Getting interns into the room during real client conversations – not just handing them trades or meeting prep – is the single most effective way for wealth management firms to build their next generation of advisors, according to a next-gen advisor and once-intern at Wealthspire.
Benjamin Sullivan, an assistant vice president and financial planner at the firm, joined the New York-based RIA as an intern himself in 2020 before returning full time after graduating from Villanova University in 2021. Now, he's contributing to a virtuous cycle by helping run the very internship program that launched his career.
In an interview, he said the firm's approach centers on giving interns direct – if largely observational – access to client meetings, rather than confining them to back-office tasks.
"If I give someone a presentation for an hour or I have them read an article, they'll learn something because they're coming in so green," Sullivan told InvestmentNews. "But having [knowledge] applied to a specific client situation... is the most impactful piece."
Sullivan's path into the industry began during his freshman year at Villanova, where he studied finance, economics and real estate. After an earlier internship at Beacon Bridge Wealth Partners gave him his first exposure to fee-based, fiduciary advice, he connected with Zach Gehring, now Wealthspire's New York City office lead, and secured a spot in the firm's program.
Sullivan's pre-career initiation to the Wealthspire workplace happened in 2020, the year the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Unlike many peer programs that were cancelled outright, Wealthspire shifted its internship to a virtual format.
"Unlike a lot of my friends and colleagues at college, the program was not canceled due to Covid," Sullivan recalled, describing the decision as a "telling sign of [Wealthspire's] commitment to the next generation.
That eight-week virtual experience gave him exposure to client work, as well as gain insights from multiple advisors and internal teams. He returned full-time after graduation to Wealthspire, later earned his CFP designation and advanced into an advisor role.
Sullivan said his coursework and early internship experience made him wary of commission-driven sales roles that have traditionally defined financial services.
"I wasn't really interested in selling insurance or annuities or proprietary equity products," he said. "I definitely was more interested in getting knowledge in complex estate planning, gifting strategies, legacy planning, things like that."
He said Wealthspire's commitment to the fiduciary standard, the legal and ethical obligation to act in a client's best interest, reinforced that decision. Another priority, Sullivan said, was income stability, noting how a commission-based pay structure might be a poor fit for today's young entry-level professionals who are saddled with student debt.
Wealthspire has seen intense competition among college students for spots at its internship program, where Sullivan said roughly 16,000 applications flooded in last year for just 30 to 35 open positions. That could be a knock-on effect of today's job market for fresh grads, though he also pointed to tailwinds including the ongoing generational wealth transfer, a looming advisor shortage, and wealth management's reputation for better work-life balance than traditional banking.
While the pipeline for rookie advisors is notoriously leaky – one study by Cerulli estimates more than 75% of trainees aren't able to see their initiation through – Sullivan sees real efforts at extending that onramp into the school system, with new academic programs at Villanova and Fairfield University as well as a wealth management symposium at Notre Dame helping to recruit high-potential talent earlier in their career journey.
"It's very impressive what most of these candidates have accomplished by the time they're 19, 20 years old, and they're super passionate about being in this space," he said.
At Wealthspire's New York office, interns are assigned to teams that mix associates, senior associates and advisors, spreading the heavy lift of mentoring responsibility while exposing interns to different working styles. A formal, cross-office mentor program pairs newer associates with advisors elsewhere in the firm, supplemented by informal mentoring from recent hires who serve as "quasi-mentors" for incoming interns.
For any firm building or reviewing their internship programs, Sullivan argued that ensuring real-world client exposure rather than structured busywork should come as the first priority. By limiting interns to trades, meeting prep or financial plans without letting them see real client conversations, he said firms would risk making the job look mundane and turn off much-needed future talent from the industry.
"If you're not getting the interns exposure to clients and letting them see how you do your job and what makes your job so great, then it's sort of a disservice," he said.
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