Planning well in advance will pay off in the end

Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. advisers Dave Dryden, Travis Carter and Wayne Smith were running their own independent office, in their own building, with their own staff. With about 90% of their revenue fee-based, the obvious question was: Why not set up their own registered investment adviser firm? “That light bulb had been on for some time,” Mr. Dryden acknowledged. The team, which was based in Plano, Texas, felt constrained in not being able to manage portfolios and provide client services the way they wanted, with access to institutionally priced investments, he said. But they also knew they couldn't just jump ship. The transition ultimately took more than a year to plan. The partners took time to make sure they got it right the first time. “We did not want to risk putting clients through it again,” Mr. Dryden said. Last June, they formed Insight Wealth Partners LLC. They chose TD Ameritrade Inc. as their primary custodian after they called and visited “probably a dozen different RIA firms” for input, Mr. Dryden said. The planning paid off, with a 99% client conversion rate. Insight has $180 million under direct management, excluding assets in 401(k) plans that are not in the firm's control. The partners gave up their securities licenses, a change that fits better with Insight's “high-service, low-volume” approach with clients, Mr. Dryden said. Looking back, the simple act of making the transition was the best decision they made, he added. “The common feedback we got from other advisers was that they regretted not doing it sooner,” he said. “For us, that's pretty much been true.” Perhaps the biggest challenge was obtaining the right technology. “As a sole practitioner, you really don't have the financial resources to utilize the top” software and re-search providers, Mr. Dryden said. “So we found ourselves right in the middle [of the high and low ends].” E-mail Dan Jamieson at [email protected].

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“Plan. Advisers really need to know what they want to do with their careers, and plan for that.” Dave Dryden