SFMG Wealth Advisors takes its succession planning seriously. Anyone hired should expect to be considered as part of the next generation, or the generation after that.

Shashin Shah, managing director of the 21-year-old RIA with more than $2 billion under management, describes SFMG as “a firm built generationally.”

“Right now, G1 is about to retire, G2 is firmly in place, we’ve identified our G3 and we’re looking for G4,” he said. “We’re set for the next 30 or 40 years.”

While an established succession plan and deep bench of next-generation ownership can be good news for clients, it also stacks up well for advisors looking for a future in the RIA business.

The average age of SFMG’s employees, including 12 financial advisors, is 37.

“The culture is a lot younger than what you see across the industry,” Shah said.

Last year the firm expanded the number of employee stakeholders to 12, up from five. And the youngest stakeholder is 25.

SFMG, which is currently looking to expand to other parts of Texas, has mostly grown organically, and to keep pace hired seven people last year.

The pipeline of new employees, which is connected to internship programs at Texas Tech and the University of Texas, is nurtured through a firmwide mentorship program that keeps everyone focused on career development.

“We put a lot of value into the culture and believe we have hired the best and brightest, and want them to continue to learn,” Shah said. “As we continue to aggressively grow our firm, we want everyone to understand what we do and why we do it.”

— Jeff Benjamin