Jonathan Kuttin is the founder of Kuttin Wealth Management, a hybrid RIA based out of Long Island, New York that manages over $3 billion dollars for 5,500 clients. Kuttin Wealth has grown to the point where Jonathan made the decision to separate client-facing service from leadership and operations, which allows for employees to focus solely on what they’re truly good at—and has allowed the firm to grow even further.

In this episode, Jonathan explains why he created three distinct roles within his firm and how this silo of roles has led to both superior results and better clarity around responsibilities within the firm. He also shares the hard lesson he learned about the importance of legal agreements, the five leadership areas he cultivates in every area of the firm, and why supporting employees to get what they want out of life is a cornerstone principle of his firm.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/222

Miye Wire is the founder of an eponymous hybrid RIA that manages $200 million dollars for 250 young professional families and has become the go-to benefits and equity compensation expert for Microsoft employees. Miye has built her firm around a robust referral engine from her niche, thanks in part to the memorable client events she hosts throughout the year that create a unique sense of community for her clients.

In this episode, she shares how her events and community strategy have led to her firm being built upon referrals, as well as why she has taken a team approach in her firm to make sure that not only are client inquiries handled promptly, but advisors are able to create more work-life balance. Listen in to learn how Miye shifted away from worrying about whether she was fitting into a certain financial advisor type and embraced what makes her—and her firm—different.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/221

Shane Mason is the co-founder of Brooklyn FI, a fee-only RIA that was founded in 2018 in Brooklyn but that has since shifted to being fully virtual. Brooklyn FI was built in the style of a tech startup where their financial advice service offering is a product unto itself, and they currently serve 159 next-generation clients charging a fee of around $500 per month.

Listen in as Shane explains why Brooklyn FI decided to launch into a niche of high-income sole proprietors before deciding to pivot to working with people who work in the tech industry, and how their new niche has resulted in nearly all of the firm’s new clients coming from referrals. Shane also shares how the pandemic pushed Brooklyn FI to be virtual, why they post their fees directly on their website, and how Shane’s 50/50 partnership with his co-founder has been the secret sauce to their rapid growth.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/220

Coventry Edwards-Pitt is the Chief Wealth Advisory Officer at Ballentine Partners, a wealth management firm that oversees nearly $8 billion in AUM for 230 ultra-wealthy families. Breaking down the math, that means each family that Ballentine serves has an average of $35 million of investable assets, making their wealth management practice highly unique—with a focus on the issues that reach far beyond this generation and the next.

In this episode, Coventry shares how serving ultra-rich clients comes with challenges that many advisors will never manage, as well as what it really means to provide wealth management services to clients with millions in net worth. She also dives into parenting children in ultra-high net worth families and shares the common factors of well-grounded and well-rounded wealthy children.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/219

Maura Griffin is the founder of Blue Spark Financial, an independent RIA that oversees more than $150 million of assets for nearly 90 clients who are primarily single women making financial decisions on their own for the first time. Maura built her practice from scratch by charging high school parents a flat fee to help them with financial aid planning for their children, which she was then able to turn into established relationships that led to more comprehensive planning relationships.

In this episode, Maura shares how having a financial reserve when she launched her firm was so crucial to give her not only peace of mind and confidence, but also the flexibility to build her business with intention—and without feeling pressured to take on work that she didn’t want. She will also dive into how she used a specific niche to help grow her firm, why she decided to pivot to focus on working with her current base of clients, and why she has made the intentional decision to structure her business as a lifestyle practice despite the naysayers.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/218