Managing Your Advisory Business in Challenging Times and Preparing for a Shifting Landscape – Merchant – 4.3.20

Summary:

Now On Demand.

Merchant is a private partnership providing growth capital, management resources, strategic opportunities and direction to independent financial services companies, particularly those focused on wealth and asset management.

Through capital alignment, Merchant is a non-controlling and collaborative growth partner to firms that seek to scale their businesses effectively and create value for their clients by combining personalized and localized service with institutional backing and global access.

RIAs are aligning with Merchant for expertise in growth strategies/M&A, technology and infrastructure, risk management and compliance, and investment solutions.

Now more than ever, attention must be paid to strategic business planning.

Join us for this in-depth discussion that will cover:

• Optimizing your firm for success
• Identifying and executing opportunities for growth / M&A
• Accessing and using flexible and durable capital
• Building your own strategic plan

Speakers:

Marc Spilker is an Executive Chairman of Merchant, a Founding Member of GPS Investment Partners, LLC and the Chairman of Chiron Investment Management, LLC. From 2010 to 2014, Mr. Spilker was President of Apollo Global Management and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In 2010, prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Spilker retired from Goldman Sachs following a 20-year career with the firm. At Goldman he served as co-head of the Investment Management Division (IMD) and was also a member of the firmwide Management and Risk Committees.

Mr. Spilker previously served on the Investment Advisory Committee at Google and was a member of the American Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Council of Economic and Fiscal Advisors for Governor Andrew Cuomo. He has served on the boards of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Stone and Bridge Street Funds, BrokerTec and Bondbook, LLC.

Mr. Spilker is a board member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Undergraduate Executive Board, iSentium, LLC, Maxim Capital Group, LLC, The New 42nd Street, Inc., The Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine Advisory Board at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Advisory Board for Mount Sinai’s Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology. Additionally, he serves on the Third Way Board of Trustees, where he is the Founder of Third Way’s Capital Markets Initiative, is a member of the Social Finance, Inc. Advisory Council and chairs the RFK Leadership Council at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

David leads a variety of Merchant’s strategic and financial initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions, structuring, transaction execution and risk management infrastructures. Prior to Merchant, David was Managing Partner of MarketCounsel and the Hamburger Law Firm, a boutique consulting firm and law practice specializing in helping financial advisors transition to independence.

Previously, David served as Managing Director and General Counsel at Focus Financial Partners, LLC, a leading international partnership of independent wealth management firms. In this role, David oversaw all of the company’s mergers and acquisitions, implemented risk management infrastructures and worked on the company’s inbound private equity investments and credit facilities. Prior to these roles, David practiced as a corporate attorney at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital and capital markets. David holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Virginia.

Matt is a Managing Partner at Merchant focused on corporate strategy, equity partnerships and growth strategies for partner firms.

Prior to Merchant, Matt was Chief Business Development Officer and Head of Acquisitions for United Capital Financial Advisors from 2006-2019. Matt and his team executed and integrated over 90 transactions of wealth management firms nationally and launched and grew United Capital’s Financial Life Management wealthtech platform. Before United Capital, Matt was the founder and operating partner of Kelly Consulting Group, which structured and supported alternative money management companies.

Previous to Kelly Consulting Group, Matt covered emerging hedge fund managers and alternative money managers for Smith Barney’s western region prime brokerage group. Matt is an investor and advisor to several wealth companies and an industry advisor to investors evaluating the wealth management space.

Matt received an MBA from the University of California, Irvine, and a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado.

Rick is a Partner of Merchant and currently serves as the head of Merchant Credit Partners. He is also an investment principal at GPS Investment Partners. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of CoVenture and as a strategic advisor to several of the GPS Portfolio companies. Previously, Rick worked in the Investment Management group at Merrill Lynch where he focused on alternative investments for the duration of his tenure. He was on the portfolio management team that ran a suite of products with approximately $1 billion assets under management. Rick graduated with a B.S. in Finance from the McDonough School of Business of Georgetown University.