For more than 30 years, Savant Wealth Management has worked to provide wise counsel to individuals, families, and businesses. A fee-only, independent RIA firm, they serve individuals and families, executives and professionals, and businesses. Operating as a fully aligned model, they aim to make Savant the industry benchmark allowing them to attract, engage, retain, and reward the best talent.
Full Acquisition
Direct Rollover Equity
Yes
Prior to close, Savant will coordinate with the partner to set their base salary for the first year with Savant. After the first 12 months, the partner will move to Savant's standard compensation plan. In addition to the base salary, partners/advisors will receive a share of managed revenue ranging from 6% to 10%, along with an advisory team bonus.
Requires Brand adoption day 1
Upon joining Savant, partners will centralize operations. This includes the technology stack, billing, compliance, HR, marketing, and more.
Partners have total control over their calendars.
Savant will centralize the P&L for advisors, so they can spend more time on client facing activities.
While advisors have ultimate say in what is recommended to clients, Savant does have a branded process they require advisors to adopt.
Savant considers its practice management support and assistance central to their value to their advisors and strongly urges partners to adopt it’s best practices.
With the help of Savant's investment research and trading teams, partner offices will transition onto the Savant investment platform over the first couple of years in a highly tax-conscious manner.
Savant has a deep bench of experts to help support its advisors. This includes a 4 person portfolio advisors team that can take over small clients for senior advisors. An insurance expert, an 8-person investment management team, a 9-person advanced planning team, a 15-person retirement plan service team, a wealth transfer (estate planning team) which includes 4 lawyers that reviewed 1,050 estate plans in 2023, and a 100+ tax team that performed over 10,000 tax returns in 2023. Additionally, Savant understands the importance of offering a career path for all individuals, especially for a G2 advisor.
They have a flexible mentorship program and two training programs overseen by a dedicated team member. The training covers advisor and employee development, including financial support for additional degrees and designations. Additionally, participants have the chance to attend a week-long training event at Harvard or the University of Wisconsin. Moreover, Savant encourages knowledge sharing with an annual advisors' retreat, promoting the exchange of best practices among participants.
Savant has a 15-person para-planning team. This team is divided into two teams, the foundational client group (Mass affluent) and the private client (HNW & UHNW) group. The planning team offers document reviews, acts as a strategic sounding board for advisors, and can handle tasks such as social security analysis, pension calculations, net worth statements, and complex tax strategies for high-net-worth clients. This support allows advisors to focus more on client interactions and prospecting while staying updated on industry standards and changes.
The following services are centralized: Trading, Investment Research, Marketing, Human Resources & Training, Finance & Payroll, Billing & Operations, Compliance, IT, Facilities, Business Intelligence, Optimization & Strategic Planning, Advisory Practice Management, Retirement Plan Services, Wealth Strategy/Planning, Wealth Transfer, Tax & Consulting, and Private Client Group.
Savant offers a wide range of services, including wealth management, estate planning, tax planning and preparation, legal services, retirement planning, debt management, educational planning, business and succession planning, charitable planning, corporate trustee services, and TAMP (Turnkey Asset Management Program). They have a commitment to adopt and incorporate scalable services that benefit all Savant advisors and clients. The firm provides a team of industry experts to assist advisor teams with various tasks, from simple to complex analysis, education on industry developments, and support for third-party products like insurance and annuities.
Savant participates in the Schwab Advisor Network "SAN", but they are determined not to rely solely on it. They are diligently constructing their own lead generation system and continue to invest heavily in state-of-the-art digital marketing strategies. This entails the development of an inside sales team responsible for nurturing warm leads and facilitating the transition to advisors. This team screened 16,000 leads in 2023 for its advisors. Members of this team will implement a qualifying call process for vetting potential leads.
Savant boasts a 14-person marketing team, with plans to expand to 17-18 members in the near future. This team can help implement marketing resources at the local level. In addition, they help produce social media content, newsletters, blogs, coordinate client events, and more. Savant has successfully cultivated several client niches, including University Professionals and Csuite executives. What sets Savant apart is the replicability of their niche capabilities in new markets. This adaptability allows them to extend their specialized services to a broader range of clients and geographic areas.
In supporting partners/advisors, a critical aspect involves Savant assisting in defining staff roles and responsibilities for their local offices. This extends to aiding partners in conducting employee reviews and effectively managing performance. Additionally, they collaborate closely with partners to identify and execute strategic growth initiatives tailored to their specific needs. A key component of their support involves helping partners establish and oversee their local offices in alignment with predetermined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Notably, within their organizational structure, Savant boasts a dedicated Director of Practice Management, John Hanley, who plays a pivotal role in guiding these endeavors.
Utilizing Tablout, a powerful tool, they streamline data management processes by consolidating information into a centralized data lake, which in turn facilitates monitoring and analysis by the advisor leadership team. Moreover, they offer assistance in financial forecasting, providing partners with access to a live dashboard for real-time insights. While their focus primarily revolves around quality updates, they remain flexible, offering weekly updates on the status of partners' portfolios. Through these comprehensive services and tools, they aim to empower partners and advisors to thrive in their endeavors while ensuring strategic alignment and efficient operations.