The COO Roundtable: Episode 88

With Episode 88, Matt welcomes Bryant Hicks, Partner and Director of Operations at JFG Family Office, and Tim Feeney, FPQP^®, Operations Manager at Bridgewater Advisors. JFG Family Office is headquartered in Denver, CO, with additional offices in Washington, DC, and Dallas, TX. The firm manages approximately $5 billion in client assets and has 62 employees, 22 of whom have joined in the past 18 months. Bridgewater Advisors is located in New York City, manages approximately $2.8 billion for clients, and employs 25 team members. Bryant, Tim, and Matt pull back the curtain on what it really takes to scale an RIA, touching on:

• Both guests’ career paths that led them to their current operations roles, including Tim’s time as a manager and member of a rock band after college and Bryant’s 6 years serving in the Air Force
• How upward mobility on the operations track is built by raising your hand rather than following a defined career ladder
• How both firms are leveraging technology to drive scale and efficiency
• The impact of centralizing tasks such as trading and how taking those tasks off advisors’ plates frees them to focus on client-facing work
• Why documented processes are a non-negotiable for growing firms, and how written workflows support training and day-to-day consistency
• Tips to protect and maintain firm culture as you grow―and how to manage the inevitable pushback from employees who resist change
• Lessons learned from shepherding a firm through growth, and the most important advice both guests would give to listeners.

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You can read the full transcript The COO Roundtable – Ep 88 Transcript.

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The COO Roundtable are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Coldstream Wealth Management. Guest statements regarding their firms, including assets under management and business performance, have not been independently verified by Coldstream.

*The Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional™ and FPQP^® are trademarks or registered service marks of the College for Financial Planning in the United States and/or other countries.