Writing
Independence
Going independent, what it costs, and why it should not cost you the infrastructure.
17 pieces
All pieces
Independence
What going independent actually costs
The setup invoice is the smallest number in this decision. The expensive part is the part that does not appear on any invoice.
Independence
Should you start an RIA, or join one
These get discussed as one decision. They are two, and the honest answer for most advisors is not the one the industry celebrates.
Independence
What you can take when you leave
This is the question every advisor asks first and the one a website is least qualified to answer. Here is the shape of it, and where you have to stop reading and call someone.
Independence
Telling clients you are leaving
Advisors dread this conversation more than any other part of the move. It is almost always easier than the version they rehearsed.
Independence
The gap where your track record used to be
You can rebuild a client base in a year. Rebuilding fifteen years of history takes fifteen years.
Independence
What is my firm worth
The multiple is the easy half. What moves it is a set of things most founders have optimized in exactly the wrong direction.
Independence
The cost to start an RIA
The invoices are knowable and smaller than most people expect. Two of the real costs never appear on one.
Independence
What a TAMP actually costs
The headline rate is not the number. Neither is the number your prospective provider is comparing themselves to.
Independence
You did not leave to become the operations department
Nobody plans this. It arrives one reasonable decision at a time, and by the time it is obvious it is the whole job.
Independence
The eighteen-month wall
The launch is exciting and year three is fine. There is a stretch in between that nobody describes, and it is where most of the doubt lives.
Independence
How to read a Form ADV
It is public, it is free, and almost nobody reads it. Four items contain most of what matters.
Independence
Not every independence is independence
The word has been applied to enough different arrangements that it no longer tells you what you are getting. Two questions do.
Independence
The first hire is almost never another advisor
Founders reach for a second advisor because they are thinking about capacity. The constraint is usually somewhere else entirely.
Independence
Why advisors stay longer than they meant to
Almost everyone who leaves says the same thing afterwards. The reasons for waiting are real — they are just mostly not about the decision.
Independence
Choosing a custodian is an operations decision
Firms evaluate custodians on pricing and brand. Neither is what you will care about in year two.
Independence
Which technology decisions are reversible
Most vendor choices can be undone in a weekend. Two or three cannot, and firms usually cannot tell them apart in advance.
Independence
What independence does not fix
It is a real solution to a specific set of problems. Advisors get into trouble when they expect it to solve a different set.
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