grow your practice faster
• Higher enterprise value

It’s important to understand how these variables compare to your current affiliation model.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain why the economics of your practice would be better in the RIA model.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/are-the-economics-better-in-the-ria-model/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

Do you own or rent your home?

What advice do you give your clients about owning vs renting?

While there are exceptions, owning typically has far better long-term advantages over renting.

Yet, many advisors don’t practice what they preach when it comes to the real estate they use for an office.

An advisor that spends their entire career in a W2 model (ex: wirehouse), experiences the same real estate disadvantages that a life-long home renter does.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain what the real estate advantages of the RIA model are.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-real-estate-advantage-of-the-ria-model/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

Will the marketplace assign a higher valuation to your practice in the RIA model?

While there are multiple variables that go into a valuation calculation, there are some basic economic truths involved.

Consider an analogy.

You own a house and desire to sell it. Naturally, you’d like the highest price you can get for it.

Imagine if you lived in an HOA community and the HOA got to dictate how your sale process will occur, under what terms you can sell the house, who the potential buyers can be, etc.

Will that result in the highest valuation?

Or perhaps your community doesn’t have an HOA, but hypothetically the only eligible buyers of your house must come from within your neighborhood itself.

Will that result in the highest valuation?

You might find both scenarios preposterous. But that is the equivalent reality many advisors face, due to the affiliation model they’re in, when trying to derive value from their practice at the end of their careers.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I address some of the variables of why a practice valuation is higher in the RIA model.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/will-my-practice-have-a-higher-valuation-in-the-ria-model/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

You want to transition your practice to the RIA model.

You are currently affiliated with a multi-channel firm. One of those options is their “RIA channel.”

Should you make the “internal” transition of your practice to it?

This question is more complicated than it seems:

• Are you sure you know what your firm is referring to when they say “RIA channel?” Firms use the same vernacular to refer to different models.
• Is an internal move to the channel even an option? (Spoiler: In some instances, it’s not!)
• Are you aware of how the internal option compares to external options available to you as well?

These are just some of the variables that should be part of your due diligence.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I clarify if and when it makes sense to consider an internal option.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/should-i-transition-to-the-ria-channel-at-my-multi-channel-firm/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

“I don’t want to join a firm that’s owned by private-equity?”

Why is that?

“They just want to build it and sell.”

But isn’t your current firm (whatever that may be) for sale and susceptible to change?

“No, not with the kind of firm I’m at.”

Are you sure about that???

Advisors often overweight the risks involved with joining a firm that has private-equity backing, while underweighting in comparison the risks with other firm structures.

On this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series, I explain how advisors are better off focusing on how to protect themselves from possible ownership changes, versus worrying as much about who the owners are.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/should-i-avoid-joining-a-private-equity-backed-ria/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

Super-OSJ or RIA?

Let’s start with what is an OSJ?

Let alone, what makes an OSJ “Super?”

And then how does it compare to an RIA?

If you are considering joining either, it is important to understand the distinct regulatory and competitive differences between them.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain how these two models differ, and why you might choose one over the other for your practice.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-super-osj-and-an-ria/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.

“Hybrid”

“Hybrid RIA”

“Hybrid Broker-Dealer”

Are they the same, or are they different?

Depends on who you ask!

Solution providers will often tout having a “hybrid” solution. Their version of hybrid though might be very different than what you are assuming they are referring to.

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain how these different “hybrid” solutions vary.

Come take a listen!

P.S. Prefer video? You can find this entire series in video format on Youtube. Search for the TRANSITION TO RIA channel.

Show notes: https://TransitionToRIA.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hybrid-ria-and-a-hybrid-broker-dealer/

About Host: Brad Wales is the founder of Transition To RIA, where he helps financial advisors understand everything there is to know about WHY and HOW to transition their practice to the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) model. Brad has 20+ years of industry experience, including direct RIA related roles in Compliance, Finance and Business Development. He has an MBA and has held the 4, 7, 24, 63 & 65 licenses. The Transition To RIA website (TransitionToRIA.com) has a large catalog of free videos, articles, whitepapers, as well as other resources to help advisors understand the RIA model and how it would apply to their unique circumstances.