by Matt Sonnen | Oct 14, 2026 | COO Best Practices
Every RIA has an org chart. It typically lives in a forgotten slide deck, with neat boxes showing who reports to whom. The CEO sits at the top, the rest of the C-suite sits below, and advisors and client service teams branch out beneath. It looks orderly. It looks...
by Matt Sonnen | Aug 12, 2026 | COO Best Practices
Most RIAs have a similar origin story: one or two advisors break away from a larger firm, hang a shingle, and set out to serve clients on their own terms. In the beginning, the math is relatively simple: win enough clients, charge a fair fee, and keep the lights on....
by Matt Sonnen | Jul 16, 2026 | COO Best Practices, Entrepreneurship
On Episode 87 of the COO Roundtable podcast, I sat down with Vince Nauheimer of OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners and Grace Balestrieri of Brighton Jones, two operators who have led their firms through tremendous growth, and asked them a question I felt they were...
by Matt Sonnen | Jun 18, 2026 | COO Best Practices
As consolidation reshapes the RIA industry into ever-larger firms, the operational challenges they face have grown dramatically more complex. Some firms are content to simply manage more assets and clients each year. Others are building the operational infrastructure...
by Matt Sonnen | Apr 8, 2026 | COO Best Practices
I had the privilege of speaking with Karen DeMasters of Financial Advisor Magazine about the complicated role of the RIA COO. In speaking with many COOs, she concluded, “It can be an overlooked position when it comes to discovering why a financial firm is...
by Matt Sonnen | Dec 10, 2025 | COO Best Practices, M&A
Despite rising valuations, the RIA industry has just wrapped another record-setting year for M&A. As firms race to consolidate, the real challenge often begins after the ink dries, with the ever-elusive post-merger integration process. As I have...
