Almost every advisor we host on this series shares the desire for greater independence.
The good news is that there are plenty of options available in the ever-evolving industry landscape for advisors to find just what they’re looking for—including firms with multi-channel affiliations.
These give employee advisors an opportunity to slide to an independent model and become true business owners with far less hassle than they might have dealt with had they gone to another platform provider or built an independent business themselves.
Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network or FiNet as it’s commonly known, the independent broker dealer arm of Wells Fargo Advisors, is a popular home for advisors looking to go independent without the heavy lift of setting up their own firm from scratch.
And that’s especially true for Wells advisors, particularly this episode’s guests, Jason Andrews and Ross Bauer.
As employee advisors at Wells Fargo’s Private Client Group or PCG, they built the business to $280mm in assets under management and decided that it was time to build their own firm based on their vision.
After conducting due diligence, the notion of a transition to independence without actually “leaving” Wells was of tremendous appeal to them. So in 2019 they made the leap and launched Merritt Point Wealth Advisors with FiNet.
And today, just five years later, they are managing nearly $1.7B in assets.
Jason and Ross share their story with Louis Diamond, including:
- What actually drove such incredible growth in such a short time.
- What specifically made changing channels within Wells more attractive than other options.
- How their business lives differ from their time as employees of Wells to C-level leaders of their own firm.
- And key learnings other advisors can glean from their extraordinary growth story.
It’s an incredible story that shows how vision, planning, and determination can create extraordinary results, so be sure to listen in.