In the eleventh episode of The COO Roundtable, Matt welcomes Kelli Cruz, CEO of Cruz Consulting and Jim Regitz, Founding Partner and Senior Advisor at Newport Advisory Financial Counsel.
The three professionals discuss the importance of the COO role at growing RIAs, and what led Jim to realize he needed to hire professional management at his firm 2 years ago. Kelli is a well-known consultant to the wealth management space — her firm specializes in human resource sourcing and human capital development. Based in Newport Beach, California, Newport Advisory is an independent wealth management firm that has more than tripled its AUM in the past few years, to over $700 million today.
With the goal of highlighting the importance of the human capital element when it comes to the COO role, Matt, Kelli, and Jim sit down to discuss what characteristics make for a good COO and much more, including:
- Jim and Kelli’s respective backgrounds and views on the people-side of workflows
- The importance of self-awareness in the C-suite while crafting roles and responsibilities
- How Jim best supports his COO and how he delegates duties, allowing them both to be successful in their roles
- Kelli’s views on the pros and cons of hiring a COO from outside the firm, as opposed to promoting from within
- How Jim utilizes his COO in M&A transactions from negotiations through integration
- The qualities and characteristics Jim and Kelli look for when identifying the right talent for operations roles