DeVoe & Company is known for its work as a consulting, M&A and valuation services firm for registered investment advisors, and now it’s getting into the RIA coaching business with today’s unveiling of a platform that enlists some well-known names in the wealth-management space.
This platform comprises two components: a Masters program that's a one-to-one relationship where a financial advisor works with a coach on matters of importance to his or her firm; and Accelerator programs that are one-to-many offerings consisting of monthly webinars and coaching sessions, along with various tools focused on specific business objectives.
There’s no shortage of consultants and others plying the RIA coaching trade, and their programs and pricing—and, presumably, their effectiveness—can vary. A fair question to ask is what’s the potential value-add offered by DeVoe & Co. in an already crowded space.
“The coaches themselves [are a value-add],” says company founder and managing director David DeVoe. “With most of the coaching programs out there, the coaches—quote, unquote—were never part of an RIA, much less ran one. Our coaches have run some of the most successful firms in the industry. We have six people on staff who have run billion-dollar-plus RIAs.”
The latest additions are Peggy Ruhlin, chair of the board of directors at Budros, Ruhlin & Roe Inc., a roughly $2.7 billion firm in Columbus, Ohio; and Jane Williams, chairman and co-founder at Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm that also manages about $2.7 billion.
Ruhlin, Williams and Tim Kochis, former CEO and chairman of Aspiriant and co-founder of Kochis Fitz, and who began working with DeVoe & Co. in 2017, are listed as special advisors and are among the coaches in the Masters program. Other coaches include the firm’s managing directors and directors.
This program is structured so that an advisor will work with a designated coach in an open-ended format based on the advisor’s needs. As DeVoe describes it, the Masters program will start with some information gathering on the advisor firm so that the client and the coach can hit the ground running.
“As they meet they will start to craft an overall arc and set of intentions for that advisor,” he says. “It’s anywhere from completely unstructured to as structured as the coach and the advisor want to make it.”
Advisors will meet with their coach for one-hour calls once every two weeks on a monthly basis. The cost is $2,400 per month for a relationship with one of the aforementioned special advisors; $1800 per month to work with a managing director and $1,000 a month to work with a director.
“Each time you meet with this person they’re getting smarter about your organization and your own leadership style,” DeVoe offers. “So each time you meet with them they can add more and more value.”