Video Library

Pathways to Independence with Jon Benet, Triumphant Portfolio Management
We interviewed Jon Benet with Triumphant Portfolio Management to learn about his pathway to becoming an independent financial advisor. Watch the Pathways to Independence video or read the interview transcript below.
 
When did you begin working with Sowell Management?
We began our affiliation with Sowell Management in January of 2016.

Tell us about your decision to go independent.
Coming out of the bank or big brokerage way of doing business, we wanted to remove the CONFLICTS OF INTEREST that are inherent in dealing with the banks and wirehouses. COMMISSION CONFLICTS. QUOTA CONFLICTS. PROPRIETARY CONFLICTS. By going independent, we were able to create or adopt a better choice of business structure, which enabled us to put the client’s needs first as a mandate.

Tell us about your decision to partner with Sowell.
I began to do a lot of reading and research and talking to guys in my own personal time away from work at the prior firm. And what I found was that there were people who really specialized well in making the transition and that narrowed the list down considerably. In fact, it came down to two firms, one out of Atlanta and Sowell in Little Rock. Ultimately, we went down to Little Rock, accepting their invitation, met with them, and we were just really struck by the genuineness, and the authenticity of these folks. They really cared about doing business the right way and they cared about us trying to fit into that. They saw us as a partner not as a trophy or not as something just to grow their footprint. And that was really refreshing. They were just real folks. And I thought that was a good fit for us and in particular, for our clients. And so we made that decision to go with Sowell. We’ve just been delighted.

How has going independent impacted your clients?
Well, going independent enabled us to make better decisions for our clients and for the way we invest money. Several different ways but a couple, in particular, was the access to investments that we were shut out of at former firms with proprietary lists where they had certain relationships with firms that they favored. Going independent has opened up the world and there’s almost nothing that we can’t access on the investment realm and that’s truly refreshing. It also enabled us to be fee only. That’s a big deal because we don’t have the commission conflict as they do in the wirehouses, the big banks and insurance companies. Fee-only enable us to be on the same side of the table with the client. Because if they did well, then our business grew.

Do you have advice for anyone considering going independent?
Definitely. I’m one of those guys that would tell you I wish I had done it sooner. But I grew up in the brokerage industry and had heard all the stories— the horror stories about going independent. And I can tell you that they’re not true. In fact, I believe those stories are created in order to keep guys like me from going independent. The truth is, we were able to open up our clients to areas of investment that they didn’t have before. We were able to make decisions for the client based on their needs. Not the firm’s dictate. Now going independent has really been terrific for our clients, for our firm and for our family. It’s given us more time as a family to create memories, whether it be time away or even opportunities to interact with our clients. Some of our family work with us here at the firm as well. So that’s been a real blessing.