What Happens When a $2.8 Billion Firm Partners With Allworth
Listen on Apple Podcasts here or via the player below.
How difficult is it to combine two unique advisory firms?
Since the beginning of 2020, the entire world has been turned upside down by COVID-19. Now, imagine you’re the CEO of a $2.8 billion-dollar advisory firm, you’ve just signed to partner with another multi-billion-dollar firm, and a few weeks later, the pandemic hits.
Under normal circumstances, the legal, logistical, and practical considerations of combining two large advisory firms (headquartered in different regions of the country) are complicated, to say the least. Add in the sudden restrictions imposed by a one-hundred-year pandemic, and the potential for misstep and chaos incalculably increases.
Or… perhaps not.
What if, instead, the pandemic brings out the best in the partnership? What if, in place of chaos and frustration, there arises unity and purpose?
On this episode of the State of the Industry podcast, program host and Allworth Co-CEO Scott Hanson welcomes John Bentley, formerly the CEO of Dallas-based RAA, and the current COO of Allworth Financial, Pete Engelken, the architect behind the completion of Allworth’s 14 partnerships in just over three years. The three discuss what happens when an advisory firm partners with Allworth Financial, and how, specifically, during the pandemic, rather than chaos, the two firms rose to meet the challenges and thrive and emerge stronger than any one of the principals could have foreseen.
What happens when a $2.8 billion firm partners with Allworth?
On this episode of State of the Industry podcast, Allworth welcomes:
- Scott Hanson: Co-Founder, Allworth Financial (Host)
- John Bentley: Former CEO of RAA, Current SVP of Allworth (Guest)
- Pete Engelken: COO of Allworth Financial (Guest)
Key Takeaways:
- Why partnering with Allworth is unique (integration vs. aggregation)
- How unification with Allworth has benefitted both firms
- How the partnership brought out the best in two unique companies
- The various ways that the Allworth leadership surprised the team from RAA
- How the partnership is going 1.5 years later