🔒Wealth management sector sees growth, deals and other changes

Maine's wealth management industry saw a number of transitions over the past two years.

Veterans in the industry have started up new, smaller firms. Others are looking at growth strategies through hiring or acquisitions by larger companies looking for entry to the Maine market. There’s been an emphasis on client service in an increasingly complex field, with strategies that include low client-to-advisor ratios and hiring from industries outside financial services.

New hiring strategy

At Portland-based Great Diamond Partners, the hiring strategy has changed over time, says Helen Andreoli, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner. Two hires in 2025 brought the team to 12 and increased client assets under management from around $640 million to just under $800 million. Established in 2019, Great Diamond’s client trends include an increased focus on younger professionals who benefit from consulting services through their career and not just when they’re ready to retire, says Andreoli. Women, with more money than ever, are a growing market. From the HR standpoint, Great Diamond has worked from the start with Portland social impact consultancy Conscious Revolution with a focus on “finding the right people versus just focusing on the skills. They’ve helped us widen how we would look for people.” Great Diamond positions itself as a client-centered alternative. “I’m picking people who don’t just fit our culture, but add to it,” says Andreoli. “All of the partners here came up in the wirehouses” — large, national firms. “That’s a hard place to develop a unique culture — it kind of is what it is. We thought there was a way to do this that was much more client-focused.” To that end, particularly when hiring for the team directly working with clients, the firm has been looking outside the financial services industry for people who have customer service experience in other industries. “For example, we’ve hired people who have worked in the hospitality industry — people who have a genuine ability to serve clients.” That’s because the ins and outs of finance services can be taught and customer service is more of an innate talent, she says. “If people are excited about helping people, we’re finding that’s a really good fit.” Values around family, integrity, compassion and well-being are as much about the team as the clients, she says. “We have a saying: You don’t build a business, you build people and the people build the business. That’s our north star — take care of everybody and it will all work out.” Team-centric provisions include benefits from Day One, with 100% of the benefits paid by Great Diamond, along with unlimited paid vacations and the ability to work from home and self-manage schedules. “We need to find people who fit that culture,” she says. “Those benefits are never changing. If people can’t manage their lives, given all this freedom, then they’re not a good fit.” More hiring is possible in 2026. “We’re always looking for female advisors. Always,” she says.

Low client-to-advisor ratio

Father-and-son Jack Zinn and Jack Zinn III launched Zinn Wealth Management in 2024 at 62 India St. in Portland’s East End. Both were previously with another firm, where they had worked as a team and decided to break out on their own. The mission was to have greater control over the direction of their business. Since the launch, year-over-year revenue and assets under management have increased about 20%. The Zinns are part-owners of an independent broker/dealer in St. Louis called &Partners.

The firm sponsors events such as the Sugarloaf Charity Summit but otherwise doesn’t do any marketing. Many clients come from multi-generational referrals. Bringing in another advisor is in the game plan, as part of the firm’s longer-term vision. The Zinns keep a low client-to-advisor ratio, allowing them to provide customized service. The firm services about 180 families, most based in Maine or having a Maine connection. It also works with corporate retirement plans in Maine and around New England. “We believe that one advisor really cannot or should not have more than 100 or so relationships,” says the elder Zinn. “It is not uncommon for some advisors to have 300 or 400 clients, of all different shapes and sizes. We feel that’s not a good service model.“ He continues, “We run a business that is more like concierge medical service. When we book an appointment with a client, we book the whole morning or afternoon.” “That service model is important,” says Zinn III. “In a fast-growing tech age, clients are used to being able to get information quickly. They expect us to get back to them in a timely manner. And they want us to have the right answers in a world where you and go online and might get five different answers. There’s a lot of confusion. They depend on us to be the expert.”

Advice for advisors

In 2024, Steven Tenney started Grandview & Co., a coaching and consulting business for leaders in the independent wealth management sector Tenney has worked in wealth management for more than three decades. He spent 26 years at PaineWebber and UBS, where he worked closely with business owner clients. In 2019, he co-founded Great Diamond Partners. By 2024, it had grown from $500 million in assets to about $650 million, with a third less staff than typically required. “We did this by working smarter, not harder, leveraging the right systems and entrepreneurial frameworks,” he says.

Looking to share insights as a consultant, he started Grandview, initially focusing on independent wealth management firms and advisor teams who want to become independent. That has evolved to a sole focus on existing firms. Tenney addresses three broad topics — succession planning, margin expansion and sustainable growth. From his office at the Pineland Farms business campus in New Gloucester, Tenney works with about 10 clients across the U.S., connected mainly via referrals, LinkedIn and conferences. “I’ve worked hard at building my national network of other trusted professionals,” he says. Client firms range from $100 million to $800 million; Tenney expects the higher end to expand pretty rapidly, with a target market up to $3 billion. He recently released a book, “RIA [registered investment advisor] Succession Alpha: Lead the Change. Capture the Value. Live the Life,” a guide to maximizing a wealth management firm’s value while simultaneously building a resilient and growing business. “There’s a tremendous need for succession planning in the RIA industry,” he says. An estimated 37% of advisors “are going to retire in the next 10 years and they control 41% of investors’ assets.” At the same time, there are two fundamental challenges at work, he says. First, there aren’t enough next-gen advisors to take over. Second, elevated valuations, largely due to industry consolidation, make buying a firm a meaningful financial burden, he says. Given the scenario, Tenney advises on the succession planning process to achieve the best possible outcome. “I challenge their assumptions, educate them on possible outcomes and help improve their firm regardless of whether or not they’re going through a transition,” he says. There’s a certain irony: succession planning is a primary wealth management service. “Most companies don’t do any succession planning,” says Tenney. “And that’s true of wealth management firms. The typical owners wear a lot of hats. They work with clients, manage portfolios, develop new business, do financial planning, run the business. Yet there’s a finite amount of time. Succession planning, even though it’s incredibly important, is not urgent, so it doesn’t get to the top of the pile.” Tenney also seeks to address industry mindset around considerations such as technology and generational assumptions. “I think there’s a mindset issue in the industry,” he says. “It’s important for firms to reconsider how they do what they do, get outside perspectives on how they execute their business plans. Things are changing more rapidly than ever. What worked yesterday will not necessarily work tomorrow.”

National tie-up

Gather Financial Planning, in Falmouth and Bangor, was acquired in 2024 by EP Wealth Advisors, a registered investment adviser based in Torrance, Calif. Michael Goldman and Abby Morton, who co-founded Gather Financial in 2013, have joined EP Wealth as vice presidents and advisors, along with three staff members. “Partnering with EP Wealth Advisors has allowed us to increase our capacity to serve families in Maine and beyond,” says Goldman. The tie-up added back-office support and systems that freed the Maine team to focus on serving clients and offer more services. “Our service model has always been very people-intensive — we meet with each of our clients multiple times during the year and advise them on all aspects of their financial lives, not just investments,” says Goldman. “We wanted to be able to help more families, but maintain our personalized, small-team approach.” He continues, “While our clients enjoy the local feel, having over $40.5 billion in assets under management as of September, 30, 2025, as part of a national firm also brings advantages in the marketplace.” That includes a broader range of investment strategies that may not be commonly available in Maine. “Our little team of five has grown assets under management since joining EP, retained almost all our previous clients and added several more families,” he says. “We’ve also been able to expand our charitable giving in our local community.” Other advantages of a larger firm are better benefits and more career opportunities. There was no shortage of firms interested in acquiring Gather; Goldman received a number of inquiries over the years. “A few years ago I started identifying firms that I felt would be good partners,” he says. “We had deep discussions with about a dozen of these.” EP stood out as a good cultural fit. It helped that two other local firms, Cribstone in Maine and Resolute in New Hampshire, previously partnered with EPWA. “That meant that there was already an experienced EPWA team in place that understands the northern New England market,” he says. “It also meant we would add Brunswick and Augusta offices to our existing locations in Falmouth and Bangor.” As the oldest state, by median age, the need for retirement planning is increasing in Maine, he says, adding: “I expect we will continue to expand our team over the next several years.”