Almost every advisor we host in this series shares the desire for greater independence.
The good news is that there are plenty of options available in the ever-evolving industry landscape for advisors to find exactly what they're looking for—including firms with omnichannel connections.
These give employee advisors an opportunity to slip into a freelance model and become true business owners with far less hassle than they would have faced if they had gone to another platform provider or had build an independent business.
Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network or FiNet as it is commonly known, the independent broker dealer arm of Wells Fargo Advisors, is a popular home for advisors looking to go independent without the heavy lifting of building their own firm from scratch.
And that's especially true of Wells' advisers, especially this episode's guests, Jason Andrews and Ross Bauer.
As employee advisors in Wells Fargo's Private Client Group, or PCG, they built the business to 280mm in assets under management and decided it was time to build their own firm based on their vision.
After doing their due diligence, the notion of a transition to independence without “leaving” Wells was incredibly appealing to them. So in 2019 they took the plunge and launched Merritt Point Wealth Advisors with FiNet.
And today, just five years later, they are managing almost $1.7 billion in assets.
Jason and Ross share their story with Louis Diamond, including:
- What actually drove such tremendous growth in such a short time.
- What exactly made changing channels within Wells more attractive than other options?
- How their business lives change from their time as Wells employees to their firm's C-level executives.
- And the key lessons other advisors can learn from their remarkable growth story.
It's an incredible story that shows how vision, planning and determination can create extraordinary results, so be sure to give it a listen.