RIAs put marketing, technology and growth on the docket for 2020

As the year closes in on the fourth quarter, some financial advisers are ramping up plans to become more competitive in 2020. And for most, it’s not the financial markets or the outlook for the economy they’re focusing on.

“Economic cycles will come and go, and trying to time your business strategy around that is a fool’s game,” said Ron Carson, founder and chief executive of Carson Group, which has $10.9 billion under management.

“We think of it as being [Warren] Buffett-esque,” Mr. Carson added. “He doesn’t worry about what’s going on in the economy, he worries about the businesses he’s buying.”

That kind of big-picture mindset is what helps Carson Group justify the groundbreaking for the first phase of a $50 million construction project, a new 200,000-square-foot headquarters in Omaha, Neb.

“I’m building a 100-year firm here,” Mr. Carson said. “I’m not just building this firm to sell.”

While he might not be planning on selling, Mr. Carson said he does plan on buying in the year ahead.

“If we go through a downturn, the market will be affected, but the opportunities to add advisers will continue,” he said. “A lot of advisers are struggling to show value beyond a doubt, and in a downturn that really gets exposed.”

Mr. Carson added that he expects the current frothy market environment and uncertain economic cycle to push more “rich and tired” financial advisers toward retirement.

“There are large RIAs that don’t want to go through it again,” he said. “They want to exit, and we will be a key player in that.”

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Rita Robbins, founder and president of $2.6 billion Affiliated Advisors, is not one of those advisers looking to bow out before the next downturn, but she has placed a succession plan on her 2020 to-do list.

“Developing my own succession plan and finding ways to bring in some smarter and younger people is one of the things I’m looking to accomplish next year,” said Ms. Robbins, 62. “It’s absolutely necessary that we all have a glide path to succession.”

In addition to crafting a succession plan, Ms. Robbins plans to hire a chief of technology to enhance the tech support and services she and her 85 advisers already receive through the Royal Alliance platform.

“There are technological advances that have been provided but we want to make sure advisers are using them in the most effective ways,” she said.

At fast-growing Captrust, which oversees $340 billion in investor assets, organic growth is the first goal, according to Wilson Hoyle, managing director for the adviser group.

“We want to grow organically; that’s the most important thing,” he said. “That’s the best indicator of a company’s health. And we’re in the midst of our best year ever for organic growth.”

However, Captrust has already acquired four firms this year and the plan is to target another four to six acquisitions next year.

“We believe this is a talent grab and we want to grow through acquisitions,” Mr. Hoyle said. “We don’t budget those deals. If the right group doesn’t come along, we will do no deals in 2020. But when the market turn sideways, it creates opportunities.”

This is the season when the year ahead starts to come into full view for Julia Carlson, chief executive and founder of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, which manages $275 million.

The 10-year-old advisory firm’s annual fourth-quarter strategy involves holding a leadership retreat to plan for the coming year.

“We’ve been taking a five-year average looking back and using that to project for the next year,” Ms. Carlson said. “We typically keep the market out of it because we don’t expect the revenues to increase because the market increases. When we do the budget, we make sure we’re well below the top line, and we plan for the worst and expect the best.”

One thing on the firm’s agenda for 2020 is an analysis of the most efficient marketing efforts to attract more clients to Ms. Carlson’s Newport, Ore., headquarters and surrounding offices.

“We’re looking at doing Google ads to market ourselves and our seminars,” she said. “If we’re spending $10,000 on direct mail, we need to know if we could spend the same amount on Google ads to bring people to our seminars.”

Marketing is also a top priority for Jason Van Duyn, president of AQuest Wealth Strategies, a Detroit-based firm that has grown to $300 million from $60 million three years ago.

“We will be hiring a social media and marketing person, which is a new position for us,” he said.

In addition to increasing office space by 35% next year, Mr. Van Duyn is researching a new phone system and technology that will let people “work from anywhere.”

“It’s about being more flexible,” he said. “That includes the flexibility to work from anywhere, even inside the office, if you’d rather go work in the coffee area.”

Also on the docket for the fast-growing firm: “We hope to close three to five acquisitions next year of between $80 million and $200 million in assets,” Mr. Van Duyn added. “What we believe in is consolidating and protecting our margins in a fee-contraction world by offering more services at a cheaper rate through scale.”

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