About this episode…

The wealth management business was very different in 2007—particularly for newly-minted advisor trainees.

As former Merrill advisors Rory O’Hara shares, cold calling was their primary vehicle to reach new clients. And that he did—to the tune of 200 to 300 calls a day!

Yet he was young and determined with a strong entrepreneurial side, which led him to consider ways to “scale” the business over time.

That is, building a team that can reach more customers than what was possible with one person smiling and dialing.

Rory and his team grew the business to some $500mm in assets under management—garnering many industry accolades, including Forbes America’s Top Next Gen Advisors and Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors.

Rory credits his growth and knowledge gained to his time at Merrill—an experience he calls “phenomenal.”

But through due diligence, he was surprised to discover that as an employee of the wirehouse, he and his team were limited in what they could do for their clients and to grow their business.

That is, they “didn’t know what they didn’t know” until they stuck their heads out to explore.

So in August of 2021, Rory and his team launched Ausperity Private Wealth on Sanctuary Wealth’s supported independence platform.

What propelled them to start due diligence and make the leap to independence? Rory shares those answers and more with Louis Diamond, including:

• The pushes and pulls that inspired them to consider change—and how exploration helped to open their eyes to what they were lacking at the wirehouse.
• Making the leap to independence as a young team—and how their long runway gives them more time to build their firm and add to their growth.
• The choice to build their independent firm with Sanctuary—and why they didn’t opt to build their firm from scratch.
• The transition from advisor to business owner—and the valuable lessons he’s learned in the process.
• The ability to freely market their business as independents—and how that’s impacted their growth.
• The value of having a mentor—and how that helped to shape his business mindset and model.
• And much more.

It’s a “must listen” episode that candidly explores a former wirehouse advisor’s journey full-circle: From cold-calling trainee to building a solid practice at the wirehouse, to an eye-opening due diligence process and exploration of models and options, to the transition process and new business ownership.