From rags to riches to awards finalist: Dynasty CEO

Orphaned and homeless in his early teens, Shirl Penney was always fascinated by finance and the wealth management industry.

Penney was born in Eastport, Maine, when his mother was 16. She likely would have put him for adoption if not for his step-grandfather, Clarence Townsend, who took him in. The man was 60 years old, completely broke, handicapped and only had a fourth-grade education. Penney recalls living in his grandfather's house where he slept in the same old double bed and took turns every two hours getting up and feeding the woodstove so that him and his grandfather could stay warm.

When he was 12 years old, the house fell down, became condemned and Penney became homeless for three years.

Later, he bought a $13 suit at the Salvation Army, rode a bus to New York and interviewed at Smith Barney, before the acquisition by Morgan Stanley. That interview eventually led the now CEO and president of Dynasty Financial Partners, a St. Pete-based services company to run the ultra-high-net-worth business at New York's Citi Smith Barney for several years until 2008, when he left to put a business plan together for Dynasty.

 “It took 2 years, 7 months and 4 days to go without a paycheck,” Penney admits. “My wife Mary Ann kept track. We officially launched Dynasty December 4, 2010.”

Since then, Penney has become a recognized leader in the industry. He uses his "Triangulation of Advice” concept to provide Dynasty’s clients transparency, beneficial alignment, and personalization while separating advice, custody, and investment products in a rigorously client-first approach.

Penney believes Dynasty is known as a very innovative player in the space.

“We've been a significant contributor to the growth in the independent space,” Penney says. “I do think it's the era of independence right now and Dynasty plays a very important role in being liberators and allowing advisors to go independent. Once they're there, we help them take better care of their clients and build better businesses.”

Last year, Penney said Dynasty had the biggest growth of assets in the history of the firm. He's now been recognized for his work as an InvestmentNews Awards 2024 Excellence Awardee, with the winners announced on June 20 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City in a glitzy, red carpet ceremony. Click here to register to attend.

Penney credits his success to his Dynasty team and their families, their clients, investors and resource partners.

“There's a lot of support we get within the ecosystem, and a lot of those firms backed us in the very early days so whenever there's significant industry recognition like this, on behalf of those four constituents, I accept it on behalf of them,” Penney said.

“Without each one of the four legs to the chair, if you will, there’s no place for me to sit.”

For more details about the InvestmentNews Awards, including a list of all finalists and details of how to attend, follow this link.