Milwaukee, Wis.-based Cleary Gull is one fine organization, according to Tiburon Strategic Advisors' Chip Roame.
Roame routinely refers to the "genius" of the firm at his popular CEO summits held twice each year. The reason, he says, is the effective use of the niche market business model they employ; specifically airline pilots. Like physicians, senior pilots have a lot of money, quite a few outside business interests, and a desperate need for quality financial advice. By familiarizing itself with each airlines' retirement planning offerings and policies, the firm has attracted a large following, as well as the assets under management that go with it.
Now two Dallas-based firms have taken it a step further, merging in the airline pilot-focused RIA space to ensure succession planning continuity.
Smith Anglin Financial, an RIA managing $357 million in AUM, announced Wednesday that it had merged with Rhoads Lucca Capital Management in a "succession planning-centric deal" that brings the combined AUM of the RIA to about $500M.
The transaction took over a year to complete due to the very specific criteria the selling firm, Rhoads Lucca, had in selecting a partner.