By Julie Cooling, RIA Channel, Featuring JC Abusaid, CEO/President
Halbert Hargrove started an independent RIA in the 1980s and has reached $3 billion in AUM through organic growth, which is a long-term strategy. The team has three generations: the founders, the second generation, and the third generation, including 27 stockholders. Today, the firm’s growth is driven by third-generation advisors, who are in their thirties and forties.
The founder has always been dedicated to building a sustainable firm and has resisted offers to sell. The firm is centralized, with trading, admin, and operations, all in a single Southern California office.
Mergers and acquisitions present a number of difficulties, such as combining operations, melding cultures, and satisfying the career goals of individuals from different firms.
The firm and each advisor have goals for each quarter and for one, three, five, seven, and ten-year horizons. Regular meetings are held to evaluate pipelines and progress toward goals.
Hiring a sales coach helped the firm grow, but Halbert Hargrove is not a sales-driven organization. When hiring a coach, it is important to identify someone who can work within your culture and receive buy-in from the team during the coaching process. The team meets with the coach monthly, including role-playing exercises.
