Next-gen advisors ‘demanding more ownership’ of their firms

The number of advisors in the wealth management industry may be declining but one advisor is hoping to shed some light on how firms can change that – by attracting and retaining key talent.

Ali Criss-Kemp, CEO and owner of Financial Insights, says to do that, there have to be some changes in the way things are being done at many firms.

“Things have changed post-Covid with what advisors want to see and what they want their workplace to look like, and what type of benefit packages they want to see in order to stay,” she says. “It's very easy to jump ship from firm to firm, thinking the grass is greener on the other side.”

Criss-Kemp, who will be a speaker at the upcoming RIA Connect New York conference on April 16, said firms should be building their practice to be more inclusive of millennials and the next generation.

“I want to focus on how you can build your practice to not only get trained, or to attract top talent, but also to retain that top talent by way of your benefit package, internal ownership, ideas and culture,” she said, when asked what she plans to touch on in the panel.

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Compensation strategies, stock incentive ideas and training from within an organization are just some of the strategies Criss-Kemp mentioned when it comes to retention. She also said that to attract and retain the next generation, advisors will have to more open-minded about firm ownership, firm buy-in and stock ideas in a way that “we haven't seen before.”

“The next gen is demanding ownership, and they're demanding leadership positions,” Criss-Kemp says. “They don't want to work a 9-to-5 for 40 years and then work for someone else. They want to have ownership in the firm they're working for. They want to be in places of leadership. They want to share in the profits that the firm they’re working for is building. I think that is mandatory, that we start looking at ownership options for these next gens.”

Lauren Oschman, partner and CEO at Vestia, who will participate on the same panel as Criss-Kemp, shares the same sentiment.

The next generation needs a clear path to ownership that is “financially viable for them,” Oschman says, given that they're going to be growing families at the same time as they’re growing their careers.

“If that's something that RIAs have not thought about, it's going to be hard to keep next-gen talent, because there's going to be someone else who's willing to offer them that ownership, and they're going to go there,” she says.

Oschman highlighted another strategy advisors can use to attract talent: more flexibility in the workplace. She said that she's married and has three children, so she not only needs to be present in their lives but is also required to run the firm and advisory practice – a balance that’s not easy to juggle.

“What is crucial to that equation is the ability to be flexible and being treated like an adult to get my work done,” she said. “Giving them the ability to work from other places, as well, and having that as part of our firm policy, is paramount to being able to keeping next gen.

“If firms are able to figure out how to integrate remote talent, then they can go out and get the best fit for the job,” Oschman added.

Criss-Kemp notes that succession planning is connected to being able to retain key talent. If advisors have turnover in the advisory positions inhabited by key successors, it's “very bad for your succession plan and the value of your practice,” she says. “When there's turnover of staff, there's turnover of clients.”

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