The Indie-to-Indie Second Move
(I’m Mike Gordon, independent recruiter and transition consultant. I help match successful advisor-owners with better RIAs, BDs, and OSJs. You work with me when you want an experienced advocate to guide you through firm research, vetting, and negotiations. I’m the Advisor’s Advisor.)
There is a growing wave of advisors making a second move, and it differs from the first in almost every way. The first move was about getting free. This one is about getting it right.
If you have been telling yourself the upgrade is too much hassle, I want to push back on that. Transitions have never been more accessible. Technology is more advanced, repapering is faster, and the variety in the independent space today is far greater than it was the last time you looked around or made your first move. The right platform for your business likely did not exist or was not on your radar when you made the original decision.
I’m helping advisors move every month, and let me implore you: the conditions are excellent. I’m not suggesting you move for the fun of it if you’re happy where you’re at. That said, if you’re unhappy and just putting up with it, I want you to hear me.
Here’s a quick list of frustrations I’ve helped advisors solve this year. The question is whether you recognize yourself in any of these:
You are paying for a bundled support model you largely rebuilt yourself within the first two years. (And built it better)
The compliance and tech were pitched as a value prop, but it’s proven to be a burden.
Your service requests disappear into a queue, and the platform treats you like a number rather than a partner.
You landed on a lean platform for the payout and discovered that it translates directly to poor service. You suspect you could be growing better and would happily trade a small decrease in payout for excellent service.
You are at $500M with a growing team, and the infrastructure that worked at $200M is creating drag rather than removing it.
Your OSJ or hybrid RIA promised independence and delivered a different version of the same control you left.
You signed a contract that said one thing in conversation and something else in the document.
You cannot leave your OSJ without leaving your custodian, which is not what independence is supposed to look like.
Your platform is now your competitor, acquiring practices you were interested in.
You made your first move based on what someone at a different stage of their business told you, and the fit was always approximate at best.
None of these are reasons to leave, but they are reasons to look.
The advisors who make a well-guided second move do not need a third one. That conversation costs you nothing and takes less time than you think.
I'm here when you're ready. Click here to schedule a time with me.
— Michael Gordon
Independent Transition Consultant · themichaelgordon.com