The next growth challenge for wealth management
by Penny Phillips
Over the past decade, our industry has made enormous investments in scale. Independent firms have expanded planning capabilities, centralized operations, strengthened investment platforms, invested heavily in technology and brought together specialized expertise that would have been difficult for many advisors to build on their own. These investments have made wealth management firms stronger, more efficient and better equipped to address the increasingly complex financial lives of the clients we serve.
But as our industry continues to evolve, a new challenge has emerged. For years, firms asked, “How do we scale?” Today, the more important question is, “How do we scale without creating sameness?”
Because even though clients benefit from consistency, they don’t want to feel like they’re receiving a standardized experience. And while advisors benefit from enterprise support, they don’t want to feel like they’re practicing from a script.
The firms that will lead the next generation of wealth management will recognize that these objectives are not in conflict. In fact, they depend on one another.
Rethinking Independence
Independence in the industry has long meant building everything yourself. Advisors selected their own technology, hired their own staff, built investment platforms, developed operational workflows and created every aspect of the client experience from the ground up. That entrepreneurial mindset shaped the independent channel and gave advisors tremendous freedom to serve clients in ways that reflected their own philosophies.
Today, however, the environment has changed dramatically.
Technology evolves faster than most individual advisors can reasonably keep pace with. Compliance continues to become more complex. Clients expect sophisticated guidance that extends beyond investment management into tax planning, estate planning, business succession, private investments and many other specialized disciplines. At the same time, the economics of running an independent practice have shifted, making it increasingly difficult for individual firms to build and maintain every capability at the level clients now expect.
Ironically, trying to do everything yourself can actually make it harder (even impossible) to deliver the personalized experience that attracted many advisors to independence in the first place.
The next era of independence isn’t about building everything yourself. It’s about having the freedom to spend the majority of your time doing the work that only you can do: building trusted relationships, delivering thoughtful advice, solving complex problems and growing the number of households you serve. The enterprise’s responsibility is to build the operating model, infrastructure and capabilities that make that possible; not by dictating how advisors practice, but by removing unnecessary complexity so they can devote more of their energy to the people sitting across the table.
The real challenge lies in building enterprise capabilities so well that advisors no longer feel compelled to create parallel processes, search for better solutions or reinvent systems on their own, while ensuring they still have the flexibility to practice in ways that reflect their unique strengths.
A New Framework For Scale And Customization
There are three core principles that underscore how enterprises can build both scale and customization: enterprise consistency, advisor individuality and client specificity.
- Enterprise consistency sets the foundation. Every advisor should have access to the same high-quality technology, investment platform, planning resources, operational support, compliance infrastructure and service standards. Regardless of where a client enters the firm, they should benefit from the same level of operational excellence. The goal is to eliminate friction, improve quality and create confidence that the firm’s capabilities are consistently exceptional.
- Advisor individuality is different. It recognizes that advisors create value in different ways. Some are extraordinary relationship builders who instinctively know how to create trust. Others are exceptional educators who simplify complexity and help clients make confident decisions. Some naturally serve as coaches, helping families navigate difficult life transitions, while others are strategic thinkers who thrive on solving sophisticated financial challenges.
Those differences matter because they often shape the client communities advisors are uniquely positioned to serve. The enterprise shouldn’t try to standardize those qualities. It should create an environment where advisors can lean into them, deepen their expertise and become increasingly valuable to the clients who naturally gravitate toward their style.
- And finally, client specificity. When enterprise consistency and advisor individuality come together, they create the opportunity for what I believe is a firm’s next competitive advantage.
Rather than aiming to deliver the same experience to every client, the goal should be to consistently deliver the right experience for each client community. Consider the following examples.
Client Specificity In Practice
Example 1: A business owner preparing for an eventual liquidity event.
Regardless of which advisor they work with, that client should benefit from a thoughtfully designed experience. The planning process should incorporate business valuation and liquidity modeling. Investment capabilities should include sophisticated tax management, concentrated stock strategies and access to private markets. Advisors should have seamless access to specialists in tax planning, estate planning and business succession. Educational content, planning conversations and client events should all reflect the unique challenges of building, growing and eventually transitioning a business.
Those capabilities should be intentionally embedded into the client experience so every client benefits from them consistently.
Example 2: A recently widowed client.
The enterprise remains exactly the same. The planning platform, operational infrastructure, investment capabilities and service model all remain consistent. But the experience should look very different.
Rather than emphasizing business succession or private investments, the client journey may focus on rebuilding financial confidence, estate settlement, Social Security decisions, income planning, beneficiary reviews and navigating one of life’s most significant transitions. Meeting cadence may increase temporarily, or in perpetuity. Educational resources may focus on financial decision-making after the loss of a spouse, or might be angled towards providing emotional support to those who have experienced immense lost (think podcasts focused on women who are processing grief). Planning conversations may intentionally incorporate topics like longevity, caregiving, legacy and values alongside more traditional financial planning.
Neither experience is better. They’re simply designed for different clients.
The advisor’s role is to bring these capabilities to life through their own personality, communication style and trusted relationships. One advisor may guide those conversations primarily through education. Another through coaching. Another through deeply personal relationship management. Clients don’t connect with advisors because they all communicate the same way, but because advisors bring authenticity to every interaction.
We’re exploring this philosophy at Hightower Signature Wealth through initiatives like Signature Women. While the program focuses on supporting women as they navigate the financial, professional and personal decisions that shape their lives, the broader lesson extends well beyond any one client segment.
We believe the wealth management industry should become increasingly intentional about designing differentiated experiences for specific client communities, while allowing advisors the flexibility to deliver those experiences in ways that reflect who they are. Ultimately, the firms best positioned for the future will pair one exceptional operating system with a network of exceptional advisors, creating experiences that feel deeply personal to every client.
About Penny Phillips
Penny Phillips is the Head of Strategy and Experience at Hightower Signature Wealth, a rapidly growing integrated wealth management firm overseeing approximately $25 billion in assets.
In her role, she focuses on advisor growth strategy, client experience, practice
management, and the development of scalable infrastructure designed to help advisory
teams grow more effectively. Prior to joining Hightower Signature Wealth, Penny was the co-founder and President of Journey Strategic Wealth, a $5 billion Registered Investment Adviser built to support independent financial advisors through hands-on practice management, operational support, and strategic growth consulting. Journey was acquired by Hightower Signature Wealth in early 2026.
Before founding Journey, Penny launched Thrivos Consulting, a practice management
coaching firm focused on helping financial advisors build stronger businesses and prepare for the evolving needs of next-generation clients. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles across the financial services industry and has authored multiple advisor training and practice management programs.
A nationally recognized speaker and facilitator, Penny has presented at financial services conferences throughout the United States and Canada and has been a regular contributor to industry publications like WealthManagement.com.
Penny has been recognized across the industry for her leadership and innovation, including nominations for Innovator of the Year by WealthManagement.com Industry Awards and a Luminary Award by ThinkAdvisor. She was also named one of Financial Planning’s “23 People Who Will Change the Wealth Management Industry.” On a personal note, Penny is certified in Advanced Behavioral Analysis and earned dual degrees in Economics and Corporate Finance from Macaulay Honors College. Born and raised in New York City, she is of Greek descent and speaks fluent Greek.
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