Episode 21

Sixty households per advisor. That's it.

At a time when most firms at scale are pushing advisors toward 150, 200, even 250 client relationships to maximize revenue, Mission Wealth made the opposite choice. They capped advisors at 100 households, with the actual average sitting at just 60. And somehow, they're growing 42% year-over-year.

That contradiction caught my attention. So I sat down with Mission Wealth's leadership team: CEO Matt Adams, President Dannell Stuart, and Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Winkles. I wanted to understand how they've built something most firms insist is impossible: sustainable, diversified organic growth at scale without burning people out.

The Foundation: Culture as Strategy

Mission Wealth's story begins with founders Seth Streeter and Brad Stark asking a simple question in 2000: What if we built a firm that operated the exact opposite of the wirehouses they'd left behind? Instead of individual producers protecting their books, they built around shared revenue and shared growth goals. Instead of advisors competing for resources, they created infrastructure that let advisors focus entirely on client relationships.

Twenty-five years later, that philosophy shows up everywhere. Matt's been there 22 years. Dannell 15. Michelle eight. That tenure isn't accidental. It's what happens when culture is architected into how you grow, not just talked about in values statements.

The Growth Engine: Multiple Channels Working Together

Mission Wealth thinks about growth in three distinct chapters, each building on the last. The first decade was pure organic: COI referrals, client referrals, and community presence in Santa Barbara. Those self-generated skills never faded. Around 2010, they added a focused effort on custodial referral programs, which now drive about half their organic growth. The third chapter, starting in 2018, brought mergers and integrations, but with a twist.

"We're really looking to integrate experts, not aggregate assets," Matt explained. Their average integration is just two to three advisors with specialized skills, unique niches, or strong regional presence. These firms join Mission Wealth to tap into growth channels they couldn't build alone: custodial programs, digital marketing, media presence, AI tools.

The result? About 80% of their $2 billion annual growth comes from organic channels. When you strip out market appreciation and M&A (the two things most firms use to inflate growth stories), Mission Wealth consistently delivers 16-18% organic growth. That's roughly three times the industry average for firms at their scale.

The Secret Weapon: Wealth Strategy Group

Here's how they serve complex clients without overloading advisors. Three years ago, Mission Wealth built out their Wealth Strategy Group: specialists in tax preparation, tax planning, estate planning, risk management, and philanthropy who aren't responsible for any client relationship management. They're experts who can be "helicoptered into" client meetings when specific expertise is needed.

This structure has increased their average new client size to over $5 million in AUM. It's also positioned them perfectly for Schwab's recent shift to a $2 million minimum for their custodial referral program. "At $2 million and up, we're offering in-house tax prep, tax planning, estate planning, risk management, and looking to add more," Matt shared.

The Patient Playbook for Digital

When strategic advisor John Wernz told me fewer than 20 RIA firms are doing paid digital marketing profitably, it crystallized something important about Mission Wealth's approach. They're not chasing quick wins. They're building foundation first.

Michelle joined in 2017 when there was no marketing department. Today she's an equity partner leading a team positioning digital to become their next billion-dollar growth channel. But they're taking Matt's three-year rule seriously: any new growth channel takes about three years to really take hold, not just for advisors to learn it, but for the organization to fully adopt it and understand its place in the long-term vision.

Their first merger was in 2018. By 2026, they're forecasting a 20x increase in M&I goals. "I anticipate digital marketing will be on the same journey," Matt noted.

The Five-Year Vision

When asked where they see the firm in five years, Matt didn't hesitate: "$32 billion." But what struck me more was what came next. "The goals of Mission Wealth go much further than five years. We talk about being a firm of permanence: how do we provide a place to take care of our team and our clients indefinitely?"

That's not growth for growth's sake. That's building something that lasts. And they're doing it with 62 equity partners across every function: marketing, technology, investments, wealth strategy, not just advisors. With transparent paths to partnership and compensation grids that reward both service excellence and business development equally.

Mission Wealth proves you don't have to choose between quality and scale. You just have to be willing to make harder choices consistently over decades. Choosing patience over urgency. Choosing depth over breadth. Choosing sustainable growth over shortcuts.

In an industry increasingly dominated by private equity rollups and commoditized service models, that might be the most radical strategy of all.

Connect with us:

• Meg Carpenter on LinkedIn
• Matt Adams on LinkedIn
• Dannell Stuart on LinkedIn
• Michelle Winkles on LinkedIn

About Ficomm Partners 

Ficomm Partners is the embedded growth partner for results-driven RIAs, and wealth management platforms. With a track record of helping over 250 clients achieve their growth goals, Ficomm understands that while industry patterns may repeat, each firm's growth challenges are unique. Ficomm prioritizes strategy and finds the most impactful ways to move you toward your goals. We align all your marketing activities with your business objectives, acting as your dedicated growth partner with our human-first approach, strategy-first methodology, and unrivaled team of industry marketing experts.