Integrated Partners, a CPA-focused hybrid RIA and office of supervisory jurisdiction of LPL Financial with over $18 billion in AUA, has named Andree Mohr, currently its chief implementation officer, as its new president.
Paul Saganey founded Integrated in 1996, serving as president and CEO up until now. Saganey, who will continue as CEO, said Mohr’s promotion allows the firm to usher in the next generation of leadership. The change does not signal that the 61-year-old is close to retirement, and he said he plans to be with the firm for at least the next 20 years.
“When you see the rest of the industry and how they’re thinking more short term with what they want to do with their firms, with the capital partners that don’t have a long-term view of what everyone’s trying to build,” Saganey said. “We’re just the opposite; we still have no capital partners, not PE (private equity) firms, nothing like that. We want this to be a forever company. To be a forever company, it means you need to have that next leadership in place.”
Mohr, 35, joined the company in 2015 as director of business development. She said the move realigns her and Saganey’s responsibilities across three focus areas: helping the firm’s advisors work with more of Integrated’s CPA partners, moving upmarket to work with higher-net-worth clients, and coaching advisors’ team members on technology.
Mohr will focus on the CPA partnerships and tech pieces, while Saganey will concentrate on coaching advisors moving upmarket.
“By aligning our roles, it gives Paul the opportunity to dream big, think big, but also coach our advisors,” Mohr said. “It allows me to be able to implement some new technology we want to do and run the business operations, and then as well realign the team to really focus on the CPA story.”
Integrated has built much of its business through partnering with accounting firms. It currently has 188 accounting firms in its CPA Alliance. The model is predicated on providing the resources and training advisors need to take their practices to the next level. The CPA Alliance offers a captive pool of ultra-wealthy clients that Integrated advisors can tap into while giving CPA professionals the tools they need to address increasingly complex client needs.
“A lot of advisors want to work with CPAs, but they’ve had a hard time making them successful,” she added. “That’s really the secret to our sauce—it’s really about how we position ourselves when we bring in CPA firms, about the problems that we’re solving for the CPA’s highest net worth clients and business owners.”
Saganey believes they’re going after the accounting firms at the right time.
“The average accountant is reaching an age where their highest revenue clients, which are small businesses, are getting ready to sell their businesses,” he said. “The next 10 years, the accounting community is going to be such that a lot of our ideal clients will be going through what are called ‘liquidity events.’ That provides planning opportunities; it provides assets for us to manage.”
At the same time, many Integrated advisors have never worked with such large clients and need help along the way. That’s where Saganey comes in.
“Because of that, advisors who join us, for the first time in their lives, they’re seeing clients worth $50, $75, $100 million,” he said. “Our program would crash and burn if we weren’t out there training and developing and mentoring and holding the advisor’s hand every step along the way.”
Mohr’s appointment coincides with the launch of her new book, Center Stage: How to Become the Star of Your Practice, co-authored by Saganey and Matt Ackermann, chief content officer at Integrated.