From Cold-Calling to $500mm Breakaway: A Former Merrill Advisor’s Team-Based Approach to Growth

A conversation with Rory O’Hara, Founder, Senior Managing Partner, Ausperity Private Wealth

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.

Related Resources

Industry Update: The 10 Characteristics of the Most Successful Teams - Mindy Diamond and Louis Diamond explore 10 of the most common behaviors of elite wealth management teams based on their experiences in guiding many of the industry’s top players. These are practices that any team at any level can adopt, whether they work as employees at a big brokerage firm, are independent business owners, sole practitioners, or part of an ensemble group. Listen->

Conducting a Strategic Due Diligence Process: 10 Practical Tips for Financial Advisors - The worksheet discussed in this podcast episode, designed to serve as a checklist for anyone preparing to embark on an exploration process. Download->

How to Optimize Your Business for Growth and Success: 8 Questions Advisors Need to Ask Themselves - Rising above the day-to-day tasks of your “job” to invest time in thoughtful strategizing and planning can be the gamechanger you’ve been looking for. Read->

You can also listen to the full episode on our?website , as well as on?Apple Podcasts ,?Google Podcasts ,?Stitcher ?or?Spotify .