A conversation with Jon Kuttin, CEO of Kuttin Wealth Management, and Louis Diamond

Building a successful business is no easy feat—especially if you are the one leading the charge, as well as working on the day-to-day tasks to move the ball forward.

The guest on this episode was once in that same position.

Jon Kuttin, CEO of Kuttin Wealth Management, was a junior at SUNY when he entered the financial services industry as an intern with IDS—the precursor to Ameriprise Financial.

And by the time he graduated, he had two licenses completed.

His early success – which he credits to two advisors who served as his mentors and a lot of hard work – led him to get involved in mentoring others at Ameriprise.

26 years later, Jon’s 60-person independent Ameriprise firm manages $2.4B in assets, derived primarily by organic means through an alliance with a CPA—which developed into a game-changing referral engine.

So it comes as no surprise that Jon has many industry accolades under his belt, including Barron’s Top 100 Advisors List, Barron’s Hall of Fame Advisor and Forbes Best in State, as well as being named the top Producing Advisor on the Ameriprise platform.

Yet accolades aside, Jon realized that if he wanted to build a business designed for growth, he needed to change his focus from “working in the business” to “working on it.” So, he transitioned his role from client-facing advisor to CEO—a change that he felt was imperative to take the business to the next level.

You might say that Jon “cracked the code on growth,” developing processes designed to continuously create scale. And now he has his sights set on strategic recruiting and acquisition practices to drive the firm forward and ultimately build a lasting legacy.

As Jon puts it, the firm is now “fishing with a net instead of a pole”—using focused growth strategies that he also shares with other advisors through his consulting practice.

In this episode, he and Louis Diamond get under the hood on these topics and more, including:

• What it took to build out a $2.4B firm on the Ameriprise Financial platform—and how that process or potential might compare to another firm or model.
• What it takes to build a successful referral engine—and how to evolve it over time to drive even greater levels of organic growth.
• How he came to the realization that he needed to become a full-time CEO for the firm—and the steps he took to transition from the advisor role.
• How he’d counsel a younger advisor with aspirations to grow a $1B+ practice—and the threshold questions advisors should ask themselves when planning for growth.

Plus, Jon shares an inside perspective on independence, the evolution of Ameriprise over the years, and much more.

It’s an in-depth conversation with plenty of actionable information—relevant to any advisor whether you’re working at a wirehouse or are an independent business owner.

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Jon Kuttin:

Jon Kuttin is a Barron’s Hall of Fame Advisor with 25+ years of experience leading and growing a financial advisory practice.  As the CEO of Kuttin Wealth Management, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Jon helps guide the strategic vision of the practice as they seek to become known industry wide as a leadership development factory. Driven by a mission to build leaders and give back to the financial services industry, Jon regularly speaks and contributes articles on CPA alliances, leadership, acquisitions, recruiting, and other topics for numerous publications including Financial Advisor Magazine and Barron’s. His practice is headquartered in Hauppauge, NY and has offices across the country.