Innovating the insurance broker-dealer
It’s not easy to talk to clients about protection needs in the wealth management space, but for Park Avenue Securities, with Guardian as its parent company, it comes a little easier. “Park Avenue is really special. We really take a combination approach to protection and investments. The wealth management conversation is much easier once you’ve had those difficult conversations with clients,” Carly Maher, Head of Wealth Management Strategy & Business Operations, explained. It helps that their main office is in beautiful Hudson Yards, New York City. “Park Avenue, being headquartered here in Hudson Yards in New York City, brings a really special kind of energy to the work that we do every day,” Carly says with a smile.
With the average age of associates being 44, they are focused on pushing that energy for organic growth from the inside. Part of that growth is shifting their focus toward client relationship building rather than timing the market and building portfolios. As Carly says, “Over the last four years, we’ve taken it into hyper-growth mode. We’ve made this broker-dealer a destination for folks who want to holistically plan for their clients leveraging income protection, protection, and wealth management.”
“We have a very curated list of strategic partners that we go very deep with from a relationship and integration standpoint. In my 25 years in the industry, I’ve only ever worked at firms that have used Envestnet. One of the things that’s been really nice to see is their evolution over time, and all the different ways that they help broker-dealers solve problems with new solutions that are integrated into their technology.”
Carly Maher, Head of Wealth Management Strategy & Business Operations
Park Avenue believes they offer the best of both worlds to their associates. Nate James, a High-Net-Worth Consultant at Park Avenue, explains it this way: “At Park Avenue, our financial professionals have the ability to be entrepreneurs in their own business while still maintaining and taking advantage of the resources of a large firm.”
Michael Maresca, CEO at National Financial Network and a partner of Park Avenue, would agree: “The people invest their time in our business, they’re great partners of ours...we can count on the support of experts in their craft, and what they do, and they’re accessible to us whenever we need them.”
Relying on expertise to push growth with high-net-worth clients
Further growth comes from finding the right technology partners. As Carly summarizes it, “Unlike lots of other broker-dealers that have lots of different technology offerings on their platform, we have a very curated list of strategic partners that we go very deep with from a relationship and integration standpoint.” And one of those partners was Envestnet.
“Integration is really key and is important for us when we think about buy vs. build from a technology standpoint. When we buy, we want things to be integrated, and Envestnet has done a really great job of integrating solutions into their platform so that we don't have to cobble together technology resources to solve for the same problems,” Carly discussed.
“At Park Avenue, our financial professionals have the ability to be entrepreneurs in their own business while still maintaining and taking advantage of the resources of a large firm.”
Nate James, High-Net-Worth Consultant, Park Avenue Securities
Furthermore, Envestnet has provided the solutions and knowledge to help support the growing number of high-net-worth clients that Park Avenue and their financial professionals are supporting. “Nuance is important, especially for these higher net worth clients that are looking for customization,” Mike explained. Alexandre points out that the Private Wealth Consulting offering from Envestnet has helped him address the needs of his high-net-worth clients, too: “Private Wealth Consulting has been a game changer for us, because we now have the ability to have a portfolio manager that is sitting on the same side of the table.”
Responding to a changing market
Park Avenue continues to see a push among their associates toward teaming to bring together practitioners with knowledge on particular topics. “The solo practitioner is sort of gone away. We need to spend time coaching and working with these men and women who are really at the forefront of the industry,” Michael said. Carly adds to that: “We're seeing advisors joining forces with other advisors who might specialize in different things. I think it's a great example of protection and wealth coming together.”
That collaboration is great to see, as the biggest opportunity for growth is internal. “When you have advisors that are spending time on the right activities, it helps you be able to organically grow within your firm,” Carly explained. Park Avenue is working hard to put programs in place to support all of their associates, as Nate talked about: “So from a business development perspective, we want to equip you with not only all the tools that help service your clients, but the internal resources to really help grow and support your business.”
“Envestnet’s research team is an extension of my team. I have day-to-day access to professionals who are able to analyze client’s portfolios, set up the right asset allocation based on the objective of my clients. Choosing the money managers, all of that is at my fingertips on a daily basis.”
Alexandre Quantin, Partner at USAFrance Financials
At the end of the day, “the best thing about Park Avenue Securities is the people,” Michael stated with confidence. And you couldn’t ask for more than that in a business based on meeting the needs of people.