The Advisor Blueprint
Join hosts Jim Atkinson and Jordan Christa on The Advisor Blueprint: the essential podcast for financial advisors. Tailored for both RIA and Broker-Dealer professionals, each episode delivers actionable insights, expert strategies, and real-world guidance on the who, what, where, when, and why of advisor transitions. From evaluating new firms and navigating non-compete clauses to building your book of business and optimizing client relationships, Jim and Jordan break down every facet of the transition process.
Whether you're contemplating a move, planning for independence, or seeking to elevate your practice, The Advisor Blueprint equips you with the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions and thrive in today’s dynamic financial advisory landscape.
Episodes
17 episodes
Multi-Office RIAs: Scale Advantage or Cultural Disaster?
Is opening multiple offices a path to enterprise value or a recipe for fractured culture, inconsistent client experiences, and eroded margins? In this episode, we explore the real tensions facing growing RIAs — from brand consistency and techno...
The RIA Margin Squeeze: Why Profits Feel Tighter Despite Growing AUM
Even as assets under management and revenue climb, many RIAs are watching their margins get squeezed. In this episode, we unpack the RIA Paradox — exploding staff compensation, technology bloat, and rising compliance costs that are quietly eati...
Why Younger Advisors Keep Leaving (And How to Attract & Keep the Best Ones)
The talent crisis in wealth management is here, and it’s worse than most advisors realize. Schwab says the industry needs to hire 70,000 new staff in the next 5 years, yet top young advisors are harder to find and more expensive than ever.<...
Breaking the $500 Million Plateau
🚨 Why do so many RIAs get stuck at the $500 Million AUM Plateau?In this episode of The Advisor Blueprint, Jim Atkinson (Managing Partner of Avidian Wealth Solutions) and Jordan Christa (Wealth Management Matchmaker™) break down the "invi...
Hire with Your Head: Building Top-Performing Teams in Wealth Management with Performance-Based Hiring
In this episode of The Advisor Blueprint, hosts Jim Atkinson, Managing Partner at Avidian Wealth Solutions, and Jordan Christa, The Wealth Management Matchmaker™, sit down with Rachel Daniels, Director of Operations at Avidian Wealth Solutions,...
Why Delegation Fails, How Compliance & People Management Drain Founders, and What to Do Before Exhaustion Forces Your Exit
Are you an RIA founder feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and stuck wearing too many hats? You're not alone.In this candid episode of The Advisor Blueprint, Jordan Christa and Jim Atkinson (Managing Partner & Head of M&A at Avidian ...
Are You a Name or Just a Number?
Are you just a badge number on a spreadsheet... or a valued name on the team? In this eye-opening episode of The Advisor Blueprint, hosts Jim Atkinson and Jordan Christa dive deep into the real differences between big corporate firms and smalle...
How Advisor Retirements Are Fueling Deals And Why Avidian Is Built For The Moment
In this episode of The Advisor Blueprint, Jim Atkinson (Head of M&A at Avidian Wealth Solutions) and Jordan Christa explore how the wave of advisor retirements is fueling RIA M&A. Many firms lack succession plans, turning retirement int...
The Hidden Downsides of Private Equity in RIAs: Why Employee-Owned Firms Are Pulling Ahead in 2026
Hosts Jordan Christa and Jim Atkinson (Head of M&A and Managing Partner at Avidian Wealth Solutions) team up with Chris Brown, a 20+ year RIA expert who built, sold, and led inside a major private equity-backed platform.Chris deliver...
Why Most RIAs Will Stall in 2025 (And How the Smart Ones Will Explode)
The M&A headlines are loud, but the real organic growth in 2025 is being decided right now in the trenches. Host Jordan Christa and Jim Atkinson, Managing Partner and Head of M&A at Avidian Wealth Solutions, pull back the curtain on the...
The Invisible Ladder: Why Most Succession Plans Die Before They Start
Every advisor claims they want a successor… yet 90% of “partnership tracks” collapse before they ever get off the ground.In this candid, no-filter episode, Jordan Christa puts Avidian Wealth Solutions’ Managing Partner and Head of M&...
Why Succession Fails Before It Starts: Building Leaders Long Before Ownership Changes Hands
Most RIA founders spend decades building their firm only to watch succession plans collapse because they search for a "ready" successor instead of deliberately growing one. In this episode, hosts Jim Atkinson, Managing Partner at Avidian Wealth...
The AUM Wall Every Growing RIA Hits (and How to Break Through It)
Why do so many successful advisory firms suddenly stall at $150M, $300M, $500M, or $1B+ in AUM? Hosts Jim Atkinson, Managing Partner at Avidian Wealth Solutions, and Jordan Christa, the RIA Matchmaker, reveal the four hidden problems that creat...
Hiring Headaches in Wealth Management
Shifting gears to the people side, scaling a financial advisory firm feels like herding cats in a thunderstorm, especially for client-facing roles. Broadly, the industry's screaming for folks who aren't just skilled but fit: empathetic...
Become Un-Ignorable: The Neuroscience Hack That Turns Advisors into Client Magnets
In a sea of "holistic," "fiduciary," and "client-first" advisors all singing from the same credential choir, why do some firms explode with growth while others grind endlessly? Dr. Joshua Wilson, PhD in behavioral finance and founder of NeuBeFi...
