The COO Roundtable

In his third ever monologue “rant,” Matt takes a break from our normal interview format to speak directly to RIA owners and COO candidates to discuss the “Do’s and Don’ts of COO Onboarding.”  Referencing conversations with COOs, past articles he’s written, and former podcast guests, Matt urges RIA owners to have a clear understanding of what they need from their next Operations hire before beginning a search (how will you know you’ve found a good candidate if you don’t know exactly what you are hiring for?).   He also recommends that newly-appointed COOs consider the firm’s capacity for change as they look to make recommendations to add efficiency and scale to their new RIA.  His ultimate goal is for COO candidates and RIA owners to use this episode as the foundation for productive conversations during the interview process to ensure the right people, with the right level of experience, are being hired for the right roles.  During this episode, Matt hits on the following topics: The definition of “Founder’s Bias” and how it derails a newly-appointed COO Why he’s not a fan of the fractional COO role Things COO candidates should look and listen for during the interview process to ensure they will be set up for success David Canter’s four action items every COO should perform after accepting a new job Why Ted Lasso was the perfect COO The difference between an Operations Manager, Director of Operations, and Chief Operating Officer The ultimate sin RIA owners can commit when hiring a COO

We are joined by Megan Hannah of Emerald Advisors and Spencer Rand from Five Oceans Advisors for Ep 62.  Megan has the unique position of Chief Operating Officer and Portfolio Manager.  Emerald Advisors is located in Bellevue, WA and manages approximately $700 million of client assets.  Spencer has the dual role of Director of Operations and Chief Compliance officer at Five Oceans Advisors, headquartered in Los Angeles with a fully remote staff, managing around $500 million.  Matt, Megan, and Spencer discuss their varied histories in the business, the fact that both guests have earned their Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, as well as: How their background in investments has shaped their approach to Operations What led both firms to land on their ideal client persona Services offered outside of traditional wealth management Recuriting and hiring strategies The importance of employee retention and culture We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

We welcome Janelle Anderson and David Lehman for Ep 61!  Janelle is the Operations Manager and Chief Compliance Officer at Grand Wealth Management, located in Grand Rapids, MI.  The firm manages approximately $600 million and has 13 employees.  Matt and Janelle met at a DFA study group in May 2023.  David is a financial advisor and the Chief Operating Officer with Wealthbridge Advisors, headquartered in Lake Oswego, OR.  Wealthbridge is affiliated with Ameriprise Financial, has 18 employees and manages around $760 million for clients.  David has been a member of the COO Society since March of 2023.  Janelle and David discuss with Matt how they both juggle dual-title responsibilities at their firms, as well as: Their approach to finding and retaining employees How they have both impacted culture at their organizations Productivity tips to ensure they are getting the most important tasks accomplished each day Career paths for Operations staff How they have both approached the “Valley of Doom,” made famous by Echelon Partners’ Dan Seivert We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Episode 60 marks our 5-year anniversary, and Matt was feeling nostalgic for this conversation with Amber Salzman of Capstone Financial Advisors and Jean Paul Atallah of RZH Advisors.  Amber is Manager of Client Services and a partner of the firm, which is located in Downers Grove, IL, and manages approximately $1.8 billion with 35 employees.  She also has her Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional (FPQP®) certification.  Jean Paul has spent his entire career in the financial services industry, but only joined RZH Advisors about 18 months ago, where he is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.  The firm is located in Stamford, CT, manages about $1.6 billion and has 11 employees.  Listeners of this episode will realize quickly that Amber and Jean Paul are true students of the industry, and they discuss with Matt different sources and industry groups they rely on for best practices, as well as: How they each have approached CRM implementations at their respective firms The search for the RIA Operations “holy grail” and how they ensure clean data is flowing across their tech stack The optimal firm structure for delivering services to their ideal clients What strategies they implement to best serve and motivate their employees How they both approached the crunch of year-end tasks this year Here is the Wealthmanagement.com article that Amber mentioned: Growing RIAs Must Focus on Process, Not Technology We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

With “The Sabbatical Episode,” Matt welcomed two highly respected RIA professionals to tackle a topic not often discussed in our industry: mental health.  Allison Felix, a two-time guest to the podcast, is Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Cassaday & Co.  Erika Yelle is Chief Compliance Officer at Coldstream Wealth Management.  Both guests have been with their firms for over two decades and have held various positions and witnessed incredible growth at both RIAs.  Cassaday & Co. is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, has 86 employees and currently manages just under $5 billion of AUM.  Coldstream Wealth Management employs approximately 160 employees, manages just under $7 billion of client assets, and has 7 office locations in the Pacific Northwest.  Matt, Allison, and Erika have an honest conversation around the internal pressures we tend to place on ourselves to always be available, the fear of setting an Out of Office reply, our industry’s slow movement away from Gordon Gekko’s comment in the ‘80s that “lunch is for wimps,” as well as: Their respective firms’ policies around sabbaticals How employees who are so integral to the day-to-day operations of their firms can plan for an extended time away The benefits sabbaticals have not only to employees, but the broader organization Tips for “re-entry” after time away so as not to be too overwhelmed We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.  

For this episode, we step away from our normal format of speaking with operations professionals in the trenches, to speaking with an author and entrepreneur about the role of the COO.  Cameron Herold has written a fabulous book directed at CEO’s who are contemplating hiring a COO, titled, Second in Command – Unleash the Power of Your COO.  He is also the founder of the COO Alliance and the host of his own podcast dedicated to the role of COOs, Second in Command.  Cameron has sat in the COO seat himself, overseeing the growth at 1-800-GOT-JUNK from $2 million to $106 million in revenue in just six years. Matt and Cameron have an honest conversation around the CEO’s need to hire for their blind spots, as well as: The difficulty business owners have in finding the right person to fill the COO role Why RIAs need to keep the rate of change inside their organizations greater than the rate of change outside their businesses The seven types of COOs and what each brings to their organization Cameron’s advice for those who aspire to be a COO How a CEO and COO should work best together, and the proper expectations from both sides of that working relationship How CEOs can best judge the success of their COO When RIAs should consider replacing their COO for the next phase of growth We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. To purchase Cameron’s book, click here. You can view Cameron’s COO Scorecard here.  

Matt welcomes two long-time RIA operations professionals for Episode 57. Trevor Hodges is the relatively new Director of Operations at Sax Wealth Advisors, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey with a few offices in the New York and New Jersey area. While he has spent his entire career within the RIA space, Trevor joined Sax Wealth a few months ago. Sean Chen has known Matt since they were both 21 years old and working together at Merrill Lynch, and continued their professional relationship at Luminous Capital. Sean is the COO and CCO at Validus Capital in Los Angeles. Sax Wealth Advisors formed in the late ‘90s underneath their parent company, Sax LLP, which is an accounting and tax practice firm. Today the firm manages roughly $1.7 billion and employs a team of 21. Validus Capital launched in 2022 out of a predecessor RIA, manages approximately $1.4 billion of client assets, and currently has 13 employees and one remote employee in Texas. Matt, Trevor, and Sean discuss what makes Sean unique among all previous guests on the podcast, how operations professionals can prove their worth in this client-focused industry, as well as: How they view the systems and processes utilized by their firms The additional services beyond wealth management offered by both firms to attract and retain more of their ideal clients How they both leverage portal technology to deliver services to their clients The importance of CRM for their internal teams and the delivery of consistent and scalable service Each guest’s approach to inorganic growth We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 56 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management For Episode 56, Matt invited two operations professionals that he met at a DFA Operations Strategy session earlier this year.  Rachel Rant is a partner and Director of Operations at Aspen Capital Management, located in Boise, ID.  Scott Swanson is a partner, Chief Operating Officer, and financial advisor with Quantum Financial Advisors, with several office locations in the Los Angeles area.  Aspen Capital management was founded in 2002 as a solo advisor practice and stayed that way until about 2017.  Fast forward to today, the firm manages approximately $900 million in assets and employs 9 full-time employees.  Quantum Financial Advisors was launched in 2022 out of a larger RIA and today manages approximately $900 million of client assets and employs 13 people.  Rachel, Scott, and Matt discuss the pros and cons of adding institutional complexity to the organization as you add more technology tools over time, as well as: When and how each guest landed in wealth management after successful careers in other industries What metrics they study to help determine when their growing firms need to add more staff The deliberate planning that has gone into the organizational structure of each of their firms Their early attempts to segment their client base and determine the appropriate service level Each guest’s approach to remote work vs. in-office work, and how the definition of “productive” changes from day to day We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 55 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management Matt was joined by two thoughtful and experienced Operations professionals for Episode 55. Tee Meeks is the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Waddell & Associates, headquartered in Memphis, TN.  Cory Jackmuff, from BLB&B Advisors in Montgomeryville, PA, is the firm’s Operations Manager. Waddell & Associates was founded in 1986, currently manages approximately $1.4 billion of client assets, and has 7 advisors with 19 full-time employees. BLB&B Advisors dates its inception to its broker dealer days, all the way back to 1964. The firm currently has 30 employees and has approximately $2 billion of assets under management. After detailing their career paths that led them to where they are today, Tee and Corey discuss the following topics with Matt: How they each approach the tricky task of integrating the various vendors that make up their RIA infrastructure What initiatives both have implemented at their firms to best achieve scale How those initiatives have allowed advisors at their respective firms to spend more of their valuable time on client-facing activities Hiring strategies they both have designed to ensure the best people are coming to their organizations How they promote personal growth at their firms, for themselves and their employees We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

The COO Roundtable Episode 54 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management In Episode 54, Matt is joined by two operations professionals he has worked with in the past.  Bryce Wisan is the Managing Director, CFO, and CCO with Sepio Capital, headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.  Angie Tower is Managing Director and COO at Prairie Capital Management, located in Kansas City, MO.  Sepio Capital manages approximately $7 billion for high net worth and ultra high net worth clients, many who have recently experienced an exit from a startup.  The firm currently has 28 employees and is contemplating a shift in focus from wealth management to asset management.  Prairie Capital Management’s team of 40 employees oversees more than $6 billion for individual clients, foundations, and endowments.  They consider themselves a holistic wealth manager with a focus on private equity and alternative investments.  Bryce and Angie both joined their firms about 18 months ago, and they discuss with Matt how they’ve looked to add scale and efficiencies to their organizations, as well as: How they each approach the people management side of their roles Strategies they both have implemented to increase user adoption of new tools and processes Where they see their firms getting more complex in the years ahead, and how they have started addressing that complexity today Their approach to client segmentation

The COO Roundtable Episode 53 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management With episode 53, Matt welcomes two guests that both take a very measured approach to Operations at their firms:  Julie Higgins, Chief Operating Officer at Geometric Wealth Advisors and Kevin Galvin, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor with Hopwood Financial Services.  Geometric Wealth provides comprehensive financial planning for executives and partners in management consulting.  The firm is roughly 8 years old, manages approximately $600 million of client assets, and has 21 employees, all working remotely full-time (the firm was fully remote pre-COVID).  Hopwood Financial Services is headquartered in Reston, VA, was founded in 2003 by Herb Hopwood, has approximately $500 million assets under management, and has 11 employees.  Matt, Julie, and Kevin discuss how they view people and process to best poise their firms for future growth and much more, including: Their take on the industry’s “old thinking” with respect to how Operations supports client service and ultimately, business development How both firms rely on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to better align their employees with the firm’s vision and values Each guest’s approach to hiring and onboarding employees How they design their org chart to ensure the right employees are in the right seats Client segmentation strategies used by both guests to determine the best service offering for their clients We hope you listen, share, and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You can read the full transcript here.

The COO Roundtable Episode 52 Powered by Coldstream Wealth Management In episode 52, Matt assures our listeners that no major changes will occur with the podcast moving forward, despite its new sponsor (and Matt’s new employer), Coldstream Wealth Management.  As of May 1, 2023, Matt has taken the role of Chief Operating Officer at Coldstream, headquartered in Bellevue, WA.  The firm employs 135 people and manages roughly $6.5 billion of client assets, spread across 7 client service teams.  Coldstream has three affiliated businesses (Fit Insurance, Ascent Capital, and Rainier Group) and has additional office locations in Portland, OR, Boise, ID, and Kenai, AK.  During this monologue episode, Matt discusses why he’s excited to join Coldstream, what his major responsibilities will be as COO, and much more, including: Advice for any RIA operations professionals approaching a transition to a new firm How to approach change management at your firm While referencing several past episodes, he reminds listeners how to ensure their success when joining a new organization and mistakes to avoid The five common business situations leaders may find themselves moving into Why his passion for professional management across the RIA industry will propel both the COO Roundtable podcast and COO Society coaching platform into the future Each guests’ career path and how they became operations professionals We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can read the full transcript here. You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Here is a link to Michael Watkins’ book, The First 90 Days  

The COO Roundtable Episode 51 By PFI Advisors For our 51st episode, Matt welcomed two operations professionals who run relatively new firms, Vince Crane, COO, CCO and Partner of Flower City Capital and Zach Morris, Managing Partner and Founder of Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors. Flower City Capital was founded in 2016 and is located in Rochester, New York. They are currently a team of 5 and manage roughly $200M in AUM.  Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors was founded in 2018 and is located in Atlanta, Georgia. They have 6 employees and manage approximately $300M in assets. Matt, Vince, and Zach chat about how, from Day 1, our guests have set in place systems and processes with future scalability in mind and much more including: Each guests’ career path and how they became operations professionals The pros and cons of a centralized back office vs a pod structure Each firm’s ideal client and how that persona drives the services they offer How each guest approaches their firm’s “next hire” How each guest shapes their firm’s culture We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

The COO Roundtable Episode 50 By PFI Advisors For our milestone 50th episode, Matt is joined by two guests who are equally committed to highlighting the importance of professional management across the RIA industry: Allison Felix, Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Cassaday & Co. and Scott Brown, President of Pinnacle Associates.  Celebrating their 30th anniversary, Cassaday & Co was founded in 1993 and is a hybrid broker dealer and RIA.  They are located in McLean, Virginia, have 85 employees, and currently manage $4.5B in AUM.  Pinnacle Associates was founded in 1984 and has both an institutional and a wealth management component to their business model.  They are located in New York City, have 65 employees, and currently manage just over $7B in AUM.  Matt, Allison, and Scott discuss how the COO role impacts their teams internally, their firm holistically, and themselves personally, and much more including how each guest: Navigated their career path, including Allison’s journey from Executive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer, and Scott’s beginnings as General Counsel, to CCO, COO and now President Has continued to grow their skillset and advance their career Tackles the HR portion of their job Has affected their firm’s client experience and service offerings Manages to stay sane as they tackle all their role requires And don’t miss Scott’s Godfather impression at the top of the interview! We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

The COO Roundtable Episode 49 By PFI Advisors Our latest episode of The COO Roundtable features two guests who challenge our audience to think of the COO role in different ways - Edgar Collado of Tobias Financial Advisors and Alex Satterfield of Byron Financial.  Tobias Financial Advisors is based in Florida and has a strong foundation in tax planning.  They were founded in 1980 as a CPA firm and currently manage about $700M in AUM and have 19 employees.  Byron Financial is headquartered in North Carolina and began in 1985 with a focus on life insurance.  Currently they have 7 employees and grew from roughly $175M in AUM in 2019 to approximately $700M in AUM today.  Matt, Edgar, and Alex talk about the COO role from both the day-to-day operations of a firm to a high-level, strategic point of view and much more including: Each guests’ background, career path, and how they landed in an Operations role How each guest involves their team in the firm’s strategic planning process How they prioritize the goals and needs of their respective firms The “Myth of Outsourcing” The HR component of the COO role We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

The COO Roundtable Episode 48 By PFI Advisors   For our first podcast of the new year (and our fourth year running!), Matt is welcomed by two exciting guests – Daryl Seaton, President at Sowell Management and Barrett Karvis, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Edge Capital Group. Sowell Management is headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  Founded as a TAMP, they recently celebrated 20 years in business and have 29 employees. They currently manage $4B in AUA. Edge Capital Group is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2007, their AUM as of last year was approaching $5 billion and currently have 37 employees. Matt, Daryl, and Barrett chat about how their roles as operations professionals intertwine with their firm’s inorganic growth strategies and much more including:   Who supports them running their larger than average RIAs The role of the COO in talent acquisition and talent management How each guest balances scalability with customization What metrics they use to judge the health of their organization   We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe!   You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.   Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.  

The COO Roundtable Episode 47 By PFI Advisors For our final episode of 2022, we were joined by two incredible members of our COO Society community: Julie Allen, Vice President of Business Operations at FirstWave Financial, and Chris Pelch, Chief Operating Office of Vance Wealth.  FirstWave Financial began as a CPA firm in 1995 with a strong family foundation aimed to help its clients “deal with the complexity that wealth brings.”  They are located in Satellite Beach, Florida, and currently have $400M in AUM and a team of 12 employees.  Vance Wealth was founded in 2003 and helps its clients tackle important questions they face when looking to retire. They have two offices in California, $450M in AUM, and a team of 18 employees.  During their discussion with Matt, Julie and Chris tackle both the Human Resources and Operations component of their roles and much more including: The different strategies each firm has used to successfully onboard new employees How each guest handles ongoing new-employee engagement and career development The steps each guest takes when evaluating different vendors Time management tips and tricks Their top initiatives for 2023 We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

The COO Roundtable Episode 46 By PFI Advisors Our latest episode of The COO Roundtable features a rare single-guest format.  Stacey McKinnon of Morton Wealth recently wrote an important paper titled, “Your Career is Up to You” which features Philip Palaveev of the Ensemble Practice.  Matt and Stacey discuss the paper by turning the spotlight inward and instead of focusing on how listeners can help their firms achieve more growth, they discuss ways everyone can be more fulfilled and successful in their professional life.  Matt and Stacey have an honest and revealing conversation about their own career paths and much more including: What it means to really “own” your career How you can’t become the best version of yourself without the help of others Common obstacles people face in their careers and how to overcome them Keys to standing out in your organization to ultimately advance your career How to keep your sanity through it all! We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.

The COO Roundtable Episode 45 By PFI Advisors Our latest episode of The COO Roundtable features two leaders of relatively young and evolving RIAs. We are joined by Michael Wagner, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Omnia Family Wealth and Ben Gurley, Director of Heartwood Wealth Advisors.  Omnia Family Wealth was launched in 2015 and started with a team of 5 members. Currently headquartered in Aventura, Florida, they are now a team of 11 people and advise on $2.2B in assets.  Heartwood Wealth Advisors joined the RIA space in 2019. They are headquartered in Richmond, VA, have 11 employees, and $1B in AUM.  Together, Matt, Michael, and Ben (who both service clients in an advisory capacity in addition to operations) tackle the question, “Does make you better at operations or vice versa?” and much more including: Each guests’ career path, including Ben’s background as a middle school teacher and Michael’s experience joining the family business How each guest manages both the operations portion of their role as well as the additional responsibility of firm ownership How each firm is evolving to meet the needs of their clients Each guest discusses how operations has helped their firm grow organically How each guest approaches talent management, a hot topic at many RIAs today! We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.  

 In the “Reggie Jackson episode” of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes two thoughtful leaders of their organizations, Principal and Chief Compliance Officer of SYM Financial Advisors, Crystal Creekmore, and returning guest Gary Bonner, COO of Southwestern Investment Group.  SYM Financial Advisors is headquartered in Winona Lake Indiana and has 5 offices across Indiana and Michigan. Founded in 1968, they are currently in their 3rd generation of ownership. They manage $3.7B in AUM and have 68 employees.  Founded 20 years ago, Southwestern Investment Group is headquartered Franklin, Tennessee. They currently have 11 offices across 5 states and manage $5.5B in AUM with 176 employees.  Together, Matt, Crystal and Gary discuss how solid operations can better communication both within the firm and with clients directly, and much more including: Professional background of each guest, including how Crystal's kindergarten teacher served as a job reference when she applied at SYM Financial Advisors Each guest’s view on the dual-hatted role of COO/CCO Guests discuss whether it is best to centralize or silo operations How each firm tracks the status of projects and tasks How RIAs can leverage portal technology to communicate with clients Each guest shares how they have used the EOS framework within their firm We hope you enjoy, share, and subscribe! You can listen and subscribe on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sign up here to be notified of new practice management content added to our blog on a regular basis.