Insights

For years I would send a reminder out to advisors at the end of every quarter: “Don’t forget to schedule professional development reviews with your team members.” I would usually get one of two responses: “Thank you! I completely forgot. We’re so busy we barely have time” or “I dread these meetings because I end up doing most of the talking and no one ever comes prepared.”

Damian Lo Basso, the former founder and CEO of Compass CFO Solutions, has joined Journey Strategic Wealth, the new registered investment advisor/partnership launched earlier this year, as managing partner. Lo Basso joins three other managing partners at the firm, which include former Dynasty Financial Partners executives Michael Brown and Brian Flynn, as well as practice management coach Penny Phillips, founder of Thrivos Consulting. As of the end of the first quarter, Lo Basso sold his stake in Compass CFO Solutions, an outsourced accounting, bookkeeping and strategy firm that services financial advisors exclusively, to his partner Matt Hayon.

Summit, N.J., May 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Journey Strategic Wealth (“Journey”), a registered investment advisor and practice management partner, today announced the addition of Damian Lo Basso as managing partner. In this role, Lo Basso will head finance, operations, and mergers and acquisitions for Journey as the firm continues to expand its industry-disruptive approach to the traditional RIA aggregator model. In addition, Mark Lebida, CFA® will serve as director of investments, Erin Moeller as chief of staff, and Caitlin West, CFP® as director of operations. Lo Basso is a sought-after industry expert for his work in helping execute more than 50 M&A transactions with firms ranging in size from $50M to $5B in assets under management while advising both buyers and sellers. With a background in investment banking, Lo Basso began his career at Deutsche Bank’s Structured Finance division and eventually served as vice president for Dynasty Financial Partners. In 2017, he left Dynasty and launched Compass CFO Solutions, one of the only fully outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, and strategy firms that services the RIA industry exclusively. At the time of Lo Basso’s departure, Compass was managing the finances for over 75 RIA's. Compass is currently fully owned and managed by co-founder Matt Hayon. “Damian has forged his own path in this industry, always focusing on how to improve the experience for advisors and their clients,” said Penny Phillips, president and co-founder of Journey. “All of the partners here at Journey have known Damian for quite some time; what we respect so much about him is not just his sheer knowledge and competency in finance, accounting and operations – he’s also one of the most ethical and compassionate people we all know.” Lo Basso is now one of four managing partners, including longtime advisor executives Michael Brown and Brian Flynn, along with Phillips, who founded practice management firm Thrivos Consulting. “I really believe that Journey is a first-mover when it comes to the modern advisor,” said Lo Basso. “We’ve built a solution where advisors can focus on listening, responding, and anticipating their clients’ needs, rather than getting bogged down in operations. I’m excited to bring my expertise to this team and our advisors – we’ve got a lot in store for this industry.” As director of investments, Lebida brings over 16 years of investment management experience to the Journey team, where he oversees the firm’s Investment Committee, asset allocation, and manager selection processes. Prior to joining Journey, he was the Chief Investment Officer of a multi-family office where he headed the firm's Investment Committee, managed multiple Special Purpose Vehicles, and was tasked with providing market commentary and client communications.

Damian Lo Basso is moving on from the outsourced CFO services firm he founded to join an upstart RIA. Lo Basso (pictured), formerly the chief executive of Compass CFO Solutions, has joined Journey Strategic Wealth, a Summit, N.J.-based firm with roughly $2.7bn in client assets under management.

Principals of advisory firms know that if they want to monetize their practices, there may be no better time than right now. The reason? An 11-year bull market has driven valuations for firms into record, and possibly unsustainable, territory; a coming increase in taxation on capital gains makes holding off on a sale risky; and a fiercely competitive market for more valuable, high-net-worth clients is prompting growth-minded firms to broaden their offerings with in-house estate planning, tax preparation and trust services.

Guest host (and FMG Suite Chief Evangelist) Samantha Russell is joined by Penny Phillips, President and Co-Founder of Journey Strategic Wealth and Founder of Thrivos Consulting. Samantha and Penny discuss the number one thing advisors need coaching on, how to make video and social media work for you, and what practice management and marketing tactics the most successful advisors use. These two industry thought leaders cover all the tips financial advisors need to hear right now.

Financial advisors considering an independent move should cast aside any delusions that it’s easy, according to RIA coach and entrepreneur Penny Phillips. Phillips and advisors Michael Brown and Brian Flynn launched a new practice management-focused RIA aggregator called Journey Strategic Wealth at the beginning of the year. Entering a crowded sector that Cerulli Associates pegs at an estimated $2.8 trillion worth of RIA assets available for purchase over the next decade, Journey unveiled its first deal earlier this month. Despite an influx of private equity capital that’s fueling record consolidation in wealth management, advisors often need more education about the options available to them and the realities of making the transition to independence, according to Phillips.

If I ranked all the questions I get from advisors by order of popularity, “Why can’t I find the right person to be my associate advisor?” would place in the top five. Perhaps even top three. I have found that the answer to this question has much more to do with the way advisors structure the role, rather than being an issue of the talent pool they are selecting from. Think about it this way: Our industry is obsessed with “rainmakers;” those who have a superior ability to sell and/or gather assets. We have taught advisors that if you cannot “produce,” you cannot be an advisor. As a result, advisor-leaders tend to have tunnel vision as it relates to what they want an associate advisor to look, think and act like. In fact, advisor-leaders are almost always looking for an associate advisor … who is exactly like them.

An RIA aggregator that launched into the crowded sector earlier this year has made its first M&A deal and opened its first location on the West Coast. Financial advisor Kristin Bartlow joined Journey Strategic Wealth after nearly a dozen years with Northwestern Mutual, where she had grown the ensemble practice to a team of four managing $195 million in client assets, Bartlow said in an interview. Journey announced the new outpost of the RIA on April 13, four months after advisor coach Penny Phillips and planners Michael Brown and Brian Flynn launched the firm. The parties didn’t disclose terms of the deal. Journey aims to stand out from the field of wealth managers serving RIAs with a strong foundation in practice management and a focus on “solo-preneur” practices with between $100 million and $1 billion in client assets, according to Phillips. The firm's newest advisor picked Journey out of nearly 20 firms in a due diligence process beginning almost two years ago.