In an era of private equity capital and consolidation among independent advisory firms, Mission Wealth bucks the trend.

The Santa Barbara, California-based RIA with $5.4 billion has been 100% employee-owned since launching in 2000. While private equity has been beneficial for many players in the industry, remaining fully independent has helped Mission Wealth create a clear and transparent path of upward mobility for all employees, said CEO Matthew Adams.

“Whether it’s a senior advisor that I’m talking to in Minneapolis or our front desk person that’s starting, I show them that we have four pathways to partnerships, and it’s not just relegated to the high-producing advisor that closes a lot of business,” Adams said. “Every person in every support specialist department that we have has a potential to make partner.”

That focus on internal succession was part of the foresight of the company’s founders, Brad Stark and Seth Streeter, who created Mission Wealth in their 30s, and continued by the example Adams set with his own career. Adams joined Mission Wealth in 2003 as an intern while he was in business school. After working his way up through the investments team, he was one of two new partners named in 2008.

“I’m exhibit A of somebody who worked their way up, but also somebody who hopefully left a trail of breadcrumbs that others could follow through these distinct career paths we have in every department,” he said.

Today, 25 of the Mission Wealth’s 28 partners have been built up internally through the organization. The majority of them are in their 30s, bucking another industry trend of aging advisors scrambling to get a succession plan in place.

— Ryan W. Neal