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RIA Edge Podcast: Beacon Pointe’s Matt Cooper on Driving Exponential RIA GrowthRIA Edge Podcast: Beacon Pointe’s Matt Cooper on Driving Exponential RIA Growth

Beacon Pointe Advisors President Matthew Cooper shares the best practices for buying and selling a business.

Mark Bruno, Managing Director, Wealth Management

March 15, 2022

 

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From one small firm in 2011 to a national RIA with 36 offices in 2020, Beacon Pointe has experienced tremendous growth within the industry in a short period of time. 

Beacon Pointe’s M&A strategy has played a large role in its growth and it has evolved into one of the leading, most active—and most strategic acquirers in the industry. 

In this episode, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Matthew Cooper, founding partner, president, Beacon Pointe Advisors, to discuss the firm’s growth strategy, and best practices for buying and selling a business.

Mark and Matt discuss:

  • How the challenges of smaller RIAs, the competition for talent and the evolution of technology all influenced Beacon Pointe’s M&A strategy;

  • The profile of an ideal acquisition for Beacon Pointe;

  • What are the primary motivators for RIAs that are looking to exit their market; and

  • When bringing firms together under Beacon Pointe, what happens “after the close.”  More specifically, how Beacon Pointe approaches operational and cultural integration to create new growth and value.

Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast

About the Author

Mark Bruno

Managing Director, Wealth Management, Informa Connect

Mark Bruno is Managing Director, Wealth Management at Informa Connect. In his role, Mr. Bruno leads the company’s Wealth Management media and event properties, which currently consists of WealthManagement.com, Inside ETFs and Inside WealthStack. He is also charged with driving several innovative new community and advisor-based initiatives, including the launch of the new RIA Edge podcast, event and webcast series.

In addition, Mr. Bruno is overseeing strategic partnerships and acquisitions to accelerate Informa’s growth within the financial advisor and wealth management communities. Mr. Bruno brings over 20 years of experience in the wealth management and asset management industries to Informa, including prominent leadership roles in industry media, research, and consulting organizations.

Before joining Informa Connect, Mr. Bruno was a Managing Director at ECHELON Partners, where he provided investment banking, consulting and valuation services to wealth managers. Mr. Bruno specialized in helping RIAs with a range of strategic initiatives, and his areas of expertise include organizational design and assessments, compensation consulting and succession and continuity solutions.

Prior to joining ECHELON, Mr. Bruno was the Managing Director and Associate Publisher at InvestmentNews, where he was responsible for overseeing a wide range of businesses, including IN’s research, content strategy, digital, custom publishing and sales groups. Mr. Bruno was with InvestmentNews for 12 years and helped establish the company as the leading B2B media brand in the wealth management industry. He played an integral role in the sale of InvestmentNews from Crain Communication to Bonhill Plc in 2018.

Mr. Bruno is an award-winning journalist, author and researcher who has written and edited for a number of financial publications over the past two decades, including InvestmentNews, Financial Week, Pensions & Investments and U.S. Banker. Mr. Bruno has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Chicago Tribune for his expertise in wealth and investment management. Mr. Bruno has received numerous accolades for his writing and reporting, including the American Business Media's prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award, and for his breaking news coverage and analysis of the financial services industry by The Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Mr. Bruno is the author of Save Now or Die Trying: Achieving Long-Term Wealth In Your 20s and 30s, one of the top-selling retirement planning books of 2007.