DeVoe Launches 2 New Coaching Programs for RIAs

The new DeVoe Coaching Platform for RIAs was designed by DeVoe & Co. to help advisors “accelerate growth and run better businesses,” the financial services consulting firm said Thursday.

The comprehensive coaching platform enables the firm to “deliver a coaching experience — with expertise, guidance and tools — not previously available to the RIA industry,” it said.

The platform consists of the DeVoe Masters Program and DeVoe Accelerators integrated programs that, together, “provides a range of options for advisors to receive support based on their needs and engagement style,” the company said.

Both programs are launching Thursday, David DeVoe, managing director at DeVoe & Co., told ThinkAdvisor.

During the coronavirus and economic crisis, DeVoe & Co. is “trying to support advisors however we can — ranging from a few hundred dollars to pick the brain of a director for an hour, to ongoing coaching or Accelerators, all the way up to our standard deep-dive consulting engagements,” the company said.

The standard fee for the Masters Program is $2,400 a month for a relationship with a special advisor, according to the firm. The fees tier down for clients who want to work with managing directors ($1,800 a month) or directors ($1,000 a month).

The Accelerators program costs $10,500 for six months and $19,500 for 12 months, it said.

“Now more than ever, RIA leaders need a trusted and guiding hand to help them navigate their businesses through turbulent waters,” according to DeVoe. “Through our Coaching Platform, advisors can access former heads of leading RIAs who have managed firm through markets like 2008,” he said in a statement.

“Our platform combines the wisdom of respected industry veterans with the intellectual capital DeVoe & Co. has built through deeply involved engagements with over 500 advisors,” he added.

In the industry-tailored DeVoe Masters Program, RIA leaders will work closely on their businesses with esteemed former RIA CEOs. Masters Program coaches will help already successful advisors “break through to new levels of success, as well as make complex decisions in today’s rapidly evolving environment,” the firm said.

DeVoe has expanded its team to include several industry leaders as special advisors. Along with its team of experienced managing directors, these special advisors will support clients in a coaching capacity: Tim Kochis, ex-CEO and chairman of Aspiriant; Peggy Ruhlin, chair of Budros, Ruhlin & Roe Inc.; and Jane Williams, chairman and co-founder of Sand Hill Global Advisors.

The DeVoe Accelerators, meanwhile, are “multi-faceted, integrated programs designed to help advisors take their businesses to the next level of performance,” the firm said. Members will work on specific business disciplines or themes via a series of monthly webinar sessions, tailored tools, monthly coaching sessions and in-person meetings, it said.

In light of today’s environment, the first Accelerator focuses on Managing Your RIA Through the Crisis. Advisors can also join Accelerators that will launch later this year, including Optimizing Your Firm’s Value and Harnessing Human Capital.

“The Accelerator program, essentially a virtual study group on steroids, is a new way to take a comprehensive and integrated approach to optimize a specific, critical area within RIA businesses,” according to DeVoe.