The variety of RIAs has grown quickly previously a number of years, however none has turn out to be as huge as a sprawling wirehouse. Not but.
Marty Bicknell gives an authoritative prediction.
“In 5 to 10 years, there will likely be a handful of actually giant unbiased RIAs that may rival the dimensions of the wirehouses,” Bicknell, CEO and president of Mariner Wealth Advisors, tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview.
It’s a superb guess that Mariner, fourth on Barron’s checklist of high RIAs, might be a kind of.
The Overland Park, Kansas-based agency, based in 2006, has grown at a quick clip — it has 110 areas nationwide and now advises on a complete of $230 billion in property. Its 1,800 monetary advisors embody workers and unbiased contractors.
Inorganic progress has been a big key to its success. To this point, Mariner has made 55 acquisitions, the latest of which, a mix of institutional consultants AndCo Consultants and Fourth Avenue Efficiency Companions, closed in April. The deal kicked off the agency’s Mariner Institutional model and introduced in $104 billion in property below advisement.
Different manufacturers embody Mariner Extremely, for ultra-high-net-worth purchasers, and Mariner Office, for enterprise homeowners.
Bicknell argues that it’s vital for advisors to supply a wide range of further providers, and Mariner itself has 125 tax professionals getting ready purchasers’ revenue tax returns.
“We’ve all of the bases coated,” Bicknell says.
Within the interview, Bicknell, who spent 16 years with A.G. Edwards earlier than founding Mariner, additionally talks concerning the problem of working with ultra-high-net-worth purchasers and intently held household companies.
Listed below are highlights of our dialog:
THINKADVISOR: What has been Mariner’s chief approach of rising?
MARTY BICKNELL: We develop organically, however we additionally develop by way of acquisitions.
Are you making extra of a push to step up inorganic progress?
It’s a unbroken effort. We made our first acquisition in 2012 and have completed 55 in whole. The final one [closed] in April 2024.
We’ll be asserting one other one on the finish of July or in early August.
What are the largest challenges for RIA corporations in the present day?
The primary problem for many corporations is expertise: advisors, non-advisors, management.
There are extra corporations within the registered funding advisory house which are rising, however [the field] could be very fragmented. Most corporations are at $1 billion or smaller.
The common corporations which are rising are having hassle rising past the founders and bringing different management into the group.
To what extent does Mariner have an energetic recruiting program?
We’ve a recruiting workforce that’s totally devoted to advisor recruiting and one other workforce that’s devoted to non-advisors.
What differentiates Mariner from different high RIAs?
We’ve a few of the most proficient advisors within the business.
Our natural progress is a differentiator, and it helps entice advisors to the agency. As they develop, we will present extra alternatives for them to serve increasingly more purchasers.
Our expanded providers is one in every of our differentiators. Advisors are coming to us due to them. We’ve all of the bases coated.
We name our advisors “advisors to our advisors.” If an advisor wants assist taking a shopper by way of the sale of an organization or property planning, for instance, they’ll advise them on the right way to greatest serve the shopper.
What’s a big motive for an advisor becoming a member of your agency fairly than a wirehouse?
The primary motive is our skill to have providers in-house that encompass them in an effort to elevate their worth proposition and the shopper expertise.
Inform me about your agency’s breadth of providers.
We’re increasing from simply investments into tax providers, belief providers, insurance coverage and others.
Demand from purchasers is driving many corporations so as to add providers. It’s an important alternative to distinguish themselves.