In the latest episode of Growth Leaders of Wealth Management, Meg Carpenter delves into the intricacies of blending organic and inorganic growth strategies in wealth management. This episode features insights from Kay Lynn Mayhue, President of Merit Financial Advisors, two of Merit’s Regional Directors and Partners Tait Lane and Zachary Mersberger, and Rich Gill, Founding Partner of Wealth Partners Capital Group. Together, they explore Merit Financial Advisor’s competitive advantage as a hybrid RIA, how they leverage M&A to bring organic growth tracks to all advisors at the firm, the importance of multiple affiliation models to meet advisors where they’re at and growth lessons learned along the way. Kay Lynn emphasizes the essential role organic growth plays in making mergers and acquisitions financially viable. Without it, M&A efforts would be futile as the business must grow quicker post-acquisition to justify the investment.
A compelling success story featured in this episode is the transformation of Mersberger Financial Group. Zachary Mersberger discussed how the firm skyrocketed from $75 million to $1.3 billion in assets prior to its merger with Merit Financial Advisors in 2022. This phenomenal growth has been a huge value add for the broader Merit ecosystem post acquisition as the Mersberger team brought disciplined success in new growth channels. The Mersberger team now works with Merit advisors across the country to help them drive greater organic growth through local brand awareness opportunities, a proven professional partnership program, and business valuation services for business owner clients. The integration of Mersberger's marketing success into the broader Merit Financial Advisors ecosystem has inspired other regions to adopt similar strategies, leading to greater organic growth.
The episode also highlights Merit Financial Advisors hybrid RIA model, which includes a broker-dealer affiliation and allows seamless recruitment from the broker-dealer world. This hybrid approach presents both opportunities and challenges, but it ultimately strengthens their competitive advantage in the wealth management industry.
Navigating the complexities of strategic acquisitions in the hybrid space is no small feat. Kay Lynn shares lessons learned from past mistakes and underscores the critical role of strong, local leadership in successful mergers. Integrating advisors from corporate RIAs with commission-based business can be challenging, but Merit Financial Advisors believes ignoring BD business is a missed opportunity in the industry right now. The conversation explores the entrepreneurial dilemma faced by advisors scaling their businesses and highlights the benefits of partnering with a larger firm to handle administrative burdens, allowing advisors to focus on client interaction and growth.
Looking ahead, Merit Financial Advisors is focused on building a company that maximizes personal development and enables advisors and leaders to grow and reach new heights. The next five years could see the company doubling their organic growth tracks and expanding their presence across the US. They make decisions today based on where they envision their business being five years from now, which leads to a prioritization of client service, advisor support and team development.
Rich Gill concludes the episode with a powerful reminder: Growth targets are just numbers. The real goal is to continuously improve and build something better than the competition. Whether it's planning, investment, tax, insurance, or marketing, the aim is to excel in every area and never settle for less than being at the top of the game.
Key takeaways
- Organic growth and inorganic growth are intertwined. If you don’t have an eye toward organic growth, mergers and acquisitions don’t make sense. When looking to acquire a business that already has amazing organic or inorganic growth, it's not enough to run into people at a conference. You have to make the search a priority. Discovering top talent means going out and intentionally finding it.
- It is rare to operate as a hybrid RIA firm. Oftentimes, the fee-only RIA world is easier to understand. But for Merit, this structure has offered incredible advantages, including attracting high-quality, like-minded partners.
- Creating and implementing a variety of growth tracks allows businesses and advisors to collaborate for different reasons, from a succession situation to tapping into a firm’s growth machine.
