NFL Hall of Famer and former San Francisco 49’er quarterback Steve Young has teamed up with some amazing professionals in his historic career: Montana, Rice, Craig, Sanders, and….Mahue? Yes, that’s right, Kay Lynn Mahue, president of Merit Financial Advisors out of Atlanta, GA. One of the greatest quarterbacks and athletes in NFL history has turned into a successful private equity executive, and three years ago he and his colleagues at PE firm HGGC chose to take a minority stake in Merit, seeing tremendous growth potential in the wealth management industry and in the leadership qualities of Kay Lynn and Merit’s CEO, Rick Kent. Steve Young’s bet is paying off. Merit is one of the fastest growing RIAs in the country, raking in acquisition after acquisition, putting 12 deals on the scoreboard in just the last year. Now at $9 billion in assets under management, Merit was just honored as one of the top independent RIAs in the country by Forbes. Listen to this 24th episode of Can You Hold My Attention? and hear why Steve and HGGC chose to take a minority stake in Merit, how the two firms utilize each other’s strengths to assemble a strong game plan for growth, and how Kay Lynn and Steve Young match each other other, yard for yard, in intensity and focus as they work together to build their businesses.

Not many registered investment advisory firms in the U.S. can boast of these stats —755 advisors and $30 billion in assets under management — and have a big plaque on their Wall of Fame that bears the recognition of being one of Barron’s top RIAs in the country.  I’m, of course, speaking about Private Advisor Group and my two guests today, John Hyland, Managing Director and co-founder of the Morristown, NJ-based firm, and Frank Smith, the newly appointed President of Private Advisor Group.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing these two gentleman a long time, and have had a front row seat in witnessing the meteoric growth of the firm over the last few decades.

I often describe Private Advisor Group as the LPL Super OSJ that took a hard right turn somewhere along the way and became a full service, full-fledged RIA. However, Private Advisor Group has become an extremely successful business by many measures.  Founded by John and his partner, Pat Sullivan — both successful advisors in their own rights — who over the years not only recognized the potential to serve other advisors and their clients using everything they’ve learned, but also recognized the benefits of adding significant leadership and staffing talent to help them become a winning and highly-valued business.

Listen to this 23rd episode of Can You Hold My Attention? to hear John and Frank's views on the right formula for organic growth, how personal and professional resiliency defines this firm, and the lessons they've learned by surrounding themselves with the right partners.

I met Tricia Rothschild for the first time at an industry conference late last year. It's odd that it was our first meeting as we've both been in the industry for 30 years and we have in common many acquaintances.

Tricia Rothschild was one of the early contributors to the massive success of Morningstar, making the wealth management and investment research company a household name.  She was the Chief Product Officer and Co-Head of Global Markets at Morningstar and managed a multi-million-dollar P&L supported by global teams of technologists, designers, researchers, product managers, and marketers. In her 26 years at Morningstar, Tricia helped develop online investment services for individual investors, and build the firm’s equity research business. 

She left Morningstar two years ago, but Tricia has stayed true to her wealth management passion and now serves on several boards of directors in the financial services and fintech space, including board seats at Riskalyze and Tifin.  She earned a spot on Financial Planning’s 2021 “Most Likely to Change Wealth Management” list, and received Investment News’ 2020 “Women to Watch” award.

Listen to this 22nd episode of Can You Hold My Attention? to hear Tricia's views on culture and inspiration within a fast-growing company, her thoughts on the current state of the financial markets, and her advice for business owners on managing complexity and staying focused.