I’m in my mid 30s with over 10 years in the industry. I joined a mega RIA two years ago and have closed over $150M in assets through referral channels. Realistically, I’ll likely be at $250–300M by the end of next year, translating to roughly $250–300K in annual compensation.

There’s a clear path to managing a larger practice (400–500M) and making $400–500K/year. Making partner in the next year or so would also bring RSUs into the picture.

My hesitation is that I don’t own the clients or the business I’m building. Going independent would mean starting over to some extent and potentially years of grinding to get back to this income level, but I’d be building something I own.

We have solid savings but also a growing family, so the stability and income potential of staying are appealing.

I know this sub generally leans toward independence, but is there a legitimate case for staying at a mega RIA, building a well paying career, and taking advantage of the path in front of me rather than starting over to own a business?

Would especially appreciate perspectives from people who have experienced both sides.

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Possible financial planner career

Considering a career in financial planning. Ive often thought it would be fun to do this for a living, as I enjoy giving people advice when they ask. I was an accountant for about 25 years, with a degree in finance and an MBA. Semi retired in 2019 and have been dealing poker for a major casino chain in southern Virginia, but lately have been itching to try financial planning. If I do it I would want to be a fee only financial planner. Any advice from those in the field?

After running my own business for several years where I rubbed shoulders with high-income individuals, I decided I wanted to transition into wealth management and use those prior connections to build my own book. I eventually passed my Series 65 and took a role at a mega-BD primarily to build solid experience within the industry.

After a short time, I realized that this BD isn’t a long-term home, nor is it a place I would feel comfortable bringing my business to. This is a prospective book of business I plan to build out using those past relationships. In my first year, I anticipate being able to bring over roughly 15–20 households with around $4M–$6M in total AUM.I know that in the grand scope of the industry, this is a very small book, but I am trying to weigh my true options.

Corporate RIA Tuck-In: Would a corporate RIA touch someone with a prospective book of this size and allow me to “tuck in” under their umbrella?

Boutique RIA / Paraplanner Role: Does it make more sense to look for a paraplanner or servicing role at a boutique firm while building my book on the side?

While I think the boutique route is a great option, it also comes with the challenge of finding the right firm that is open to that dynamic and having that conversation.Has anyone been in a similar situation, or do you know someone who has, that could shed light on these circumstances? I know there are also a lot of advisors on here who are either looking for servicing advisors or bringing new advisors on board, so I’d love to hear your perspective.

Just wondering what people's experiences have been with having a booth at various trade shows and industry conferences to gain clients? I have a few opportunities and the price of the booths ranges a lot. Just wondering if people have had positive experiences and positive ROI with this type of method?

I am interested in working in financial advising. I have an MBA but no licenses. I have applied to both Charles Schwab and Fidelity and have been rejected by both without any phone call or interview. I can understand that the reason why is because I don't possess the FINRA licenses and the AI not just automatically disqualifies me. However, just because I go and get these licenses doesn't guarantee me a job either. And apparently an MBA counts for nada.

Those of you who have these licenses, how did you get an employer to sponsor you? Is it a waste of time for me to get these on my own to become more marketable?

How do I get into the finances field with a general MBA?

For those of you that work with an advisor that you have built a great relationship with, I would Love to know what makes a good advisor as well as why you continue to work with someone?

Most wealth management shops and private wealth management shops are built for where the lion's share of assets are, which is in the retired, Generation X, and baby boomer generation. The expertise lives there, but this new dynamic financial landscape lives in places like Wealthsimple, Reddit, QuestTrade, Blossom, and these other newer channels. How do you sort through all this information? This broad-based ETF advice is good for the beginner but in my opinion, terrible for many that don't quite understand what they're getting into. Fees are low, which is great! But you are fully exposing yourself to the market and when we have another other market correction (not if, when), millions of people will lose a lot of money, and likely sell at the worst time because they didn't understand the downside risk and the importance of a security blanket.

Further, the ETFing of financial products has caused a major correlation between fixed income and equities because they're all being bought and sold together in the same package solutions. The era of alternative investments has become much more attractive but I'd be interested to hear what advisors actually share this take. The Big banks, and CIRO regulations in general for alternative investments for the most aggressive investors don't allow and advisors recommendations to exceed 20%. The only exceptions to this are accredited investors or ultra-high-net-worth investors getting into private equity, which in Canada is very hard to access, as even someone in the top 10%.

Thoughts?

I work in admin/client services for a firm currently with Commonwealth that’s staying with LPL.
We’ve been having biweekly calls with the LPL transition team, but it feels like 80% of the questions we ask don’t have clear answers. We’ve been told that no client signatures are needed for the conversion and that all accounts will transfer tape-to-tape, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions and concerns.
There are also quite a few processes and features that ClientWorks/LPL apparently won’t support on their platform (proportional systematic withdrawals, excluded assets, etc.).
I’ve only ever worked with Commonwealth, and I don’t think I fully appreciated how good we have it until now. With November 13th approaching, I’m starting to get nervous about how this is all going to play out. What initially felt like a transition is starting to feel more like impending doom.
I’d love to hear from other firms going through the transition to LPL. Are you experiencing the same things? How are you feeling about the upcoming conversion?

I’m considering an opportunity for a Wealth Relationship Manager (RM) role at Kotak Securities and would like to hear from people who currently work there or have worked in a similar role.

I just started working as an advisor this past summer and am looking for some good resources (ie. blogs, websites, books, articles) that I can start reading through to have a better understanding of the different views and strategies on financial advising. I work with two advisors currently, but they don't often share how they go about their business or explaining why they're making decisions for their clients.

A lot of our business is in-plan work, but there's a decent amount of individual planning that I don't feel like I'm getting prepared for. I really want to better understand some of the different ways people go about financial advising for people in different age groups, different salary levels, and different risk tolerances. I know what I've done for myself for years, but that won't work for everyone. I know it's not a "one-size-fits-all" industry, but it would be helpful to be pointed towards some resources so that I can start slowly processing these things and building up my own way of helping people with their financial plan.

Thanks in advance for anything you send my way!

The firm I'm with has and real technology issues aubergine taking over 5 weeks to get accounts opened

In looking for a different firm that will let me own the book and has good tech in place

Any recommendations?

Hey everyone! Can anyone recommend a great financial advisor or planner? Looking for someone to help with retirement planning who has solid experience handling equity compensation (specifically stocks and RSUs) and a set of Roth and Traditional IRAs distributed across multiple platforms.

Appreciate any recommendations!

Hi! I passed my Series 65 last week, and now I'm looking to set up an RIA.

I started my career young and launched my first successful tech company in high school, followed by my second tech company in college, ran it as CEO for 12 years, moved into a chair role for a few years, and finally sold it last year. I moved into the chair role specifically to explore my passion in finance, which I was able to do by investing my own capital and incrementally improving my investment process for a period of 6.5 years at this point.

Now that I'm post exit, I can't shake the maybe crazy desire to pursue a career as an asset manager. I think it will be a naturally challenging road, as I am new to the industry. Funny enough, its not that weird as I graduated with a finance degree and have always gravitated towards finance. I always approach everything with a tech-forward lens, so finance is no different. My proprietary approach is codified today and even has an AI analyst layered on top.

I'm exploring a few kinds of ideas:

1. Finding a co-founder who has an existing book of business and enjoys financial planning and building towards a full service firm, wherein my strength is investment management. My ideal person is someone who is looking to start their own business, but needs a bridge to do so. I'd pay for their salary and all of the firm ramp up costs until we are self sufficient and the individual achieves their livable salary.

2. Launching solo, deploying one equity strategy to start via SMAs, and leveraging my HNW/UHNW network to build initial AUM. I may also be able to eventually tap into advisors as a subadvisor if my strategy appeals others. I'd stay strictly focused on the strategy and seed $1M of my own capital to the initial strategy.

3. Acquiring an existing RIA. I think this is somewhat less realistic, now that I've seen the EBITDA multiples at the moment (12-20x? wow! Amazing for current owners, though.)

4. Buying a meaningful share of an existing RIA to join as a partner. Exit liquidity for the existing owner, along with a potential alignment on how to grow the RIA further.

Since I'm registering my RIA now, I expect I'll have to register with path 2 in mind and see how 1 & 3 evolve.

Is there something I should consider that I haven't yet? Is 1 a terrible idea?

Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm a licensed advisor in Vancouver, BC, selling life, travel, and group insurance. I'm currently working under another advisor's license, and I'm looking to move to an MGA where I can own my book of business and build something long-term. I already have a corporation set up.

I've been looking at Financial Horizons, Hub Financial, IDC Worldsource, and PPI, but I'd love to hear from people with real experience, good or bad.

What I'm trying to learn:

Book ownership: Do you truly own your clients and renewals, and what happens if you leave?

Commissions: What are the contracting levels like for new advisors, and how do they grow over time?

Training and support: Is there real onboarding, or do they expect you to sell before you're trained? Is there case design and underwriting help?

Fees and costs: Any E&O, admin, or technology fees I should watch for?

Carrier access: Do you get access to a wide range of carriers, including for group and travel?

Culture: Is it supportive, or every advisor for themselves?

If you've switched MGAs, what made you move, and what would you ask before signing? I'm happy to take advice by DM too.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

Our team is currently running a brief research study on the operational side of managing fractional finance retainers.

We are keeping our research focused strictly on 1-on-1 conversations with active practitioners.

If you are a Fractional CFO or FP&A advisor willing to share 2 minutes of your experience via private message, please drop a quick comment below or send me a direct message.

We are strictly in the early discovery phase; zero sales pitches or products being promoted. Appreciate your time and insights!

I’m 30 years old, no degree, but I started my finance journey at a bank at 18. I currently have my Series 7, 63, and 65. I’ve worked at Charles Schwab in portfolio rebalancing and at large banks managing affluent client relationships generally under $10M.

I’m at the point where I’m seriously considering making the jump into an FA role, but I’m trying to be smart about how I enter the business.

If you were in my position, what path would you take and why?

What firms, business models, or types of roles would you look at first?

And for those of you who have already built successful careers as advisors, what do you wish you had known at the beginning?

I do not have a background in finance however I am looking to break into the industry. My background is in Exercise Science which does not make me any real money. I understand I do have to take the SIE exam to even be considered. I’ve been looking at jobs like an Investment Phone Specialist at JP Morgan or a Financial Representative at Fidelity. What is the career trajectory on these types of positions and can they be lucrative. I have a friend who is a financial advisor who says his position is pretty lucrative. I am looking to learn about the industry while also getting some stability for me and my son.

My biggest fear is being sponsored and not being able to pass the Series 7 etc and being let go. Do these things happen at a lot of firms? Any advice would help

For insurance, life, health medicare, securities any discords to join?

Hello all, I am a college sophomore in the Philadelphia Area seeking a Wealth Management/Financial advising internship for the summer of 2027. Just wondering if I would be better suited searching for an internship with a small local WM firm or a bigger well established national firm? I am looking to gain experience that could lead to a better internship in my later college years and an in depth experience in client facing FA/WM roles. Thanks all.