Every advisor's career is punctuated by moments that matter—landing a transformational client, navigating a market crisis, hitting a milestone you once thought impossible. At most firms, you face those moments largely alone. At Iron Oaks Wealth Advisors, you face them surrounded.
The Freedom to Focus on What Matters
Larry Minogue, CFP®, APMA®, Iron Oaks Financial Advisor, explains his practice transformation illustrates what this support looks like.
“When you have a smaller office, you have to wear many hats. You're doing everything from talking to clients to opening up accounts,” he explains. But with the Iron Oaks team approach? “I'm able to focus on my clients. I mainly handle the investments and do all the planning. Team members are responsible for all the day-to-day operations. It's relieved me of that responsibility.”
The impact has been dramatic. Larry's been at Iron Oaks for almost a year, and his practice has “grown a great deal, probably up 25% this year. And really what it relates to is the team,” he says. “When I can spend the majority of my time speaking to my clients, speaking to my prospects, speaking to their family members, it affords me that luxury to grow my business.”
From Solo Practitioner to Supported Professional
For advisors who've spent years doing everything themselves, the transition can be disorienting—in the best possible way. Financial Advisor and Managing Partner Thu Saunders, CRPC™, captures this: “With being a sole practitioner for so many years, it was hard to delegate. Now I turn around and everybody's like, ‘what can I do to help?’ It just makes me feel like a movie star sometimes, because I have this team that works together cohesively.”
Thu shares a powerful story that illustrates what this support means in critical moments. A client needed an urgent IRA transaction to avoid substantial tax liability.
“It was the very last day. It was a Friday at 5 p.m. when she gave me the call. I was traveling, not in front of my computer,” Thu recalls. She called her Practice Manager, Michele Macullok. “Without question, she just turned her car around in Atlanta, five o'clock traffic, went back to the office, turned on her computer, did the money movement and saved the day.”
Support That Understands Your Unique Journey
The support at Iron Oaks isn't one-size-fits-all.
“I've never been at a place where I look at each team member and I so personally know the great potential and value in each person,” Thu explains. “I maintain one-on-one meetings with the team on a weekly basis to learn about what they're working on, what challenges they're coming across, and what I can personally do to help them.”
This personalization creates deep emotional connections.
“We laugh together here, we cry together, we celebrate each other's successes, we hold each other's hands when there's depths of despair,” Thu says. “We're like a family here. We understand we're the livelihood for all of their family members as well. That's an extension of our family.”
Many Hands, One Mission
Private Wealth Advisor and CEO Rick Saunders, CFP®, ChFC®, APMA®, describes what advisors say when they join Iron Oaks: “The culture here is so different than anywhere they've been before. The culture of most firms is still, you know, it's you versus the advisor next to you. You're competing for resources. You're competing for clients. You feel like you're on an island.”
Andrew Hanna, CFP®, Private Wealth Advisor and Managing Partner, articulates what makes this sustainable: “Iron Oaks is so focused on helping. It's part of our culture, part of our core values. You have the support system of multiple people on the team, both operational and advisor-wise, to make sure all of your needs are being taken care of without working any harder. It's like having a sports team right there with you. You know that next person has got your back.”
The Compound Effect
When advisors are supported through their biggest moments, clients receive better guidance.
“We not only get to work with that individual, we show them that we care about their family, whether they’re taking care of their parents or their children,” Larry explains. “They entrust them to us. When they look at us, they say, 'Hey, we care about them. What's important to them is important to us.' That's what differentiates our practice.”
The circle is virtuous, and everyone it touches benefits. When advisors face their biggest moments surrounded by support, extraordinary things become possible.
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