When I arrived in Orange County in 2013 with Creative Planning Inc., we had no office and no staff.
We did have high expectations our fiduciary wealth management would resonate with higher net worth clients, though.
Registered investment advisers like Creative (see list, page 31) are legally required to serve their clients’ best interest—always.
So, conventional cold calls and networking seemed no match for how we present ourselves: needs-based, fee-neutral.
Likewise, an email or mailbox invitation to a fancy dinner presentation smacks of product pitchmen, not the relationship I’d want with an adviser. When did your doctor last invite you to dinner to drum up business?
I see three main contributors to our growth.
Execution
From the first “hello,” it’s about competency over salesmanship.
A client meeting is likely not over dinner, on the golf course, or courtside. We want to emphasize execution.
There’s little room for typical industry schmoozing and clients are better off for it.
CPAs, CFPs and attorneys are all in-house and the real work starts after clients sign up.
Strategy
Wrong place to start: identifying trendy investments that sell and seeking clients who’ll bite.
The right place: no gimmicks or glossy strategy brochures.
Start with the client’s needs and work backward to solve for investment, tax and estate planning strategy.
This leads us to manage money differently. Rather than using boilerplate model strategies designed to appeal to the most clients possible, we manage each portfolio with one person in mind: the client.
This degree of personalization produces referrals to friends and family. Our entire OC business has grown this way.
Talent
Hiring is essential; patience has proven key.
I filtered through stacks of applicants over a full year before we made our first offer.
To get one, you have to pass the “adviser to my Mom test.” Meaning, we must see you as being able to be the adviser to our own family.
The second test: are we confident you’ll land in the top 10% of advisers, firmwide.
Sometimes, I wonder if I’d make the cut today, as we raise the bar every time. Wondering whether I’d pass muster compared to the caliber of my local team gives me confidence for the firm’s future in Orange County.
Creative Planning has seen annualized growth in assets under management of 29% the last three years. In OC, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to grow aggressively while delivering on promises we made to our clients at “hello.”
The Irvine office has grown to eight employees and the firm now works with more than 500 families locally, and counts $994 million in assets.
Editor’s Note: Andrew Fuller is Orange County managing director for Creative Planning, an Overland Park, Kan.-based wealth manager ranked first on Barron’s 2017 list of Top RIA firms.
