Editor’s Note: This article is based on Steve Sanduski’s podcast interview with Marty Bicknell of Mariner Wealth Advisors. To access more than 100 interviews with industry leaders, subscribe for free to Steve’s podcast, Between Now and Success by clicking here.
Paul Tudor Jones did it for hedge fund managers. Michael Saylor and Jack Dorsey did it for publicly traded companies.
Now, Marty Bicknell is doing it for RIAs.
Once called “rat poison squared” by Warren Buffett, bitcoin is now going mainstream. After a tumultuous 12-year existence punctuated by head-spinning bull markets, devasting declines, exchange hacks, and its use in criminal activities, bitcoin has grown into adulthood.
Bicknell recently announced that his firm, the $35 billion AUM behemoth Mariner Wealth Advisors, will offer bitcoin to its clients through a separately managed account run by Eaglebrook Advisors.
To date, only a small number of intrepid advisors including Morgen Rochard, Jackson Wood, Adam Pokornicky, Tyrone Ross, Adam Blumberg, and Isaiah Douglas have done the pioneering work of understanding bitcoin, figuring out the compliance and operational details of offering it, and presenting it to their clients as part of a thoughtful asset allocation.
Why Bitcoin Now?
On my podcast, Bicknell said, “We have 325 advisors today, and I would tell you all of them, every single one of them have had at least two or three clients ask them about it.”
Interestingly, there was much more FOMO about bitcoin back in late 2017 when it soared to nearly $20,000 before crashing to below $4,000 in 2018. Recently, bitcoin roared back to a new all-time high but without the breathless hype of three years ago—to me a sign of its maturation as an investment.
Yes, bitcoin will experience crazy volatility again. But as Bicknell said, “Regardless of where we are in the cycle of this, it's something that clients want.”