In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, David Armstrong, editorial director for Informa Connect's Wealth Management Group, and John Orsini, director of financial advisory services, at MarshBerry, discuss the latest RIA Edge research study detailing how firms are navigate their growth trajectories. and approaching decisions about service expansion, rate compression and specialization.

Specifically, David and John talk about:

• Services most RIAs say they're likely to add, which aren't, and why.
• Financial metrics firms should consider when designing a sustainable growth strategy.
• How many smaller VNRs that try to accommodate all customer service demands eventually find that “getting stuck” on the growth path can lead to more significant problems down the road.
• Where the convergence of private equity, tax insurance and estate planning in M&A has gained momentum and where it hasn't.
• Some of the challenges facing “next generation” advisors as the industry evolves from a collection of practices to larger, professionally managed businesses.

Sources:

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About our guest:

John Orsini joined MarshBerry as a Director in 2021 for the wealth advisory division. In his role, he is responsible for being the client lead on merger and acquisition projects, developing strategy and implementing client deliverables, and maintaining client relationships to ensure successful project execution.

John has more than 15 years of experience in strategic finance, including product launches, technology investments and building mutual fund distribution systems through e-hubs, banks and wealth advisors. In addition, he served in various finance leadership roles during stops at The Vanguard Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Nationwide Financial. Most recently, John was Vice President of Business Development and Acquisitions for Nationwide Financial's Investment Management Group. In this role, he led all aspects of acquisition strategy, deal execution, implementation and strategic partnerships. He was the liaison between their management team and corporate finance regarding all inorganic growth activities.

John currently holds the FINRA Securities Industry Core Examination and FINRA Series 7, 63 and 79 registrations through MarshBerry Capital, LLC, the FINRA Affiliated Broker/Dealer of Marsh, Berry & Co., LLC. John holds an MBA from Widener University and a BS from Temple University and received certification from Wharton Executive Education in Mergers & Acquisitions.