Megan Leonhardt |
The high-end boutique
After several years of acquisitions—including
“We now have the scale and the platform not only to help affluent, but help the mass affluent,” says
Leitner believes the self-service model alone isn’t the answer, which is why FirstPoint clients will receive personalized advice. The firm has already hired almost a half dozen experienced advisors internally and externally, placing them in
FirstPoint clients will have an online portal and communicate with their advisor team via telephone calls or web conferencing. The firm is beefing up its technology and software so that rather than using strategies geared toward the high-net-worth clients usually handled by Mariner, FirstPoint can provide leverage to the mass affluent that makes sense.
And unlike a call center, advisors will provide more than just an asset allocation strategy. FirstPoint clients will receive comprehensive financial planning. “It’s no different than anyone else [at Mariner].”
Mariner has been considering this move for the past couple of years, Leitner says, but it was only early this year that he and others started to pull the pieces together. “We’re early to this market,” Leitner says, adding that’s exactly where the firm wanted to be. It’s challenging for an average individual to work with a fiduciary, he says. Most people with
Proving his point, he says Mariner clients have already expressed an interest in signing up their children for FirstPoint, saying they felt secure because the Mariner name provided a great deal of credibility. Leitner also added that the firm’s centers of influence, including lawyers and CPAs, also were excited by the move and had referrals for FirstPoint.
But it's not just
Mariner has spent the past seven years building up a national presence and a rock-solid reputation, Leitner says. “Now we’re just building on a foundation we’ve already built.”
Copyright: | © 2013 Penton Media |
Source: | Penton Business Media |
Wordcount: | 539 |
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