Setting Up Your Practice for Scaled Growth

However, to focus on these activities, advisors need to reallocate time from elsewhere. This article will cover three methods to scale activities while maintaining client customization, opening time to focus on high-impact tasks.

Stop Over-Investing Time in Investment Management

Portfolio construction remains a critical part of the advisor role. But it’s worth asking:

• Does each client truly need a bespoke portfolio?
• Do I need to build every portfolio myself, or can I rely on an expert?

Professional portfolio construction is widely available to advisors through the home offices of large firms and from third-party strategists like Vanguard. No longer does an advisor need to hand-craft portfolios for each client.

Model portfolios and direct indexing are prime examples of scalable personalization, introducing templates that still offer customization. Models can also streamline research and costs while standardizing rebalancing. And there are still plenty of options to find models that match a client’s preferences. Taking Vanguard’s line-up alone, there are options for different risk tolerances, preferences for active versus passive, investing goals, etc.

Then, for clients who would benefit from it, direct indexing can support daily tax-loss harvesting, help manage concentrated positions, and allow for meaningful customization beyond traditional models. For example, direct indexing can help a client exclude certain industries, align with faith-based values, manage legacy stock positions, or express ESG preferences — without forcing a separate portfolio build for each objective.

That said, it isn’t easy to scale tasks that have been your bread and butter historically. Shifting your practice’s narrative from “we pick investments” to “we help you achieve your goals” can put into perspective the benefits of reallocating time from portfolio construction to areas like retirement and financial planning, tax and estate coordination, and behavioral coaching.

Even if you’re not ready to make a wholesale change, I encourage you to think about whether model portfolios and direct indexing are appropriate tools to leverage for certain clients. Try it for a few clients and you will begin to see the benefits!

Add Software & Talent That Complement Your Core Skills Instead of Duplicating Them

Growing your practice also means expanding capabilities into potentially new areas like financial and estate planning or tax strategy. This can come from adding tools or people.

There have never been more opportunities to use software to easily grow your value as an advisor. Prime examples are Altruist, with many practices leveraging Hazel AI for tax planning support, and Vanilla, helping advisors serve clients with estate planning. Historically, RIAs have been first to leverage these types of services, but national firms are increasingly leveraging this ecosystem as well.

Technology can expand what you offer — but people expand how deeply you deliver it. Firms are increasingly adding new team members who bring complementary skills. As an example, I was talking with an advisor recently who is extremely experienced with portfolio construction. After seeing that their clients and prospects were increasingly interested in planning tools, they hired a younger CFP® who specialized in this area to fill the gap in expertise.

Moving to a team service model can maximize the time and strengths of each advisor on the team. Practices who have adopted a team model are seeing positive results, with Cerulli finding team-based practices manage more than three times the AUM of solo advisors and generate more than double the annual organic growth.

The moral of the story is to prioritize tools and talent that add to and complement your existing strengths, not replicate them.

Use Technology Whenever Possible

It’s impossible to talk about scaling a practice today without talking about AI. While AI is one of the biggest topics on advisors’ minds, the practical truth is simple: Used well, it can help reclaim time and improve consistency across your client experience.

There are simple ways to start. Routine client check-ins can be streamlined from beginning to end. AI tools can work with your CRM to summarize previous client conversations, shortening your prep time. During meetings, AI can take notes and draft follow-up emails afterwards. Hours that were previously spent preparing for and recapping client engagements can now be done in minutes while maintaining personalized communications. That’s scalable personalization in action.

For firms willing to go a step further, digital agents are becoming more capable every week. It is possible today — even for people with no coding experience — to create agents that take on important tasks. Think of agents less as autonomous bots and more as a member of your team who prepares work for your review — nothing goes out without your approval.

For example, you could create an agent that keeps track of the most important details for each client: anniversaries, personal interests, philanthropic priorities, or topics they care about — like how AI is transforming the economy. An agent could monitor key dates, scan for relevant news, and draft outreach emails in your voice, ready for your review and approval.

If AI feels daunting, start small and experiment. The goal isn’t to build something complex — it’s to learn what’s possible. Many modern AI platforms allow users to create simple, task-focused assistants by defining what they should monitor, what information they can reference, and what they should prepare for review. A practical way to begin is to identify one recurring activity you perform every week and ask: Could an assistant prepare this for me?

As with any technology, firms should ensure these tools operate within their compliance framework and remain advisor-reviewed, not fully autonomous. Small, practical experiments are often the fastest path to confidence and momentum.

Pulling It All Together

Scalable personalization means saving time while not sacrificing the “secret sauce” that is unique to your practice. Time savings can come from scaling portfolio construction via model portfolios or direct indexing, adding tools or talent to complement strengths, and using technology like AI.

Ultimately, scalable personalization is a path to scaled growth. It allows you and your team to serve more clients without adding headcount, gives you time back to invest in prospecting and your people, and helps you continue to differentiate your business.

Ryan Barrows is principal and head of national accounts for Vanguard Financial Advisor Services.

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