Ep 426: Rolling Out An Equity Compensation Plan To Align The Entire Team On Client Service And Profitable Growth with Jennifer des Groseilliers

Financial Advisor Success

Michael Kitces

News, Business, Entrepreneurship, Business News

4.8 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2025

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jennifer des Groseilliers is the CEO of The Mather Group, an RIA based in Chicago, Illinois, that oversees $15 billion in combined assets under management and advisement for approximately 4,400 client households. Today Jennifer shares how her firm has designed an program of broad-based equity awards across the firm to align the interests of employees with the firm’s long-term client service and growth goals.

In this episode, Jennifer breaks down how her firm sets performance targets and ensures that employee incentives are tied to the firm’s enterprise value. We also discuss how The Mather Group streamlines operations through goal-setting systems like SMART goals and HR tracking tools, separates sales and advisory roles to optimize client acquisition and service, and fosters leadership development through emotional intelligence. Listen in to learn how strategic equity grants can drive business success while empowering employees.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/426

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with
0:07.1	financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading
0:12.4	financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success
0:17.4	and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next
0:22.2	level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. Welcome, everyone.
0:28.9	Welcome to the 426 episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast. My guest on today's podcast is
0:34.7	Jennifer DeGrosly. Jennifer is the CEO of the Mather Group, an RAA based in Chicago, Illinois, that oversees nearly
0:40.9	15 billion in combined assets in our management and advisement for approximately 4,400 client
0:46.1	households.
0:47.3	What's unique about Jennifer, though, is how a firm has rolled out an equity compensation
0:50.9	plan built around providing grants based on performance and meeting goals
0:54.3	rather than requiring a financial buy-in that's designed to align the entire team towards the
0:59.4	firm's client service and profitability goals in the coming years, with 85% of the team's members
1:05.2	participating in the equity program. In this episode, we talk in depth about why Jennifer's
1:10.2	firm has taken an approach to
1:11.3	grant equity rather than require buy-ins and intends for every employee to either have equity
1:16.1	or at least a pathway to equity if they're still new. How Jennifer's firm sets individual
1:20.6	performance targets for its client-facing wealth advisors to earn equity based on annual
1:25.1	client retention, seeking to hit a target of 98%, and revenue
1:28.7	managed with a target of $1.75 million per lead advisor, to encourage very high levels of client
1:34.2	service and advisor productivity, and how Jennifer's firm ties the vesting of these equity awards
1:39.3	to a future liquidity event for the firm as a whole, which could include a sale to an external
	...

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