Jan 08, 2026 Wealth Management Operations – Your Growth Advantage
In wealth management, growth is often credited to big producers, market growth, or firm brand recognition. Those elements matter – absolutely, but I believe operations, often seen as a replaceable cost center, are actually the backbone of sustainable growth for wealth management and professional services firms. As the COO at the #20 2025 Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams, and someone who has held the same role at a Forbes Top 100 RIA and a nationally recognized Accounting and Consulting firm, I’ve seen firsthand that sustainable growth is built on strategy and disciplined execution, not luck and charisma/personality.
Stoic philosophy teaches us to focus on what we can control and to transform obstacles into advantages. In operations, this mindset is not philosophical—it’s practical. Regulatory complexity, compliance, data and system fragmentation, and service expectations are often viewed as constraints. But firms that treat these as operational design opportunities can unlock the leverage others miss.
In my opinion, high-scale, high-growth firms are doing these three things very well:
1. Standardize the process; automate the mundane but empower the human.
The best operators are building scalable repeatable workflows for things like onboarding, money movement, and trading/rebalancing. Coupling this with teams of people, both FAs and staff, who can spend their time personalizing the client experience and meeting client needs, creates value for people on your team by enabling them to spend more time with clients. Machines can’t talk clients out of making a bad decision; people can, so don’t “optimize” people out of the equation.
2. Align operations with firm strategy
Every operational decision sends a signal about who the firm is looking to serve and what its growth aspirations are. Are your systems built for the masses or boutique, individualized service? Are workflows built for today or tomorrow? Are you thinking about where the world of automation is going, or are you thinking about the blocking and tackling of yesteryear? Operating systems and service teams have the ability to shape and enable the growth of the firm, not just support it.
3. Invest in people and infrastructure – EARLY
When thinking through your strategy and operational future, it is always prudent to be proactive. Will you be ready for the new CRM system in 6-8 months? Yes? Do it now. Upgrading the trading and rebalancing system? Do it now. The longer you wait, the more painful it will be. Stoicism reminds us that the short-term discomfort prevents long-term disorder. Firms that are willing to absorb upfront costs and efforts will avoid future chaos. The same goes for people – make the next hire before burnout hits the team and productivity suffers.
One of the most overlooked truths in wealth management is that clients feel operations BEFORE they see or understand performance. They experience it in onboarding, meeting follow-ups, reporting accuracy, and responsiveness. Keeping it simple and demanding excellence of your team and your systems here builds trust faster than any pitch deck ever could.
From a leadership standpoint, operations is also culture. Clear processes reduce burnout. Defined roles reduce friction. Accountability replaces the need for heroics. In a fast-growing firm, this stability is what allows drive and ambition to flourish rather than falter.
The firms that scale best are not the ones chasing growth the hardest. They are the ones quietly building the operational backbone that helps ensure growth.
My name is Craig Martin, and I’m the Chief Operating Officer of Seventy2 Capital Wealth Management, headquartered in Bethesda, MD. Our practice was recognized as the #20 2025 Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams. My goal with this blog series is to share what I see and have learned from my time leading and working in operations at leading professional services firms, with the hope that it helps you and your firm continue to grow!
2025 Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams: Awarded May 2025; Data compiled by Barron’s based on the time period from Jan. 2024 – Dec. 2024 (Source: Barrons.com). The Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams are evaluated on a range of factors for the Financial Advisor and their team, who specialize in serving individuals and families. Factors included in the ratings include their previous year’s size and shape, the regulatory records and credentials of their members, and the resources they have at their disposal to serve their client bases. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and is based solely on the disclosed criteria.