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Advisor Growth and Performance
Organic growth, client acquisition, advisor communication, leadership, talent, succession and enterprise value.
Modern American Advisor | Build to a Billion
Build the business behind the advice.
Build to a Billion is Modern American Advisor's platform for the advisors and firms building stronger, more scalable and more valuable businesses. Through original editorial, market intelligence, practical resources and carefully selected strategic partnerships, we examine what it takes to grow with intention and build for long-term value.
Growth. Leadership. Intelligence. AI. Enterprise value.
A Modern American Advisor platform
The Platform
Editorial. Intelligence. Assessments. Strategic partnerships.
The Business Behind the Advice
What we cover.
Financial media has traditionally focused on how advisors manage client wealth. Build to a Billion focuses on the firm responsible for managing it: how advisory businesses grow, lead, adopt technology, understand their markets and build enduring enterprise value.
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Resources for Women in Finance
Leadership development, professional visibility, advancement, retention and influence for women across financial services.
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Vertical-Specific Intelligence
Research and insights addressing the distinct challenges facing RIAs, wealth teams, family offices and the organizations serving them.
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AI Solutions and Adoption
Practical intelligence about evaluating and using artificial intelligence to improve productivity, decision-making, operations and the client experience.
From intelligence to action.
Build to a Billion begins with the questions shaping modern advisory firms. Modern American Advisor explores those questions through original journalism, research, interviews, assessments and live conversations. When firms need specialized support, selected strategic partners provide capabilities aligned with the challenges we cover.
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Understand the challenge
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Explore the intelligence
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Identify the opportunity
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Access specialized support when needed
Strategic Partner Solutions
From insight to implementation.
Modern American Advisor collaborates with selected strategic partners whose expertise supports the business priorities explored through Build to a Billion. These partner-led solutions give firms an opportunity to move from insight to implementation.
Advisor Growth, in strategic partnership with Alynd
Want more qualified prospects without paying for leads that never show?
Alynd books exclusive, high-intent investors with verified investable assets directly into your diary. You pay only when the consultation actually happens.
Verified assets | Exclusive to your firm | No-show, no fee
Operating for Scale, in strategic partnership with Ana Marques
Has growth made your business harder to run?
Build the systems, roles, decision-making structure and accountability required to scale beyond the founder.
Operating architecture | Clear accountability | Scale readiness
Advisor Performance, in strategic partnership with Derek Kinney
Want your advisors to turn more conversations into clients, assets and referrals?
Improve the way advisors communicate value, sell, deepen relationships and create organic growth.
Engage | Convert | Grow
Executive Presence and Leadership, in strategic partnership with Presence by Design
Do your leaders inspire confidence when the stakes are high?
Strengthen the presence, communication and decision-making that earn trust, align teams and move people to action.
Presence | Communication | Influence
Women in Finance leadership programs, in strategic partnership with Caroline Holt
Want more women in your firm to step up, stay and lead?
Develop the confidence, visibility and influence that accelerate progression, strengthen retention and create more effective women leaders.
Confidence | Progression | Leadership
Advisor Intelligence, in strategic partnership with PlayVerto
Do you actually know what your clients and market want?
Ask the right people, uncover what drives their decisions and turn the evidence into sharper strategy and commercial action.
Client insight | Market evidence | Commercial action
Talent solutions, delivered through Modern American Advisor's strategic talent network
Need better advisors and leaders, not more resumes?
Reach the right people, strengthen your employer proposition and hire talent that can help the firm grow.
Better reach | Stronger employer brand | Better hires
Growth Constraint Diagnostic, from Modern American Advisor
Not sure what is actually holding growth back?
Take the five-minute diagnostic to identify your primary constraint and where to focus next.
Five minutes | Clear result | Recommended reading
How Build to a Billion Works
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Explore
Access reporting, research and perspectives on the forces shaping advisory businesses.
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Assess
Use practical assessments to identify growth constraints, leadership priorities and emerging opportunities.
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Engage
Participate in interviews, webinars, executive conversations and other Build to a Billion programming.
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Act
When specialized support is required, explore capabilities delivered with our strategic partners.
Strategic Partners and Expert Voices
Experienced operators, researchers and leaders.
Build to a Billion brings together experienced operators, researchers and industry leaders who contribute specialized perspectives to the issues affecting modern advisory firms.
Modern American Advisor
Alex Sullivan
Founder & CEO, Modern American Advisor
Two decades building specialist financial-media and intelligence platforms.
Modern American Advisor
Kathryn Ficarra
SVP, Brand and Strategic Partnerships
Leadership through two company acquisitions across brand, growth and partnerships.
Strategic partner
Ana M. Marques
Operating for Scale
Pharma contracts across Bayer, GSK and Bilcare, founding member of the GIAAA within UK government, private equity and financial services.
Strategic partner
Michael Willgrass
Advisor Growth, with Alynd
Co-founder of a platform that booked around 5,000 investor-to-advisor meetings.
Strategic partner
Derek Kinney
Advisor Performance
Former top 1% financial advisor and bestselling author on client conversations.
Strategic partner
Caroline Holt
Women in Finance
Former European Managing Partner, Synectics; co-founder of Happen.
Strategic partner
Michael Sani
Advisor Intelligence, with PlayVerto
Leads behavioral intelligence and research turning insight into decisions.
Insights
Useful thinking, before the decision.
Build to a Billion translates emerging trends and complex business challenges into useful intelligence for advisors, executives and the organizations serving them.
Build to a Billion
Not sure where the problem is?
Complete the Build to a Billion Growth Constraint Diagnostic. Five minutes, your primary and secondary constraint, your strongest area, and the intelligence, research and resources most relevant to what you are working on.