The Advisory Services Network has added three more firms to its network in recent weeks and eight in the last quarter, according to company co-founder and managing member Tom Prescott.
The Atlanta-based network is now approaching $9 billion in combined assets from about 150 advisory firms, he said in an interview.
“Our pipeline is equally as large,” he said, attributing the network's success to its ability to serve small firms and solo practitioners.
“The big acquirer firms do not want to deal with the firms that are under $400 million or $500 million," Prescott said. "They want to absorb the billion dollar firms, so we decided to work with these smaller, underserved firms."
The newest member of Advisory Services Network, which was announced last week, is Fanno Capital Management, which is led by Jesse Jimerson, a wealth management advisor. Jimerson’s firm is in Beaverton, Ore., and has $20 million in assets under management.
Two other affiliations announced since the beginning of the year were Karp Asset Management, which is based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with about $35 million in fee-based AUM, and Kline Private Wealth, based in Chevy Chase, Md., with about $65 million in fee-based AUM.
Firms or sole practitioners who join the Advisory Services Network keep their brands and books of business. Advisory Services Network handles the back office work, compliance, billing and other operational needs. The firms appear on Advisory Services Network’s ADV.
“Ultimately, studies show advisors can spend more than half of their time on non-client activities when they try to operate on their own. We want to drastically reduce that number, particularly for new, younger advisors,” Prescott said.
Advisory Services Network started as a consulting firm but in 2010 grew its services beyond that and started working with small firms that wanted to operate on their own but could not work at the scale necessary to do business without assistance, Prescott said. Some of the advisors affiliated with the network have exited large broker-dealers, wirehouses or banks.
The firm’s goal for growth for 2025 does not center on numbers, Prescott said, but there is an active pipeline. Firms that join pay a fee based on their size. For example, a $50 million firm would pay 12 basis points and as firm size goes up, the fee decreases.
“We want to provide a place for small firms or individual advisors who want to be independent at the same time they can retain their independence and pay a set, truly transparent fee,” Prescott said.
Advisory Services Network is looking for solid firms, but they do not have to be in a growth mode. “If the advisor is comfortable with the practice and wants time to go play golf, we don’t care,” Prescott said.
The newest service that will be offered is marketing and Advisory Services Network is working on a succession planning program that allows advisors who join the network to exit the business, he said.
“We are servicing a part of the industry that is being overlooked by others,” Prescott said.