There are many different paths to independence. What's yours?

Whether you're looking to launch your own firm or join an established one, we're here to help you evaluate your options and take the next step. We've helped thousands of advisors find the path that's right for them. Let us help you find yours.

Are you a Tom, an Amy, a Michael, or a Scott?

They each took a different path to independence. Hear their stories, learn how they did it, and explore what independence could mean for you.

The industry's moving toward independence and towards the RIA model. I learned a lot from my relationship manager at Schwab early in the process about how the independent RIA channel works and who the major players were, but we didn't want to get caught up in things that took us away from our core mission, and that's to serve our clients. So joining up with a large RIA firm was definitely the right move for us. We're aligned with one of the largest independent RIAs in the country, and we custody our assets with Schwab. It doesn't get any better than that for our clients.
Video Transcript

Tom Mingone: "Joining an independent RIA."

The industry's moving toward independence and towards the RIA model. I learned a lot from my relationship manager at Schwab early in the process about how the independent RIA channel works and who the major players were, but we didn't want to get caught up in things that took us away from our core mission, and that's to serve our clients. So joining up with a large RIA firm was definitely the right move for us. We're aligned with one of the largest independent RIAs in the country, and we custody our assets with Schwab. It doesn't get any better than that for our clients.

Tom Mingone: "Joining an independent RIA."

We knew we wanted to get out of the wirehouse. That was easy. The harder part was where you land.

One of the biggest reasons that we went independent was we wanted to be able to say, it is clear who we work for. We work for the clients.

We're gonna be great advisors to our clients today, but we're also gonna think about their future.

We considered joining another firm. We also considered structuring our own. Schwab gave us the opportunity to ask some of those questions of people who had done both. We couldn't have done it without the help of Schwab.
Video Transcript

Amy Hiett and Michael Walsh: "We work for the clients."

We knew we wanted to get out of the wirehouse. That was easy. The harder part was where you land.

One of the biggest reasons that we went independent was we wanted to be able to say, it is clear who we work for. We work for the clients.

We're gonna be great advisors to our clients today, but we're also gonna think about their future.

We considered joining another firm. We also considered structuring our own. Schwab gave us the opportunity to ask some of those questions of people who had done both. We couldn't have done it without the help of Schwab.

Amy Hiett and Michael Walsh: "We work for the clients."

We didn't go independent to sit around and coast. You know, there's lots of different reasons to do it. For us, it was to go build, go build a brand and go build a business, and that's what we're doing. From start to finish, all the folks from Schwab, they fit the mold of who our team is and have been able to run alongside with us the entire way and coach us and educate us on this space. It's true collaboration, and we just didn't see it in the wirehouse world. I love the industry, I love clients. Independence brings that all together.
Video Transcript

Scott Bills: "True collaboration."

We didn't go independent to sit around and coast. You know, there's lots of different reasons to do it. For us, it was to go build, go build a brand and go build a business, and that's what we're doing. From start to finish, all the folks from Schwab, they fit the mold of who our team is and have been able to run alongside with us the entire way and coach us and educate us on this space. It's true collaboration, and we just didn't see it in the wirehouse world. I love the industry, I love clients. Independence brings that all together.

Scott Bills: "True collaboration."

There's no one way to be an RIA.

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