Like motherhood, giving birth to an RIA is not for the faint of heart. From conception to birth, you experience the highs and lows of holding and nurturing the life and vision growing within you. You give everything to this creation and for a happy moment, you think the hardest part is over.
Then reality hits. Your offspring want you to grow up together, ready or not, at every stage of life.
What's a savvy RIA owner to do? Embrace this growth spurt as a rebirth, even if it means giving the RIA a new name.
RIA owner Natalie Taylor felt her growth as the founder of Natalie Taylor Consulting Services LLC. “I felt a strong desire to create more opportunities for advisors and recognized that my role as a client-facing advisor had evolved,” reflected Taylor. Taylor took the step of rebranding and created a DBA under her LLC. By transitioning from her own branded firm, Taylor created space for her team of advisors to stand out as valuable contributors.
“Creating a new name that resonated proved to be the most daunting task,” Taylor said. With so many RIAs using similar words for their firm names, it took off The Goodland Groupreflecting an area in Santa Barbara, California that, for Taylor, evokes the energy of the “good life.”
“Our clients are not trying to get rich at all costs,” Taylor asserted. “They want to live a good life that is meaningful to them.”
Taylor's advice to other RIA owners when renaming: Don't marry the first name you think of; dance at least five names with your family and friends; and search for name similarity through SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure Website AND FINRA Broker Inspection. Taylor also checked US Patent and Trademark Office to avoid trademark infringement with Insurance and Financial Services firms under classification code 36.
Managing Partners Sefa Mawuli and Hui-chin Chen also stopped to reflect on the essence of their RIA and its brand. With a shared passion for cross-border financial planning, the partners integrated more of their history into their new name RIA, Jade & Cowryformerly Pavlov Financial Planning.
The renaming process, spearheaded by Mawuli, resulted in Hui-Chin embracing a Chinese character in her name, meaning jade, and Sefa honoring her African heritage with the honorific of Cowry or cowry shells.
“Jade & Cowrie bowls symbolize wealth and the union of people and cultures,” said Mawuli. “Our customers immediately embraced our new name, sharing stories of how these representations of wealth and value also reflect meaning in their lives.”
In contrast to seamless client acceptance of the renaming, the administrative name change with entities including the IRS, banks and financial regulators proved cumbersome.
“We decided to coincide the name change to coincide with the ADV renewal and partnership tax filing deadline to ease the administrative burden,” Mawuli noted.
Although putting the work into that transition felt just as demanding and rewarding as their first bleary-eyed nights when they founded their RIAs, their experience as CFP professionals made a big difference. Both Taylor and Mawuli followed the financial planning process by setting a goal, consulting with experts, creating a plan and checklists, and guiding its implementation and execution.
“We understand that a deep understanding of our client's cultural heritage and family history enhances financial planning and increases the likelihood of successful financial outcomes,” said Mawuli. “The same goes for RIA's owners, who stay true to their mission and core values.”
Lazetta Rainey Braxton is founder/CEO of Lazetta & Associates and CEO and President of The Real Wealth Coterie.