Tarah Williams, currently chief operating officer of Prospera Financial Services, has been appointed president of the boutique wealth management firm headquartered in Dallas, the firm announced today.
Williams becomes the first female president of the firm in the newly-created role. Her appointment precedes what is planned to be an aggressive growth plan for the firm, which now has approximately $14.5 billion in assets under management and supports a nationwide network of independent advisors. She will remain chief operating officer.
“One of our main goals now is strategic growth” with firms that fit the culture of Prospera, Williams said in an interview. “We are a ‘real’ boutique firm with a high-touch culture.” The firm has 2.5 advisors to staff, which illustrates the attention given to clients, she said.
It is also important to have a women in an executive position, she added. “I luckily had good mentors, many of them men, but I want to walk shoulder to shoulder with women” coming up in the industry.
Prospera is aiming to grow through retention, organic growth and acquisitions, Williams added.
She is a 26-year industry veteran and has been with Prospera since 2007. Throughout her career, Williams has held management positions across multiple financial services business divisions, including operations, finance, risk management, recruiting and marketing, Prospera said.
During her years with Prospera, Williams implemented training programs for all employees, developed firm-wide processes and procedures to help provide operational consistency and accuracy for advisors, and implemented the framework to track and improve advisor satisfaction through net promoter scores and client experience surveys, Prospera said.
She helped create Launch Your Way, a turnkey onboarding process for new advisors, which was named WealthManagement.com Industry Award winner in 2015. She also played an integral part in expanding and deepening industry partnerships and relationships with Prospera.
“As a woman who is tenured in this competitive business, Tarah brings unique insights and a valued voice to the running of our business. We are proud to add to the diversity of the industry’s senior executive ranks,” David Stringer, co-CEO and managing partner at Prospera, said in a statement.
Tim Edwards, co-CEO and managing partner, added in a statement, “Tarah’s unparalleled insights will amplify the strong momentum we have built in the marketplace and drive further growth for advisors and the firm.”