Podcast

01 Dec

Posted at 18:57h in Media Articles, Podcast by

Having more than 25 years of experience, Procyon Partners’ Co-Founder, Phil Fiore, has extensive experience and expertise in the investment advisory space. In addition to being a co-founder of Procyon in 2017, Phil formerly held the positions of Senior Vice President of Wealth Management at UBS, Senior Institutional Consultant, Senior Retirement Plan Consultant, and member of the Institutional Consulting Group and its Advisory Council. 401KWire twice named Phil one of the Nation’s 300 Most Influential Advisors in the Defined Contributions Arena, The Financial Times recognized him as one of their Top 400 Advisors in 2014, and Barron’s named him one of their Top 1,200 Financial Advisors in 2015.

Given all these accomplishments and experiences, Phil is equipped to speak with authority in the wealth management space, but, when Phil was younger,  the term “wealth management” wasn’t even in his lexicon. Coming from a first generation immigrant Italian family, Phil spent most of his early life believing that soccer would be what his future held. His father, a traditional Italian man, created the PAL Soccer League in his hometown in Connecticut. While his father instilled within him a go-and-get-it-yourself attitude as opposed to handing him money (a rudimentary business skill), soccer was indeed what his heart was set on.

Nevertheless, professional soccer only existed in Europe at the time Phil graduated college, so he had to figure out a new path. At first, his intended path was law school, but sometimes life chooses for you what you’re meant to do. In his late 20s, he was presented with an opportunity to join a business he couldn’t refuse which led to him became the highly regarded leader and dealmaker he is today.

29 Jul

Posted at 16:57h in Media Articles, Podcast by

Institutional consulting is a specialty within the wealth management industry focused on advising corporate, foundation, endowment, and retirement plan clients. It’s a business area that’s often well-served by large firms such as Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting, Merrill, or UBS—which typically have the advantage of a well-known name and a solid platform.

Yet much like private wealth, institutional clients have come to want more from their advisors—services beyond what might be offered by a brokerage firm.

Such was the case with Phil Fiore. He started building his practice at Prudential Securities in the 90s, moved to Merrill in 2005, then on to UBS in 2009. He and his team, FDG Institutional Consulting Group, built a strong business with more than $8B in institutional assets and $400mm in private client assets.

Yet it was in 2017 when Phil and his partners decided that working for a large firm limited their ability to grow and offer more to their clients. They had a desire to expand their footprint and their services—neither of which they could achieve at UBS.

So Phil and his team opted to make the leap to independence, launching Procyon Partners with Dynasty Financial Partners.

In this episode with Louis Diamond, Phil looks back over his journey and the first 5 years as an independent business owner, including:

Phil Fiore

The move from Merrill to UBS—and how that compared to their choice to ultimately opt for independence.

Transitioning the business—and what differences they realized in converting their institutional clients vs. their private wealth clients.

The unique requirements of institutional consulting—and what limitations prevented them from serving their clients optimally from within a wirehouse structure.

The breadth of opportunity they realized in independence—and how that fostered growth for their institutional business as well as their private wealth services.

Plus, Procyon’s extraordinary success in M&A—and how the firm has found a niche as a landing spot for RIAs looking to shed the day-to-day of running a business.

Often advisors, particularly those with primarily institutional clients, feel that they cannot better serve their clients in independence—and often feel stuck. But with an expanded independent ecosystem, advisors are now finding they can not only match the service they can give their clients but often improve upon it while expanding their business, as Phil and his team has.

It’s an eye-opening look at the real potential that exists—one with lessons for employee advisors and business owners alike.