Why Integrated Partners’ Paul Sagney Wants to ‘Love Chaos’

Like the old saying goes, a good leader knows when to follow.

Integrated Partners’ CEO Paul Sagney may be the founder of the Boston-based RIA and financial planning firm, but he knew when it was time to bring in the reinforcements. “I’ve got amazingly talented people to run the firm, but I spend most of my time coaching advisors and working with our largest clients,” he told Advisor Upside. His newest appointee Andree Mohr — who took over the role of firm president from Sagney last year — handles the day-to-day operations and growth strategies for the company, which was recently recognized as the fastest growing RIA in Massachusetts by CityWire.

Advisor Upside recently sat down with Sagney and Mohr at a busy cafe in New York City to discuss the challenges firms face when trying to grow organically, the consequences of this year’s volatility and how the Great Wealth Transfer is reshaping the advisor space.

What pitfalls do advisors run into when trying to grow?

Paul Sagney: I would argue [social media] maybe bringing in more and more clients that would be vulnerable to AI. They think, ‘If I found you on AI or through social media, why would I not use AI to do my plan at some point?’ That’s why you hear about fee compression. We’re trying to go where people aren’t looking to pay less in fees. We’re focused on the clients who want to pay more for the value that they get.

How has this year’s volatility affected the RIA space this year?

We love chaos. We love turbulence. We have 250 accountant firms, and they average about 500 clients each. As their clients get nervous, they can refer them to us. So when things are always going up and there’s no hassles out there, no one gets nervous about their financial plan or their wealth management. So we love the turbulence, the tariffs, the down markets. Our best years ever were the tech crash and the ‘08 banking crisis. So the more chaos, the better for us.

In regard to the Great Wealth Transfer, we hear a lot about the next generation of clients switching from their parents’ advisors. What are you experiencing?

I just picked up three new clients myself. Their dad passed away, and he had an advisor who was at a wire house. I took care of one of my daughter’s financial affairs for probably 20 years. She referred me to her sister and her brother, and now all three are coming to us. This is a good example of the trickle-down of that wealth transfer. 

Does every advisor have time to get to know the children and how much effort can they put into that? It’s hard to do because all these young kids — I have a young son myself — think differently about paying for fees and how their plans are put together. They’re already covered by AI, so will the model that we’re using work long-term for younger people? Only time will tell.

We’re more of a planning firm, and the gentleman who passed away used more of a wealth manager. When the money trickled down to the kids, they wanted planning help. We haven’t even talked about how to manage that money yet. It’s been all about their estates and how they can make that wealth go to their children.

What are some organic growth tactics that are working for advisors?

Andree Mohr: Some of the [growth] concepts are so simple that people think, ‘That’s never going to work.’ In Q1, we had advisors write thank-you notes to clients, and that was a great referral generator. The clients are, like, ‘My advisor sent me this really heartfelt note. Isn’t that so great?” They tell their friends who didn’t get notes, and they end up introducing them to their advisors. These are some of the interesting ways to help advisors grow organically.

We have G2 advisors reach out to the kids of advisors’ clients and build that relationship. You want to work with someone who looks like you, talks like you, has the same values and opinions as you. The lead advisor doesn’t have the time to work with the kids of clients, but the junior advisor does, and it’s a great way to hone their craft, build confidence and get those people connected.