Making The Sell-Or-Keep Decision When You Hit A $260M AUM Wall: #FASuccess Ep 465 With Todd Pisarczyk

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 465th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!

My guest on today’s podcast is Todd Pisarczyk. Todd is the founder of Momentous Wealth Management, an RIA based in Vancouver, Washington, that oversees approximately $400 million in assets under management for 400 client households.

What’s unique about Todd, though, is how he worked his way through the choice of whether to sell or keep his firm after hitting a complexity wall by analyzing both the numbers (creating his own spreadsheet in the process) and the lifestyle considerations of this decision.

In this episode, we talk in-depth about how Todd found that as his business grew (to around 350 clients) he became frustrated by the increasing lack of freedom and time (despite the financial success of the firm itself), how Todd started receiving offers to acquire his firm (which led him to consider what he wanted the rest of his career [and future ownership of the firm] to look like and what would be most financially advantageous for himself), and how Todd built a spreadsheet to analyze offers that showed that holding on to the firm (even if it meant eventually selling at a lower multiple to internal successors) could lead to a better financial outcome (particularly given the strong growth his firm was experiencing).

We also talk about how Todd, after deciding against selling his firm, brought in newer advisors, which both helped to spread out the workload of the growing firm but also energized him by allowing him to spend more time coaching these new hires, how Todd worked with a consultant to document and build out his firm’s processes to streamline operations and more efficiently scale, and how Todd has found that time blocking (including adopting a surge meeting structure that fits his needs) has allowed him to have more control over his schedule and gives him time to both work in the business and on the business.

And be certain to listen to the end, where Todd shares how his forward-leaning approach towards technology adoption has not just been about gaining efficiency but also freeing up time to provide a deeper level of planning for his clients (which has led to an increased pace of client referrals), how Todd has prioritized creating an attractive client experience to differentiate his firm at a time when clients have many ways to tap into comprehensive financial advice, and how Todd’s idea of success has shifted over time from constantly seeking ‘more’ (in terms of clients, AUM, or other factors) to creating an environment where the next generation of advisors at his firm can be successful themselves.

So, whether you’re interested in learning about making the decision to keep or sell a firm when approaching a complexity wall, keeping financial and personal considerations in mind when making this momentous decision, or leveraging technology to provide a deeper level of financial planning and generate more client referrals in the process, then we hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Todd Pisarczyk.