Growth Leaders of Wealth Management

Meg Carpenter

In an industry that's changing faster than ever, expectations for growth, both organic and inorganic, are only getting more intense. With private equity money flooding into the wealth management space, customer experience expectations leveling up, generative AI upending process and a generational wealth transfer that will transform client acquisitions, the journey to growth for all wealth management businesses will require adaptability, resilience and a long-term vision that puts client's needs first. The Growth Leaders of Wealth Management podcast tells the stories of businesses who are on their growth journey now. We'll learn how they got this far, what the challenges have been, how they've overcome them, what they've learned along the way and what their next big mountain to climb is. Join our host, Meg Carpenter, as we learn from the stories of some of the industry's best and brightest on the Growth Leaders of Wealth Management podcast.

  1. 3d ago

    25. The 40-Year Growth Engine: How Wescott Keeps Compounding Its Competitive Advantage

    What creates a growth advantage that competitors can't easily replicate? In this episode of Growth Leaders of Wealth Management, Meg sits down with Grant Rawdin, Founder and CEO of Wescott Financial Advisory Group, Carrie Delgott, President and COO, and Alex Rawdin, Director of Client Development and Growth Strategy, to explore how a firm founded inside a law practice nearly 40 years ago continues to evolve while staying true to the principles that shaped it from the beginning. Built on long-term relationships, specialized expertise, operational discipline, and a deep understanding of human behavior, Wescott has focused on strengthening the underlying systems that make growth possible. That approach has shaped everything from the firm's expansion beyond its legal roots to the development of a growth infrastructure centered on people, process, technology, and data. Along the way, the story touches on acquisition integration, next-generation talent development, behavioral psychology, client engagement, and the cultural practices that have helped Wescott maintain its identity through decades of growth and change. Nearly 40 years after its founding, the firm continues to balance consistency with curiosity, proving that durable growth often comes from investments that compound quietly over time. For leaders seeking to build something that can endure across generations, this episode offers valuable insight into the structures, habits, and decisions that stand the test of time. 0:00 The Search For Durable Growth 4:28 Meet Wescott And The Guests 7:30 Founding Inside A Law Firm 10:59 Inflection Points And Rah Rah 15:20 People, Process, Technology, and Data 21:32 Centralize Then Democratize Business Development 27:40 Growth Channels And COI Verticals 34:01 Pharma Acquisition And Integration Truths 47:20 Digital Lead Gen That Broke 52:07 Ideal Client Profile And Content Engine 56:44 Behavioral Roots And Perfect Score 1:06:54 B Corp Culture And Talent Pipeline 1:17:29 Incentives Training And Monday Morning Quarterback 1:25:09 AI Experiments Next Chapter Closing Connect with us:  Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners WebsiteGrant Rawdin on LinkedInCarrie Delgott on LinkedInAlex Rawdin on LinkedInWescott Financial Advisory Group website

    1h 34m

  2. May 12

    24. Coldstream’s Case for Scaling Without Private Equity

    Most firms say they care about culture. Coldstream Wealth Management built a system that forces it. At a time when private equity has become the default path to scale, Coldstream has taken a different route: eight acquisitions in five years, more than tripling assets, and not a single dollar of outside capital. No investment bankers. No fund timelines. No external pressure to close. So what replaces it? In this conversation, Meg talks with CEO Kevin Fitzwilson, President of M&A Josh Harris, and Chief Growth Officer David Christian about what it actually takes to build an acquisitive firm without private equity. The intellectual capital required to represent yourself in deals. The long-standing bank relationship that quietly powers their growth. And why they believe direct, unfiltered conversations reveal more about a partner than any data room ever could. You’ll also hear how Coldstream defines its ideal client at scale across ten teams, why growth is treated as a firm-wide responsibility, and how a shared mission of “enhancing people’s lives” translates into a 10-year vision without letting AUM become the goal. But the most important idea runs deeper: culture fit isn’t something they evaluate after the fact. It’s something they design for. Through employee ownership, deliberate pacing, and a willingness to walk away, they’ve built a system that attracts a specific kind of founder, and filters out the rest. This isn’t a story about avoiding private equity. It’s a story about what you have to build instead. Connect with us:  Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners WebsiteKevin Fitzwilson on LinkedInJosh Harris on LinkedInDavid Christian on LinkedInColdstream Website 0:00 The PE Assumption Gets Challenged  5:53 Building Deal Skills Without Sponsors  8:27 Why Coldstream Avoids Bankers  14:07 Ideal Client Work At Scale  20:52 Mission First And A 10-Year Plan  30:48 Integration Lessons And Talent As M&A  36:06 Founders Explain The Leap  42:35 Culture Fit As Structural Design  52:30 Ownership Architecture And Financial Discipline  1:02:30 What Comes Next And Real Threats  1:11:28 Infinite Mindset And Closing Requests About Ficomm Partners Ficomm Partners is the embedded growth partner for results-driven RIAs, and wealth management platforms. With a track record of helping over 250 clients achieve their growth goals, Ficomm understands that while industry patterns may repeat, each firm's growth challenges are unique. Ficomm prioritizes strategy and finds the most impactful ways to move you toward your goals. We align all your marketing activities with your business objectives, acting as your dedicated growth partner with our human-first approach, strategy-first methodology, and unrivaled team of industry marketing experts.

    1h 17m

  3. Apr 14

    23. Truepoint's 36-Year Case for Staying Independent

    Most firms say they want to last. Truepoint Wealth Counsel engineered it. When PE valuations exploded and peers were cashing out at eye-popping multiples, Truepoint Wealth Counsel did something almost unheard of: they put the PE decision to a vote. One shareholder, one vote, regardless of ownership size. The result? An overwhelming mandate to stay independent and double down on growth. That vote didn't just settle a question. It forced one: if you're not selling, how do you actually build a firm designed to outlast its founders? In this conversation, Meg talks with founder and chairman Michael Chasnoff, CEO Steve Condon, and Director of Growth Abby Tuke about what 36 years of employee ownership actually looks like in practice. The financing mechanism that lets employees buy in, the governance structure that separates ownership from management, and the comp model that rewards firm-wide growth instead of individual production. You'll also hear about Commas, Truepoint Wealth Counsel's subscription-based service arm for wealth accumulators, the segmentation mistake that allowed them to realize a third service tier they never planned on, and why a 20-year time horizon changes every decision from marketing to technology to AI readiness. This isn't a succession planning story. It's a story about what becomes possible when permanence is the strategy from day one. 0:00 — What Does It Actually Mean to Build a Firm That Lasts? 4:41 — Why Michael Chasnoff Started TruePoint in 1990 8:13 — Employee Ownership as a Growth Strategy 10:01 — The Mindset Shift That Made Ownership Distribution Possible 15:42 — How Employees Actually Afford to Buy In 16:48 — The Private Equity Vote That Changed Everything 26:01 — Building a Growth Culture Without Sales Language 35:06 — No Individual Incentives, Firm-Wide Reward 42:49 — The Segmentation Mistake That Led to a Third Service Tier 54:55 — Why AI Readiness Starts With Clean Data Connect with us:  Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners Website Michael Chasnoff on LinkedInSteve Condon on LinkedInAbby Tuke on LinkedInTruepoint Wealth Counsel Wealth Counsel

    1h 5m

  4. Mar 10

    22. The RIA That Engineered Its Own Liquidity: Parallel Advisors

    Most firms treat liquidity like an event. Parallel built it into the system. Instead of waiting for retirement to solve succession, they created a way for advisors to transition pieces of their book internally, get paid through revenue share, and free up space to grow again. No forced sale. No awkward handoff. The next advisor steps in, incentives stay aligned, and clients never feel the shift.  They also give advisors a real choice. Monetize up front through M&A, or partner and monetize later. Same platform. Same culture. Different timing. That flexibility changes recruiting conversations and keeps good advisors building longer. In this conversation, Meg talks with CJ Rendic, Mike Murray, and Jake Schutt about what actually drove Parallel from $5B to over $10B, why their digital lead gen experiment didn’t convert, how they built peer accountability instead of boss pressure, and why autonomy, relationships, and economics still run this industry. 0:00 — The Myth of Silver Bullets & Parallel’s Inflection to $10B 6:20 — The Three Levers of Growth: Organic, Inorganic, Market 12:28 — Solving Capacity with Internal Book Transitions 16:58 — Infrastructure That Scales: Pods, Planning, Centralized Teams 20:24 — Forums, Peer Accountability, and Advisor Activation 24:00 — Corporate Lead Gen Trade-Offs & The Bay Area Experiment 31:40 — M&A vs. Recruiting: Dual Paths, Dual Equity, Real Optionality 42:37 — Scaling Culture Through Systems, Not Slogans 46:12 — Autonomy, Relationships, Economics & Gamified Activity 51:40 — Market Capture, AI Tools, and the $100B Vision Connect with us:  Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners WebsiteCJ Rendic on LinkedInMichael Murray on LinkedInJacob Schutt on LinkedInParallel Advisors

    1h 16m

  5. Feb 10

    21. Mission Wealth and the Growth Model Built Around Advisor Capacity

    When a firm grows, most people picture the same things: more clients per advisor, more complexity stacked onto the day, and longer hours that slowly become the norm. The common result is that growth shows up as pressure before it shows up as progress. Mission Wealth challenged that assumption early and built a firm around a different idea: protect capacity first, then design growth around it. Today, that thinking shapes everything from how many households an advisor serves, to how teams share revenue and who earns ownership across the organization. In this new episode of Growth Leaders of Wealth Management, our host Meg Carpenter sits down with Mission Wealth’s leadership to explore what happens when growth becomes a structural decision rather than a volume race. They talk through the choices behind capped client loads, shared expertise, long-term investment in organic channels, and why patience compounds faster than urgency. Welcome! 0:00 — Why Mission Wealth Stands Out 2:08 — The 60-Household Cap and a Different Growth Model 6:21 — Organic Growth, Market Impact, and M&A Reality 9:09 — How Mission Wealth Built Multiple Growth Channels 14:29 — Custodial Referrals and Competing at the Top Tier 16:54 — The Wealth Strategy Group as a Growth Engine 20:13 — Diamond Teams, Regional Models, and Capacity Control 26:02 — Marketing Evolves Into a Firmwide Growth Driver 32:23 — Digital Growth, Patience, and the Three-Year Rule 41:05 — Leadership, Gender Equity, and Advisor Advantage 43:11 — AI, Advisor Capacity, and the Road Ahead Connect with us:  Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners Website Matthew Adams on LinkedInDannell Stuart on LinkedInMichelle Winkles on LinkedInJohn Wernz on LinkedInMission Wealth Website

    1h 8m

  6. Jan 13

    20. The Dual-RIA Design Changing How Elite Advisors Scale with NewEdge Capital Group

    Very few firms in wealth management grow from $25 billion to nearly $100 billion in five years, and even fewer do it by rethinking the structure of the industry itself. NewEdge Capital Group built its momentum by designing a platform around what elite advisors actually need: time, autonomy, and a model that supports different kinds of practices without forcing them into the same box. Their dual-RIA architecture, integration-first tech philosophy, and innovative bridge programs — now generating almost $2 billion in internal referrals — are the result of looking at the advisor experience with fresh eyes. In this episode, host Meg Carpenter sits down with two leaders whose path into wealth management began in the tech world. They first built companies together, then scaled Alex’s family advisory practice into Goss Advisors, which was later acquired by EdgeCo Holdings and merged with Mid Atlantic Financial Management to form the base of what is now NewEdge Capital Group. Their story is part entrepreneurial, part structural reinvention, and part cultural clarity — a combination that helps explain why top advisors are choosing NewEdge and why the firm’s growth shows no signs of slowing. Connect with us:  Alex Goss on LinkedInNeil Turner on LinkedInNewEdge Capital Group Megan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners Website About Ficomm Partners Ficomm Partners is the embedded growth partner for results-driven RIAs, and wealth management platforms. With a track record of helping over 250 clients achieve their growth goals, Ficomm understands that while industry patterns may repeat, each firm's growth challenges are unique. Ficomm prioritizes strategy and finds the most impactful ways to move you toward your goals. We align all your marketing activities with your business objectives, acting as your dedicated growth partner with our human-first approach, strategy-first methodology, and unrivaled team of industry marketing experts.

    1h 9m

  7. 12/09/2025

    19. Cresset Capital’s Playbook for an AI-Driven Future

    Cresset’s growth story took a sharp turn this past year when nearly half of their web search leads began arriving through AI engines instead of Google. That shift came from years of building a digital marketing infrastructure that could adapt quickly, a clear client archetype, and a leadership team willing to test new channels long before they’re mainstream. In this episode, host Meg Carpenter speaks with co-founder and co-chairman Eric Becker and Chief Growth Officer Jessica Malkin about how Cresset reached $65 billion in eight years and why their digital strategy is evolving faster than the industry around them. They explore the rise of AI-driven discovery, the diversified growth model powering their expansion, and the cultural decisions made early on that still shape the firm today. 0:00 — The $500M AI lead that sparked the conversation 3:50 — How Cresset was built by clients, culture, and a real brand 10:45 — The early digital bet and the momentum that followed 17:45 — A major pivot that fell short and what they learned 23:50 — How their diversified growth engine actually works 29:20 — Ownership, succession, and advisor appeal 39:20 — Catalyst, AI discovery, and the 100-year vision Connect with us:  Eric Becker on LinkedInJessica Malkin on LinkedInCresset CapitalMegan Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners Website Visit the Karma For Cara Foundation website to learn more about their job helping patients who are facing leukemia. About Ficomm Partners Ficomm Partners is the embedded growth partner for results-driven RIAs, and wealth management platforms. With a track record of helping over 250 clients achieve their growth goals, Ficomm understands that while industry patterns may repeat, each firm's growth challenges are unique. Ficomm prioritizes strategy and finds the most impactful ways to move you toward your goals. We align all your marketing activities with your business objectives, acting as your dedicated growth partner with our human-first approach, strategy-first methodology, and unrivaled team of industry marketing experts.

    1h 14m

  8. 11/11/2025

    18. Building a Firm That Grows Itself: The Brighton Jones Way

    When Jon Jones stepped away from Brighton Jones for a year to travel with his family, the firm didn’t pause for him to return. It continued growing on its own momentum. Steady, intentional, and deeply rooted in culture. That story says everything about how the business was built. In this episode, Meg Carpenter sits down with Jon Jones, Carley Dillon, and Melinda Torres to explore the systems and philosophies behind Brighton Jones’ sustained growth. They share how empathy became a core competency through their MESI program, how client experience evolved into an operational discipline, and why their team chose patience and purpose over shortcuts. It’s a rare look at a firm that has turned emotional intelligence, client trust, and thoughtful leadership into something measurable and scalable. Connect with us:  Jon Jones on LinkedInCarley Dillon on LinkedInMelinda Torres on LinkedInBrighton Jones Meg Carpenter on LinkedInFicomm Partners

    1h 8m
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5
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

In an industry that's changing faster than ever, expectations for growth, both organic and inorganic, are only getting more intense. With private equity money flooding into the wealth management space, customer experience expectations leveling up, generative AI upending process and a generational wealth transfer that will transform client acquisitions, the journey to growth for all wealth management businesses will require adaptability, resilience and a long-term vision that puts client's needs first. The Growth Leaders of Wealth Management podcast tells the stories of businesses who are on their growth journey now. We'll learn how they got this far, what the challenges have been, how they've overcome them, what they've learned along the way and what their next big mountain to climb is. Join our host, Meg Carpenter, as we learn from the stories of some of the industry's best and brightest on the Growth Leaders of Wealth Management podcast.

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