Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors, a Houston-based registered investment advisor with $1.6 billion in client assets, has completed a more than 20-year succession plan with eight new partners taking a stake in the employee-owned firm.
Mike Booker founded Financial Synergies in 1986 as an independent firm focused on high-net-worth individuals. About 20 years ago, when he hired the three advisors who are now managing partners, he started a succession plan for eventually handing the firm over to his employees.
The RIA industry changed greatly during those years, including a flood of private equity money backing RIA buyout offers. Financial Synergies was no exception, receiving numerous offers over the years, said Mike Minter, a managing partner at the firm.
“We joked that they were hiding in the bushes outside the office,” Minter said. “It was almost a daily thing where you’d get a phone call or a probing email from some of the roll-up shops.”
Financial Synergies was also somewhat rare because it had a succession plan from its early days. According to a 2024 study by DeVoe & Company, the percentage of RIAs with a written succession plan has actually declined over the years to 42%.
With the founder’s initial setup, advisors Minter, Bryan Zschiesche and Heath Hightower would get a 10% stake in the firm if they stayed for 10 years.
“[Booker] had the foresight to say, ‘Look, if I don’t do this there’s no way you all will be able to buy me out some day,’” Minter said.
They stayed to earn that stake. Then in 2016, the second-generation advisors bought another 19%, with Booker holding the majority at 51%.
In the meantime, valuations for RIAs continued to rise. Minter said there were points when the team was concerned about being able to buy Booker out to complete the plan.
But ultimately, with the help of a valuation firm, they figured out an agreement that included a discount for internal succession and could work for the three managing partners and eight new partners that they identified out of a staff of about 20.
“There’s really nothing that makes a stickier, more passionate employee to your firm than that ownership,” Minter said. “Every one of them is extremely deserving.”
Not all the new partners are advisors, including Marie Villard, who was promoted to chief operating officer in the move.
The other partners are: Grant Ball, Rachel Buckhoff, Tim Garcia-Prats, Will Goodson, Kevin Nelson, Colton Owen and Zach Robinson.
Minter said, as a next step, the firm will work with a consulting firm to build a structure that can work for generations three and four to continue employee ownership. He said they would not rule out a noncontrolling minority investment or other form of capital to fuel growth.
“There is something in our DNA that makes us fiercely competitive,” he said. “We like competing with the big guys.”