This blog post is part of a series highlighting Key Management Group team members.

Ben Thelen joined Key Management Group as a Practice Management Coach but was soon applying his background as an advisor and his degree in Business Administration to solve even bigger problems for our clients. Now he serves as Practice Management Team Leader, providing Ameriprise advisors with tailored solutions that drive operational performance and practice goals. Since assuming the role, Ben has developed new services for our clients, including our New Hire Training service that launched in 2021.

Ben was initially drawn to the hospitality and tourism industry as a post-college career. But when he was introduced to the financial advisory industry, he realized he could better help people in a more hands-on way as a financial advisor. Of course, Ben’s foundation in college in Business Administration continued to drive his interests and he soon found himself focused more on the practice management side of the business. That led our own Bill Stevenson, who was professional colleagues with Ben, to convince Ben to join our team so he could bring his skills to more advisors. Since then, Ben has served as an energizing force, driving innovation, and expanding our practice management consulting services. Many of the services he's developed have come as a direct response to solving a specific need for one of our clients. That includes the New Hire Training service, which was developed to help one of our clients get new team members up and fully operational in sixty days. Many advisors struggle to onboard new staff, and with this new service Ben and his team can keep an advisor focused on meeting with clients and leading their team while our trainers get new hires fully operational and integrated into the practice quickly.

Outside of work, Ben is an avid golfer and enjoys taking trips to new places. He enjoys weekend jaunts and traveling to support Michigan State Spartans football and basketball teams. Ben loves being on the water, and when looking for destinations does tend to lean toward warmer climates near the beach so he can get a break from Michigan’s cold winters. Ben is also a craft beer enthusiast and always on the hunt for a new craft brewery to try. He prefers wheat beers as opposed to dark beers but is willing to try any variety. He enjoys trying new restaurants, so if you have any recommendations send them his way!

Another fun fact about Ben is that he spent a month in China during college. He said it was an amazing experience that sticks with him today. He hopes to find new exotic destinations to visit in the future, but his visit to China will always remain one he will never forget.

If you haven’t had connected with Ben yet, reach out to him on Linkedin or you can email him directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also learn more about our Practice Management services here.

Ben Thelen

As 2021 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect back on the year and how it has impacted the financial advisor industry. Despite a continued pandemic, supply chain woes, and rising inflation, advisors not only survived but thrived and emerged as a trusted and valued resource for clients. Advisors also proved to be an extremely adaptable group, quickly adjusting to meet the needs of clients and staff amid rapidly changing conditions. Across the industry we saw a few key trends emerge.

Advisors are winning in a competitive labor market.

Labor shortages plagued many industries throughout the year. While many sectors of the economy struggled to maintain and hire staff, financial advisors were able to both keep staff and hire new team members. While early retirement and pandemic fears lead many to leave the labor market altogether, those who remained suddenly found themselves with the leverage and choice to move to new jobs and new sectors. Better pay and benefits, on-the-job training, flexible work conditions, positive culture, and career growth opportunities all helped position financial advisor firms as attractive employers for those still engaged in the workforce. We see many advisors committing to a sustained focus on culture, professional development, flexwork, and employee benefits in the new year, which will ensure that they remain an employer of choice as the labor shortage continues.

Financial advisors reached elevated status with clients.

As the pandemic stretched into 2021, advisors continued to provide clients with education, insights, and tools to weather the fluctuating markets. Additionally, advisors helped many clients who were nearing retirement or facing job changes evaluate their options and manage their transitions. Confidence in financial advisors rose as did the demand for financial advice. All in all, it has helped elevate financial advisors as critical and trusted guides for clients in all stages of life.

Remote and flexwork are the new norm.

At the beginning of the pandemic, lockdowns and limited access to vaccines forced advisors to shift to a virtual workspace. As childcare challenges and labor shortages linger, the need for flexible and remote work options continues. Many are finding that remote and flexwork options have improved satisfaction and productivity and given many a better work-life balance as they spend less time commuting and more time doing the things that matter. In person workspaces aren’t going away, however, and advisors will need to continue to balance between face-to-face and remote work arrangements in the new year.

Clients expect virtual meetings and digital tools.

Staff aren’t the only ones enjoying the shift to virtual meetings. The ability to meet remotely appeals to clients as well, especially as they too are facing challenges with childcare, exposure to new virus strains, and increased workloads due to labor shortages. Clients have also come to expect digital tools that allow them to manage and view their finances anywhere, any time. Prior to the pandemic, advisors had resisted technology. The pandemic left many with no choice but to adapt and implement not only client facing tools, but also technology for managing all aspects of their practice. As we look toward the new year, firms that continue to put technology at the center of their strategy and ensure complete adoption across all team members will outperform those who do not.

Advisor M&A remained strong, though the age wave has yet to peak.

2020 was a record-breaking year for advisor M&A. That flurry of activity carried into 2021, sustained by the pandemic, the threat of rising taxes, and increased access to capital for buyers. Pressures to adopt new technology and the uncertainty of the pandemic led many advisors to choose retirement, but the industry didn’t see the predicted wave of aging advisors selling out. The industry is still dominated by a “greying” demographic that are choosing to work later in life. Sell and stay options are rising as a compromise, allowing sellers to cash out while practice value is high but still working until they are truly ready to retire for good.

All in all, 2021 proved to be a banner year for financial advisors. The industry demonstrated that it was not only adaptable, but that it would excel in the face of extreme challenges and uncertainty. As the pandemic hopefully begins to wane and the economy stabilizes, we believe advisors will continue to thrive in the coming year, serving as an invaluable resource for clients and a viable career path for many.

Ben Thelen

Any smart business owner knows that it’s not enough to generate revenue. You also must generate a comfortable profit in order to offset the risks of being an owner (and be comfortably rewarded for that risk). Many advisors falsely assume that profitability will increase with revenue growth and/or when scaling up a practice. The truth is most larger firms are less profitable, often because as they become larger, they become less efficient. Efficiency is key to being profitable.

Many advisors don’t know that profitability plays a key role in determining the value of a practice. As M&A activity continues, profitability will become an even bigger factor in practice valuations. As with any business, expenses are what determine your profitability, not revenue. To improve profitability, you must control costs. The largest expense in any financial advisor firm is staff. Profitability is negatively impacted when a firm has too many staff members relative to the number of clients and total AUM, or when they employ high-cost staff (such as Junior Advisors) to serve low-end clients.

Other costs can impact profitability as well, including office rent, utilities, leases, client meals and gifts, and advertising, to name a few. It’s important to evaluate expenses on a regular basis to make sure they are necessary and that you are paying a reasonable rate. Long-term obligations such as leases can also affect your ability to sell a practice, so it’s important to be aware of and monitor any expenses that have contractual or timed commitments.

As we mentioned earlier, profitability not only impacts owner return, but it also impacts the overall value of a practice. To help you get a handle on your profitability and improve your margins, we’ve developed a two-page guide that outlines 10 steps to take to increase practice profitability.

Download 10 Steps to Profitability for free now.

Todd Doherty