A conversation with Brock Moseley, Founder and Managing Partner, Miracle Mile Advisors
Overview
For Brock Moseley, the choice to leave Morgan Stanley for a second time in 2007 to launch RIA Miracle Mile Advisors was about living true to his ethos. He built the independent firm from the ground up based on everything he couldn’t find anywhere else for his ultra-high net worth clients, at a time when independence was still a nascent concept.
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About this episode…
Even today, at a time when independence has become mainstream, it’s daunting for most advisors to consider leaving a big firm like Morgan Stanley to make the entrepreneurial leap. But consider what it was like at the beginning of the 21st century: The tech bubble had just burst, leaving advisors and clients in a tailspin. And independence was known only by a few courageous and uber-entrepreneurial types.
At that time, the guest on this episode, Brock Moseley, was just out of the training program at Morgan—one of few newly-minted advisors who remained after the ground dropped out. It’s what Brock describes as a really difficult time at the firm where mentorship had diminished, and advisors were hanging on just trying to protect their books.
It was then that Brock was presented with a new opportunity outside of the wirehouse—recruited as the next gen for the billion-dollar independent firm Bel Air Investment Advisors in Los Angeles. Brock credits Bel Air with giving him the opportunity to learn more about the business. Yet as time went on, he felt a misalignment between where he wanted to go and where the firm was headed.
So, in 2004 when Morgan Stanley was looking to recruit him back, Brock re-upped.
But, ultimately, for this former schoolteacher, the ability to continually learn, grow and pass on knowledge was in-grained in his nature. To him, to be exposed to opportunity is the only way to find one’s real passion. And through it all, he knew that he could only live true to that ethos if he built his own business from the ground up. One that was based on everything he couldn’t find anywhere else.
So in 2007, he launched Miracle Mile Advisors.
Today the firm manages over $3B in assets and has become a prolific acquirer.
In this episode, Brock shares his journey with Louis Diamond, including:
The early days at Morgan and Bel Air—and how each helped him clarify his vision for Miracle Mile.
- The process of building an independent firm in 2007—and how that differed from what is available for breakaways today.
- The decision to sell a piece of his business to Merchant Investment Management —and how he anticipates that will impact the firm going forward.
- The role of mentorship—and how it influences both his personal and professional life.
- Miracle Mile’s unique value proposition—and how the firm stands apart from other ultra-HNW-focused firms and the major wirehouses.
As Brock shares, there comes a point when, “If you can’t find what you want where you are, you need to go create it yourself.” Listen in to how he came to that conclusion and ultimately did build an extraordinary $3B+ firm based on his values and vision.
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Brock Moseley
Founder and Managing Partner
Brock is the Founder and Managing Partner of Miracle Mile Advisors. Over the last 14 years, he has served in a number of capacities within the organization. Most notably as the Head of the Firm’s Investment Committee and Risk Management Committee. His life passion is working with entrepreneurs and high net-worth families to develop customized life plans that incorporate wealth management as well as tax and estate considerations.
Prior to founding Miracle Mile, he spent nine years developing strategic investment solutions for high-net-worth families and foundations at Morgan Stanley & Co. and Bel Air Investment Advisors. His primary responsibilities included portfolio construction, evaluation, and management. Before entering the investment advisory business, Brock was a Vice President in the Energy/Technology Group with the Los Angeles-based boutique investment banking firm, Brockett Tamny & Company.
Brock earned his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, with concentrations in Finance and in Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Brock currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and is a member of the Bel Air Chapter of YPO (Young Presidents Organization). He is also very active in civic causes and was selected as an inaugural member of the California Community Foundation’s Ambassador Within program, aimed at civic leadership and community building enterprises in Los Angeles. Brock lives in Bell Canyon with his wife Susan, his daughter Frankie, and his son Lincoln.
Miracle Mile Advisors LLC (“MMA”) is a registered investment advisor. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where MMA and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risk in any market environment. All investments include a risk of loss that clients should be prepared to bear. The principal risks of MMA’s strategies are disclosed in the publicly available Form ADV Part 2A.
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