Playing the Long Game: Why a Former Wirehouse Advisor Built and Sold a $1.5B Independent Firm

The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors

With Jeff Brown – President, Stratos Private Wealth

Overview

Jeff Brown wore many hats in his career as he transitioned his book of business from the wirehouses to independence. Yet a nagging “what if” feeling inspired him to conduct strategic due diligence, leading him first to sell a minority stake in his business and later a majority stake. Now, as President of Stratos Private Wealth, he shares a unique journey.

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NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation.

About this episode…

Some advisors spend their entire career with one firm, while others will choose to make one well-timed move. And there are others still who have experienced many different corners of the industry.

It’s these latter folks who often make the most compelling guests on our show because they’ve truly seen it all!

Jeff Brown is one such advisor. He started his path in wealth management at American Express, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo Advisors. Then Jeff left the wirehouse world to start Brown Wealth Management with the support of Stratos Wealth Partners, which, after a subsequent merger, became BWM Financial.

He built a strong practice, always looking at ways to grow and serve his clients.

Yet a coaching session with Ray Sclafani got him thinking about the future and an eventual exit strategy. Not even 50 years old at the time, he figured he had a good runway ahead. But “what if” lingered in his head…

That is, what if something happened and he didn’t have a clear plan for his firm, his clients, his livelihood, and his family?

So, after a round of due diligence, Jeff decided to further cement his relationship with Stratos by selling them a minority position in his business in 2020.

But the story doesn’t end there…

Just last year, he sold a majority stake to Stratos to take the firm national. In doing so, he is now the President of a much larger entity, Stratos Private Wealth.

In this episode, Jeff shares a candid narrative with Jason Diamond, including:

• Lessons learned early on in the wirehouse world—and how that shaped his business going forward.
• The steps he took along the way—and how what he learned can help other advisors considering change.
• Wearing different hats throughout his career—and how he prepared for each.
• The choice to sell a minority stake in the business—and what Jeff saw in Stratos that inspired him to go all in.
• The role of vision in the evolution of his business—and how the choices made were not financial but purposeful.
• Thoughts about succession planning—and why playing the long game needs to start sooner in an advisor’s career.

Jeff offers compelling advice for every advisor – from employees at the wirehouses to independent business owners – with actionable advice and insights.

Want to learn more about where, why, and how advisors like you are moving? Click to contact us or call 908-879-1002.

Related Resources

Building Enterprise Value: A Coach’s Advice for Advisors and Teams
Ray Sclafani of ClientWise discusses the key areas that employee advisors and independent business owners can impact to influence sustainable growth, enhance client relationships, and ultimately build “exit” value.

Looking at M&A from the Seller’s Side of the Table
Jeff Concepcion of Stratos Wealth Partners shares why he chose Emigrant Partners as a capital partner, what independent firm owners need to do when preparing for an acquisition, how he grew his firm from zero to $14B AUM in just 12 years, and more.

The Strategic Due Diligence Roadmap for Financial Advisors
A visual guide to help financial advisors embark upon an efficient process—one that is more likely to result in discovering Your Best Business Life™.

Jeff Brown
Founder & President

I started my career at a wirehouse at 27. I was originally taught it was all about making dials and contacts, so I duct taped 2 headsets together and finished my first year #1 in my training class. I took that bonus and split it b/n a down payment on a house and hiring my first of many business coaches. Prudential became Wachovia and Wachovia became Wells. I made the decision to go independent in 2015 and use Stratos Wealth Partners for supported independence. I left with $400MM under management and 5 people. I have grown our firm to $1.5 billion and 22 employees. I engineered the sale of my brokerage business to Stratos in 2018, I sold a minority stake to them in 2020, and just sold a controlling stake this April to create my vision of a singular brand inside of Stratos called Stratos Private Wealth. We are going to be adding Tax advice, systematic lead generation and a variety of other services to the offices that join. We have an interesting financial incentive that helps with succession planning that I could get into where Stratos can buy a certain % of their business with a multiple lift in the event Stratos has a capital event.

One of the things that has helped us scale has been the process that we created for attracting, retaining, and training new advisors. I gave a presentation on this at the Barrons 2022 Independent conference that was very well received. We have built a career path for them and don’t require them to raise money (unlike how I entered the business!). This was one of the areas that Michael Kitces focused on when he interviewed me recently.

In addition to running Stratos Private Wealth (with almost no clients anymore), I am an advisor coach with Clientwise and sit on the advisory board of Income Lab, a Fintech company in our space.
I have had lots of advisors reach out to understand my journey from advisor to CEO to selling a stake in the business while now taking on a national role in the larger organization.

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