By Frankie Corrado
My father, Frank Corrado and I co-founded our firm, Blue Blaze Financial Advisors, on a concept called “Financial Life Guidance”. Financial Life Guidance embraces the important life situations clients face, explores the range of options at their disposal to determine the best path, and advises them with the goal of helping clients have informed, intentional financial decisions that have a real impact on their lives. We guide clients as they move forward in their lives, setting and achieving important goals, and overcoming the obstacles that are in the way.
By employing George Kinder’s EVOKE® Life Planning process, we thoroughly understand our clients’ interests through an authentic conversation about their optimal life. The strength of this relationship obviates the need for the client to jump from advisor to advisor. They understand the importance of working with holistic, fiduciary advisors who have their best interest at heart. We are there to help them plan out all of life’s goals, risks, and opportunities, and our fiduciary nature is never compromised.
For a long time, we have heard George Kinder extoll on the need for life planning to be practiced by more advisors as a way to deliver better services and outcomes for clients. His message always resonated with us at Blue Blaze, but we were still a small firm and could not effectuate the impact he was talking about.
On October 1, 2019, our firm, Blue Blaze, merged with Robertson Stephens Wealth Management. The whole process started last year when Frank was asked to speak on a panel at a Fidelity conference, about their “Advice Value Stack”. Frank was on stage with some well-known advisors in the industry, but Frank differentiated himself from the rest of the panel by talking about our holistic approach of financial planning (Financial Life Guidance) and our dedication to Life Planning opportunities for our clients. The CEO of Robertson Stephens, Stuart Katz, was in the audience for this panel and was inspired by Frank’s approach to financial planning, believing it to be a truly differentiated approach. Stuart tracked Frank down after the panel and the two continued conversations after the conference.
When we reconnected with Robertson Stephens, we explored how each of our firms, together, could leverage our unique talents to create a superior combined firm. We sat down with their executive team and private equity partners to have a very candid conversation about each of our businesses and what our goals were for the future. Robertson Stephens explained they had four core pillars that their business was built upon, one of which was financial planning. The team at Robertson Stephens had a tremendous amount of experience and expertise when it came to financial services, investment management, and delivering great service to their clients. But they also recognized something in our team that they did not have – Financial Life Guidance.
Our motivation to merge with Robertson Stephens was primarily based on the positive impact that our work has on a person’s life. We continue aspiring to deliver “freedom” to our clients; helping them outmaneuver their plan’s obstacles is substantially rewarding to us. And we wanted to deliver this “peace of mind” to more people. Our goal was to grow and spread more value to clients through an expanded offering of Financial Life Guidance. In trying to “build it on our own”, we realized that the effort was just too enormous. However, we recognized that if we joined a firm like Robertson Stephens, we would be able to deliver Financial Life Guidance in a more efficient and effective manner not only to our existing clients but also to more people.
With the addition of our team, Robertson Stephens crossed over $1 Billion of assets under management. We have taken a leadership role in delivering an enhanced approach to financial planning through Financial Life Guidance. And we now feel like we have a platform where we can make a greater impact on the wealth management industry. As Robertson Stephens continues to grow, we can leverage the life planning process for more client success and freedom to more people. This is just the beginning and we are optimistic that the impact can and will be big!
Frankie Corrado, CFP®, RLP®
Frankie is a Principal and Managing Director at Robertson Stephens. Alongside his father, Frank Corrado, CPA, CFP®, RLP, and Kevin Talty, CFP®, EA, Frankie guides clients towards peace of mind and the freedom that comes from financial security in a comprehensive plan. As a Certified Financial Planner™, Frankie combines his technical finance experience with authentic and curious listening skills to develop trusted, long term relationships focused on the client’s optimal desired outcomes. With over a decade of experience advising individuals and families, Frankie feels comfortable whether the discussion focuses on complex areas of taxation and personal finance or problem solving to reach important goals and priorities. As a Registered Life Planner (RLP), Frankie feels particularly equipped to bridge the gap that often exists between someone’s optimal life and their money. Find out more about Frankie and Robertson Stephens at rscapital.com.
For more information about Frankie and Robertson Stephens, please visit rscapital.com Investment advisory services offered through Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC (“Robertson Stephens”), an SEC-registered investment advisor. This material is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation or offer to buy or sell any security, has not been tailored to the needs of any specific investor, and should not provide the basis for any investment decision. The information contained herein was carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but Robertson Stephens cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Information, views and opinions are current as of the date of this presentation, are based on the information available at the time, and are subject to change based on market and other conditions. Robertson Stephens assumes no duty to update this information. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions presented are those of the author and not necessarily those of Robertson Stephens. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Any discussion of U.S. tax matters should not be construed as tax-related advice. © 2019 Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC. All rights reserved. Robertson Stephens is a registered trademark of Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, LLC in the United States and elsewhere.
