A conversation with Lee Korn, Principal of RIA firm Opal Wealth Advisors.
When Lee Korn and his partners left Morgan Stanley in January of 2019 to launch their independent firm Opal Wealth Advisors, the thought of managing through an unprecedented health and financial crisis wasn’t even on his radar.
And that’s a good thing—because as he shares, pulling together all the moving parts that go into building a firm is a task that takes time, energy and a good amount of learning as you go.
So with over a year of building a solid infrastructure, Lee and his team can remain focused on what’s most important right now: Communication with their clients.
And as independents, they can do so without the constraints they felt as employees—now having the ability to deploy messages quickly and creatively, a benefit they are realizing particularly through this crisis.
In this episode, Lee talks about working through the crisis—but it’s his discussion around his recent journey to independence that’s most compelling, including:
- What key drivers propelled Lee and his partners to build their own firm—and the options they considered before choosing to take the RIA path.
- The threshold questions they asked themselves when considering their leap—and the one important question they asked of each other afterward.
- The 2 years of planning they undertook before making the leap—and the team of consultants they pulled together to help them define their strategy.
- How they decided upon a single custodian vs opting to go multi-custodial—and what he sees as the real value a custodian provides.
- The importance of “speed to market”—and how that’s something they could not achieve as employees of Morgan Stanley.
With just over a year of hindsight, Lee is able to share an honest and concise roadmap for the independent journey. As he shares, “Launching your own business is not for the faint of heart.” Yet it’s apparent from this conversation that Lee and his team embarked on this journey with a great deal of heart—and it’s that which will drive them towards success well into the future.
For more information about this episode, plus related resources, visit: https://www.diamond-consultants.com/the-real-truth-about-business-ownership-from-ex-morgan-stanley-advisor