Welcome, everyone! Welcome to the 65th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!
My guest on today’s podcast is Peter Mallouk. Peter is the President of Creative Planning, one of the largest independent RIAs in the country with nearly $35 billion in assets under management for more than 20,000 clients, spanning 12 states and 21 office locations.
What’s unique about Peter, though, is that he’s been able to grow the firm from under $100 million to nearly $35 billion in AUM in just 15 years, and without relying on mergers and acquisitions ... instead building an organic growth machine through a combination of strategic partnerships, in trying to build a “one-stop shop” with enough size and scale to deliver the kind of comprehensive value that will really make your clients refer.
In this episode, we talk in depth about how Peter’s firm includes not only financial planning and investment management services but also divisions for tax preparation, estate planning, and trust services (stemming from his own early days as an estate planning attorney before becoming an advisor), why he felt it was necessary to expand and deepen the services of his firm to provide real value to his clients, and why even at $35 billion in AUM Peter still views his firm as a small “boutique” in the marketplace, even as the size of the firm is allowing them to attract more and more affluent ultra-high-net-worth clientele.
We also talk about the broader trends in the advisory industry, how the consumer marketplace is split into pursuing either the highest value or the lowest cost (and why that’s a threat to most advisors in between), why both wirehouses and the retail divisions of RIA custodians are simultaneously moving away from selling products and into financial advice, and the competitive threats that advisory firm owners must navigate in the coming years.
And be certain to listen to the end, where Peter shares why he still personally spends a whopping 70 percent of his time every week sitting in front of prospects and clients, and his philosophy of minimizing layers of management in order to keep the firm efficient, even as they approach 500 employees.
So whether you’re interested in learning how to achieve organic growth through strategic partnerships and delivering high-value services that make you attractive for client referrals, how the advisory industry is split into pursuing either highest value or lowest cost or you are interested in how creative planning has minimized layers of management even while growing to $35 billion in AUM, I hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast!
