Advisory firm looks for clients right before they need advice

Innovia Wealth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a focus on finding clients when they are most in need of financial planning.

Specifically, the $1.5 billion registered investment advisor leverages connections to centers of influence throughout the Midwest to connect with entrepreneurs just before they embark on a liquidity event.

Launched in 2007 as Strategies Wealth Advisors, the RIA rebranded as Innovia in early February as part of a renewed focus on “the firm’s commitment to innovation and providing clients with a viable path forward.”

While identifying entrepreneurs just before they’re about to strike it rich could be a tough target to hit, Innovia managing partners Michael Berkemeier and Aaron Veldheer say they've been surprisingly successful.

“Financial advisory firms are not all built like ours,” Berkemeier said. “We have 25 people with different degrees of expertise.”

Key to recruiting entrepreneurs on the edge of liquidity events is identifying a company’s inflection point, he said.

Targeting such a potentially attractive niche comes with challenges, including trying to recruit clients who might already be working with a financial advisor or other type of financial institution.

“Some of them do have advisors, but they see this as such a critical moment that it’s worth exploring another option,” Veldheer said. “If we can squeeze into that opportunity and get in front of the business owner, we have a chance.”

He emphasized that the firm's target isn't the business founder tinkering away in her garage, hoping to strike it rich.

“The entrepreneurs in their garage is not a perfect fit for us,” he said. “That first 10 years or so is not our sweet spot.”

With a Chicago office to complement its western Michigan headquarters, Innovia is making the most of the diverse technology and manufacturing enterprises spread across the upper Midwest.

Veldheer said most of their clients are the kind of hardworking people who aren’t drawing attention to themselves, which makes the prospecting that much more challenging.

“There’s a quiet community of entrepreneurs here,” he said. "They tend to avoid the limelight, which is why you have to dig in and get to know what’s going on.”

Berkemeier said that as much as they rely on centers of influence to expand their client base, they try to return the favor, with referrals moving in both directions.

Once the client is onboard, the clock is often ticking to stay ahead of sometimes time-sensitive tax and estate planning guidelines.

“There’s opportunities for significant windfall events once they’ve decided to sell the company, and that windfall creates amazing opportunities,” Veldheer said. “You’ve got untouched cash that is not inherited, and that creates an opportunity to set the table for the next phase of their life. They’re preparing for 75 years’ worth of generational wealth.”

Recognizing realities that include examples such as “$20 million wired into someone’s Fidelity account in one day” helps keep Innovia focused on “exploring the opportunities” through networking, Veldheer said.

“There’s this amazing virtuous cycle,” he added. “So let’s become best friends with all their other advisors.”