30 percent of management’s time should focus on organic growth, Duran says

investmentnews.com:

Joe Duran told growth-hungry RIAs to home in on what he believes is the biggest gap in the industry right now – stagnant organic growth.

The renowned business builder, best known for founding United Capital before selling it to Goldman Sachs for $750 million in 2019 (Goldman sold the unit to Creative Planning last year)  kicked off InvestmentNews’ inaugural RIA Activate event at the Conrad New York Downtown with powerful messages on sales tactics, effective leadership – “constantly ask yourself if you’re wrong” – and why the RIA space is already deep in phase three: consolidation and differentiation. Essentially, the battle for market share is on.

Last year, Duran launched his latest venture, Rise Growth Partners, where he’s executive managing partner. Rise’s aim is to purchase minority stakes in registered investment advisor firms and fuel their growth through additional capital, hands-on operational guidance, and acquisition advice.

Duran told the audience in New York that G1 advisors, who were typically focused on sales through broker-dealers and the insurance industry, have been replaced by G2 advisors, who are more fiduciary- and service-oriented.

“That’s lovely, but it has really impacted organic growth,” Duran said. “There is too much focus on inorganic and acquisitions. The reality is all businesses have to focus on organic growth and it should be a total of 30 percent of your management team’s time.”

Duran says another key factor that will dictate whether a firm is able to grow from $2 billion to $5 billion in AUM to $20 billion to $30 billion is having your own ideas.

“The industry is awash with people saying the same thing, telling us the same story,” he said. “The reality is how you think in original ways,