Advisor Talk with Frank LaRosa

Elite Consulting Partners
  • 4.8 (91)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Advisor Talk with Frank LaRosa offers unfiltered guidance and advice for financial advisors, wealth management professionals, and entrepreneurs alike who are interested in maximizing both their business and personal potential. Informed by Frank's unique insights and his personal conversations with industry leaders, the dynamic discussion topics of Advisor Talk include business ownership, leadership, practice management, transition and recruiting, marketing and branding, as well as a host of financial services related topics related to wirehouse, regional, and RIA advisors, firms, and teams. Frank’s goal, and the goal of his team at Elite Consulting Partners, is now as ever to be the go-to resource for actionable information and trusted guidance to elevate you and your career at whatever stage you may be.

  1. 6d ago

    Complacency Is Costing You More Than You Realize

    A client once told Stacey Frank he was losing $20,000 a day by doing nothing. That number changed the whole conversation. Frank and Stacey open by unpacking a real story from one of Stacey's clients, a junior partner at an independent firm stuck with outdated technology, a flat payout and a senior partner unwilling to change. When Stacey ran the math with him, the true cost of staying became impossible to ignore and complacency became the real competitor in the room. From there, the conversation shifts into something more personal. Frank references a recent story about an advisor in his fifties, a founder of a respected RIA, who passed away suddenly. That story becomes the jumping-off point for a bigger conversation about financial advisor transitions, why payouts and transition deals are at an all-time high right now and why waiting to explore your options carries real risk. Frank also breaks down dual monetization, a concept he has trademarked, where advisors sell their practice to a W2 firm, keep running the business, grow it further and then sell it again years later. He walks through real-world numbers, including a three-million-dollar producer who turned a transition deal into twelve million dollars upfront while still earning over a million dollars a year running the business. The episode wraps with a challenge every advisor needs to hear. Staying exactly where you are is still a decision and it is one that deserves the same scrutiny advisors give their own clients every single year.   Questions answered in this episode include: What is complacency actually costing financial advisors every day? Why are transition deals and payouts at an all-time high right now? What is dual monetization and how does it work? Should advisors consider moving from a 1099 practice to a W2 firm? How do advisors calculate the true cost of staying at their current firm? What happens to a financial advisor's practice valuation if something happens to them unexpectedly? Why is making no decision still considered a decision?   Chapters: 01:04 Introduction: Complacency Is Costing You More Than You Realize 02:11 The $20,000-a-Day Wake-Up Call 05:27 When an Advisor's Death Changes the Conversation 08:19 Why Transition Deals and Payouts Are at an All-Time High 09:57 The W2 Acquisition Trend Advisors Aren't Talking About 14:39 Introducing Dual Monetization 17:06 Why Staying Put Is Still a Decision 18:16 How to Reach Frank and Stacey   Learn more about Elite and our resources: - Elite Consulting Partners: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com - Elite Marketing Concepts: https://elitemarketingconcepts.com - Elite Advisor Successions: https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com - JEDI Database Solutions: https://jedidatabasesolutions.com - Elite Wealth Management Insights Report: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report - Listen to more: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-consulting-partners/

    Complacency Is Costing You More Than You Realize

  2. Jul 9

    To Build an OSJ or Not to Build: The Mistake Costing You Your Multiple

    Building an OSJ sounds like the obvious move if you want a bigger valuation. Frank LaRosa says that logic is exactly what's costing advisors their multiple. Frank and Stacey open with a question most advisors never actually ask themselves before recruiting other advisors into their practice. What is your unique ability and is managing people part of it? Frank shares a story from a coaching client who built out an OSJ, then found himself spending his day solving other people's problems instead of doing the work that made him successful in the first place. That shift from servicing clients to servicing advisors is one of the biggest hidden costs in this model. From there, the conversation turns to ownership. Frank explains why collecting an override on another advisor's business will never get you the same financial advisor multiple as owning the revenue outright and why some of the most successful firms in the industry deliberately choose not to play that game. The episode wraps with a challenge for any advisor thinking about their next move. Stop building toward what you think you're supposed to build and start building around what you're actually great at.   Questions answered in this episode include: What is your unique ability as a financial advisor? Should you build an OSJ or focus on growing your own practice? What's the difference between owning revenue and owning an override? Why do advisors get a lower multiple when they don't own the underlying business? What's the difference between a vertical business and a horizontal business? Why are financial advisors more demanding to service than clients? How do you decide what your business should look like as it grows?   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: To Build an OSJ or Not to Build 01:10 What Is Your Unique Ability as an Advisor 03:23 Why an OSJ Has to Earn Your Trust Every Day 06:43 The Multiple Advisors Are Leaving on the Table 07:31 Vertical Business vs Horizontal Business 12:55 Don't Get Trapped by the Enterprise Fad 14:13 Do What You Love or Make Money Being Miserable 17:23 How to Reach Elite Consulting Partners   Learn more about Elite and our resources: - Elite Consulting Partners: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com - Elite Marketing Concepts: https://elitemarketingconcepts.com - Elite Advisor Successions: https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com - JEDI Database Solutions: https://jedidatabasesolutions.com - Elite Wealth Management Insights Report: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report - Listen to more: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-consulting-partners/

    To Build an OSJ or Not to Build: The Mistake Costing You Your Multiple

  3. Jul 2

    Hire Slow Fire Fast: The $400,000 Lesson We Learned

    Some decisions get more expensive the longer you wait to make them. Frank LaRosa and Stacey Frank open up about the cost of holding on to people too long, whether that is an employee, a junior partner or even a client who drains more energy than they are worth. Frank breaks down how his firm used data to identify which new hires were likely to succeed and which ones were not, a process that ended up saving the company over $400,000 in a single year. They walk through the honeymoon phase every new hire goes through, why the first ninety days can be misleading and how watching what someone does matters more than listening to what they say. Frank shares a personal story about hiring someone for a leadership role, sensing early on that it was not the right fit and eventually having to call that person into his office and own the mistake himself. The conversation moves into the ripple effect negativity has on a team, including a story about a three million dollar producing team that left the firm and the surprising relief that followed. Frank and Stacey also discuss the moment every advisor eventually faces, realizing someone who once helped the business grow can no longer help it get to the next level.   Questions answered in this episode include: Why does hire slow fire fast actually save money instead of costing it? How do you tell the difference between a rough first ninety days and a real red flag? What is the qualitative side of managing people that most owners overlook? How do you know when your gut instinct is telling you something real? What should you say to someone when you admit you made a hiring mistake? How do negative team members affect productivity even when they are still performing? When does a good employee stop being the right fit for where your business is going?   Chapters: 00:00:58 Believe Them The First Time 00:02:49 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished 00:05:52 The $400,000 Hire Slow Fire Fast Lesson 00:07:45 Watch Their Feet Not Their Words 00:11:57 Your Gut Instinct Is Trying To Tell You Something 00:14:08 Owning The Mistake And Letting Someone Go 00:20:37 Booster Rockets And Knowing When People Move On 00:22:20 The Day The Negativity Left The Office   Learn more about Elite and our resources: Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions https://eliteconsultingpartners.com Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors https://elitemarketingconcepts.com Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com JEDI Database Solutions | Technology Solutions for Advisors https://jedidatabasesolutions.com Elite Wealth Management Insights Report https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/

    Hire Slow Fire Fast: The $400,000 Lesson We Learned

  4. Jun 25 ·  Bonus

    Greatest Hits: Direct Affiliation vs. OSJ - Which Model Is Right for You?

    Key topics include: -The core differences between direct affiliation and OSJ / enterprise models. -Why payout percentages don’t tell the full financial story. -How scale, support, and service models impact long-term net income. -When outsourcing operations can accelerate growth - and when it doesn’t. -How larger teams and solo practitioners should think differently about affiliation. -Why affiliation decisions are business decisions, not just platform decisions. Whether you’re considering independence for the first time, reassessing your current setup, or planning your next stage of growth, this episode offers a clear, practical framework to help you evaluate your options and avoid costly mistakes. Learn more about our companies and resources: -Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com -Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors: https://elitemarketingconcepts.com -Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions: https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com -JEDI Database Solutions | Technology Solutions for Advisors: https://jedidatabasesolutions.com   Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/

    Greatest Hits: Direct Affiliation vs. OSJ - Which Model Is Right for You?

  5. Jun 18

    The Advisor CEO: Why Most Advisors Never Become Business Owners

    Scaling sounds great until you find out what it costs you. Every advisor wants the high multiple. Far fewer want the version of themselves required to earn it. Frank LaRosa and Stacey Frank tackle the transition that trips up most advisors, the move from doing the work to owning the business to leading it as a CEO. The dream is an enterprise level practice. The obstacle is that the advisor is still the one holding every relationship and refusing to let go. In this conversation they get into why advisors resist building real infrastructure, why holding onto clients forever quietly limits the business and why the next hire that actually moves the needle is rarely another producer. They also talk through the cost of waiting to invest and the mindset that separates advisors who reach the next level from those who keep talking about it. If you want to grow but keep doing everything yourself, this episode points straight at the thing holding you back.   Questions answered in this episode include: What does it really mean to move from practitioner to business owner to CEO? Why do so many advisors say they want to scale but never actually do it? At what point do you have to stop working directly with your clients? What is the difference between working in your business and working on your business? Why is hiring an executive assistant more important than hiring another salesperson? How early should you build the team for the business you want to become? What does it cost an advisor to keep being cheap with key hires?   Chapters: 00:00:00 The crux of where advisors get scaling wrong 00:00:34 Welcome and the practitioner to CEO transition 00:03:49 Are you ready to be the business owner 00:07:30 The mic drop moment about giving up clients 00:09:33 The real mistake advisors make when they scale 00:11:33 In the business versus on the business 00:19:16 The most important hire is not who you think 00:19:51 Build the team today before you think you need it   Learn more about Elite and our resources: Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions https://eliteconsultingpartners.com Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors https://elitemarketingconcepts.com Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com JEDI Database Solutions | Technology Solutions for Advisors https://jedidatabasesolutions.com Elite Wealth Management Insights Report https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/

    The Advisor CEO: Why Most Advisors Never Become Business Owners

  6. Jun 11

    What's Behind Your Name? Why Most Financial Advisors Get Rebranding Wrong

    Your firm name is not just a label. It is the brand people search for, refer and remember. And most advisors get it wrong. In this solo episode, Frank LaRosa pulls back the curtain on the naming conversations he has with breakaway advisors every week. Many default to their last name without realizing it can scare off the very advisors they hope to recruit. Others fall for a name that sounds great until a quick search turns up an identical practice down the street. Frank explains why your name carries far more weight once you are independent than it ever did inside a wirehouse, where clients simply trust you as their advisor. He digs into the real marketing math too, showing how a name that blends in with dozens of competitors forces you to spend more just to be found online. He closes with the practical checklist he runs through with every client, covering abbreviations, pronunciation, how the name feels when you say it out loud and whether it has a story worth telling. If you are preparing to launch your own firm, this is the framework to get it right before it ever goes live.   Questions answered in this episode include: Why does your firm name matter more after you break away than it did at a wirehouse? What happens when your name is too similar to other firms in your market? How does a crowded name drive up your marketing and SEO costs? Why should breakaway advisors think twice before using their last name? What is the difference between who you are and what you actually do for clients? What checklist should you run through before committing to a firm name?   Chapters: 00:00 The Hidden Cost of a Crowded Name 00:33 Welcome to Advisor Talk 01:00 Why Your Name Matters After You Break Away 02:08 The Story Behind the Name 04:40 SEO, Branding, and Standing Out 06:41 Lessons From Naming Elite 08:55 The Abbreviation and Pronunciation Test 10:46 How Elite Marketing Concepts Helps Advisors   Learn more about Elite and our resources: Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions https://eliteconsultingpartners.com Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors https://elitemarketingconcepts.com Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com JEDI Database Solutions | Technology Solutions for Advisors https://jedidatabasesolutions.com Elite Wealth Management Insights Report https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/

    What's Behind Your Name? Why Most Financial Advisors Get Rebranding Wrong

  7. Jun 4

    The Right Move Not The Next Move: What We Learned At Elite Ignite 2026

    Four days. Twenty-four firms. $4.5 trillion in controlled assets. Here is what Frank and Stacey took away from Elite Ignite 2026. Frank LaRosa and Stacey Frank are back in the studio for the first time in about six weeks and they are using this episode to do something they have never done quite like this before: open up the room. Elite Ignite started five years ago as an internal team meeting. It grew into a broker dealer and RIA conference unlike anything else in the industry. No deals discussed. No transition packages on the table. Just firms coming in, laying their swords down and getting to work. Frank and Stacey walk through the standout sessions and conversations from the 2026 conference held in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. They explain why working with 65 to 80 firms is not a liability but a strategic necessity, why 85% of what firms offer is essentially the same and why the remaining 15% is what Elite is built around understanding and how the conference is designed to make every advisor placement a deliberate decision rather than a convenient one. They get candid about the Good Firm Bad Firm Recruiter panel, where firm recruiters heard directly from Frank about what professional courtesy looks like when an advisor takes time away from their family to explore a transition. They also talk through the growing AI conversation among financial services firms, why the pro forma model Frank has been building for 15 years stopped every firm in the room and what it means that some firms walked out of the conference and immediately started rewriting their 2026 growth strategy. The full Elite Ignite 2026 Insight Report is available at eliteconsultingpartners.com/2026-ignite-recap   Questions answered in this episode include: What was Elite Ignite 2026 and who attended? How does Elite Consulting Partners decide which firms to work with and recommend to advisors? Why do advisors get confused when comparing offers from multiple firms, and how does Elite solve that? What did the Good Firm Bad Firm Recruiter panel reveal about how firm recruiters approach advisors? How are broker dealers and RIAs using AI to support financial advisor growth right now? Why doesn't Elite invite financial advisors to the conference, and will that change? What does it mean to make the right move instead of just the next move?   Chapters: 0:00 — What It Means to Make the Right Move, Not the Next Move 0:54 — Welcome Back: Stacey Rejoins and Elite Ignite Recap Begins 3:12 — The $4.5 Trillion Room: Firms, Collaboration, and the Iron Sharpens Iron Moment 7:15 — Why 85% Is the Same and the 15% Is Everything 10:06 — Inside the Conference: RIA Panels, M&A, and the AI Conversation 13:38 — Good Firm Bad Firm Recruiter: What Firms Need to Hear 18:11 — The Pro Forma Reveal and What the Industry Can Learn From It   Learn more about Elite and our resources: Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions https://eliteconsultingpartners.com Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors https://elitemarketingconcepts.com Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com JEDI Database Solutions | Technology Solutions for Advisors https://jedidatabasesolutions.com Elite Wealth Management Insights Report https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/

    The Right Move Not The Next Move: What We Learned At Elite Ignite 2026

  8. May 28 ·  Bonus

    Greatest Hits: When Is the Best Time for Financial Advisors to Transition Firms?

    Key Highlights from the Episode: 0:00 – Introduction 1:02 – Should I stay or should I go next year?   2:27 – Why Q4 is often the best time to transition   3:59 – How holidays and client schedules factor into timing   5:35 – Deferred comp considerations for advisors   10:23 – Why firms sweeten deals in Q4 to hit quotas   12:48 – The myth of the “perfect” time to move   14:42 – Leveraging holiday parties and events for client communication   17:08 – Why every advisor’s timing decision is unique   23:12 – Emotional readiness vs. waiting too long   25:27 – Rip the Band-Aid off: once you decide, just go   27:09 – Risks of delaying and firm pushback   28:11 – How to connect with Frank & Stacey   Resources: Elite Consulting Partners | Financial Advisor Transitions: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com Elite Marketing Concepts | Marketing Services for Financial Advisors: https://elitemarketingconcepts.com Elite Advisor Successions | Advisor Mergers and Acquisitions: https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com JEDI Database Solutions | Data Intelligence for Advisors: https://jedidatabasesolutions.com Listen to more Advisor Talk episodes: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/eliteconsultingpartners

    Greatest Hits: When Is the Best Time for Financial Advisors to Transition Firms?
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About

Advisor Talk with Frank LaRosa offers unfiltered guidance and advice for financial advisors, wealth management professionals, and entrepreneurs alike who are interested in maximizing both their business and personal potential. Informed by Frank's unique insights and his personal conversations with industry leaders, the dynamic discussion topics of Advisor Talk include business ownership, leadership, practice management, transition and recruiting, marketing and branding, as well as a host of financial services related topics related to wirehouse, regional, and RIA advisors, firms, and teams. Frank’s goal, and the goal of his team at Elite Consulting Partners, is now as ever to be the go-to resource for actionable information and trusted guidance to elevate you and your career at whatever stage you may be.

Information

  • Creator
    Elite Consulting Partners
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    348
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Elite Consulting Partners
  • Show Website
    Advisor Talk with Frank LaRosa

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