Shannon Eusey, who took a college essay that earned a B and used it to build Beacon Pointe Advisors into a firm with $61 billion in assets under advisement, is stepping aside as chief executive at the registered investment advisory.
Eusey is transitioning to a new role as chair of the company’s board of directors, while Matthew Cooper, who has been president for the past 15 years, will become CEO.
“This transition is intentional and strength based,” Eusey told the Business Journal. “Beacon Pointe is strong, growing nationally, and very well positioned. When a firm reaches this level of maturity, the responsibility of a founder is not to hold on but to build enduring leadership.
“Succession planning should be proactive, not reactive. If you truly want to build an institution, you evolve leadership while the firm is thriving. This is not stepping away. It is stepping differently.”
It’s an unexpected move for an entrepreneur who convinced dozens of independent RIAs to join her roll-up strategy while building her firm to 735 employees. KKR & Co. was so impressed that it acquired a stake in the firm in 2021.
Eusey’s won recognition from Barron’s, Forbes, CNBC and others. She co-wrote a best-selling book, “Your Dollars, Our Sense: A Fun & Simple Guide to Money Matters,” which reached the No. 1 ranking in six different business and finance categories on Amazon.
Along the way, she won several awards, including two from the Business Journal: Women in Business in 2017 and Excellence in Entrepreneurship in 2023. Last year, the Business Journal named her on the OC50 list of Rising Entrepreneurs.
“It is a privilege to assume the role of chief executive officer and build upon the extraordinary foundation Shannon has created,” Cooper said in a statement. “Her vision, integrity, and leadership have shaped Beacon Pointe into the firm that it is today. I look forward to continuing to further our mission of delivering independent, client-first advice while driving thoughtful growth and innovation alongside an outstanding team of leaders across the organization.”
The Athlete Inside
Eusey grew up in Orange County, becoming a scholarship volleyball player at University of California, Irvine and eventually a marathoner.
“Athletes know what it takes to win,” Eusey once said on a podcast. “I think the reason they know what it takes to win is because they’ve experienced what it takes to lose.
“This builds a resiliency … a little bit of a thick skin. I mean, it’s pretty easy after you lose—or don’t get a deal or aren’t growing like you’re supposed to be growing—to walk away and quit. But the athlete just knows that she has to get back to work the next day.”
After college, she worked as a senior managing director at Roxbury Capital Management LLC, which was based in Los Angeles. She didn’t agree with its large market cap-focused investment style and thought of a “better, more holistic way to help clients.”
When taking an entrepreneurial class for an MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Eusey wrote a business plan for a company she wanted to start.
“I got a B on the paper; the professor didn’t think it would work,” recalled Eusey. “I still have the paper in my desk.”
That professor clearly missed the mark.
Eusey used that paper as the blueprint in 2002 for Beacon Pointe, which she started along with her father, Garth Flint, who has a deep background in financial services, having founded Newport Beach’s Canterbury Consulting, as well as serving as an investment consultant for Merrill Lynch.
“I grew up around the dinner table where my father discussed how much he loved this business and he loved helping clients,” she said in a previous interview.
Eusey, who has four children with her husband, Rick, has carved a niche by emphasizing wealth management for women.
In 2011, the company began its Women’s Advisory Institute, one of the first formal initiatives in the RIA space centered on serving female investors. It focuses on goal-based planning and supporting clients through transitions such as the loss of a spouse or a divorce.
More than 50% of Beacon Pointe’s corporate leadership team is female, making it the largest women-led RIA in the nation.
“What is super interesting—with our firm being female led—is that two-thirds of wealth will be controlled by women. That’s powerful,” Eusey said. “We’re doing a really good job of informing our female investors.”
When asked why she picked a male as the next CEO, she noted that she’s been working with Cooper for 25 years.
“Our leadership is still more than 50% female led,” she said. “We didn’t go out and say we’ll be a female-led organization. That’s just how it happened.
“It’s a perfect transition.”
The Savviest Investors
Eusey has had to convince investors to let her manage millions of dollars of their money. On top of that, she’s had to persuade savvy registered investment advisors who own their own firms to join Beacon.
“We share with our partner firms this: joining Beacon Pointe means gaining the best of both worlds—the scale and resources of a national firm, with the independence and client focus of a boutique practice,” Eusey said. “Importantly, we don’t ask advisors to give up their identity—we work to enhance it.”
In 2020, Eusey said her goal was to grow from 15 offices to 50. Beacon Pointe now has 85 offices.
Currently, Beacon Pointe has 26,000 clients with assets ranging from $2 million to $100 million or more.
Beacon Pointe has launched new programs like healthcare planning and 401(k) management. It’s expanded into helping college students navigate name, image and likeness (NIL) issues by advising them on matters from endorsement agreements to strategic partnerships to tax strategy. The company also created a Foundations of Finance course for high school students and partnered with the Girl Scouts to teach financial literacy.
Neither Eusey nor Beacon Pointe plan to leave Newport Beach. Both management and KKR’s stake will remain the same, she said.
As chair of the board, Eusey said she will focus on long-term strategy, governance and stewardship of our culture.
“This shift also allows me to lean further into something I care deeply about, empowering women in their financial lives. That mission has been part of Beacon Pointe from the beginning, and I look forward to expanding that work through education, advocacy, and broader thought leadership.”
She said she’s proud of having scaled nationally without compromising the firm’s culture.
“I am proud that we have created meaningful career opportunities for advisors within a collaborative environment,” she said. “Most of all, I am proud of the impact we have had on families and institutions.”
Beacon Pointe has also continued its rollup strategy.
Last week, Beacon Pointe announced it had acquired The Financial Advisors LLC to expand into the New England market. Established in 1992, The Financial Advisors has grown to $1.2 billion in assets under management and a team of 11 with specialties spanning investments, tax planning and retirement planning. It has offices in the Massachusetts cities of Andover and Newburyport.
