Making the leap to independence

Gideon Drucker.

For Gideon Drucker, going RIA was a lightbulb moment that has given him extra freedom and responsibility.

Early one Saturday morning, Gideon Drucker, CFP, AIF, ECA, president of Drucker Wealth, came to a realization about his own company and the financial industry at large: the only real way to succeed is through transformation. For him, this meant transitioning Drucker Wealth into an independent registered investment advisor (RIA).

He recounts the day he decided to challenge the status quo of their New York City-based family-run firm: Having finished his morning run, he sent his dad a long email, waiting a grand total of six minutes before calling him to discuss the idea. The firm, under the leadership of Gideon’s father Lance for over 40 years, has always prided itself on not simply accepting the given but acting independently to seek out what will best serve clients and the organization at large.

“[My father], really from the start, always went out and figured out things for himself,” says Drucker. “He never just followed the herd or took the easy path. He was never comfortable with something being ‘good enough’ if he knew there was a better way of doing things. He was relentless in constantly seeking out whatever was next.”

And this need for change was twofold. On one hand, there was a growing realization around the limitations imposed by existing technologies and platforms. Drucker describes an environment ripe for transformation, where “there’s no such thing as ‘This is the way, it’s always been done.’“

On the other hand, Drucker himself, fueled by an appetite for industry knowledge – and as someone who considers himself somewhat of a “financial planning nerd” – spotted the potential for a vastly improved client experience. “I saw what was out there beyond our internal broker-dealer world,” he says.

The transformation at Drucker Wealth was driven by a vision for the future, one in which technology and tools would be chosen to create a seamless, integrated client experience. This vision was not necessarily born out of dissatisfaction with past activities but rather a desire to shape its future.

“For us, it was just about having the freedom and the responsibility to craft our firm the way we envisioned it,” adds Drucker.

From the outset, however, Drucker was fortunate not to have to overhaul its investment strategies, planning process, or client meeting calendar to make the move. This provided clients with a sense of continuity even with the big change.

“Because we already had open architecture when it came to crafting investment portfolios at our broker-dealer, our clients’ strategies and holdings did not change as a result of the transition,” says Drucker. “Launching our RIA just allowed us to use those same investment strategies at custodians and platforms that we hand-selected as the right fit for our clients and advisors.”

This continuity allowed Drucker and his team to maintain their investment ethos while adapting to new platforms for trading, rebalancing, and tax-loss harvesting – underscoring a nuanced shift that was more about the “how” rather than the “what” of their investment process. And this process allows for a more targeted focus on clients’ planning needs and their changing expectations.

“Every new client we work with starts with an in-depth financial plan,” says Drucker. “And I think that’s really been a crucial part of our growth over the last six years. We charge a flat fee and we take eight to 10 weeks to build out their comprehensive financial roadmap. We will look at their cash flow, tax coordination, investment allocation, risk management program, education funding, estate set-up, etc., and ultimately help them understand whether they’re on track to their goals.

“At the end of that process, the client can go in one of two directions: they can decide to take our recommendations and implement it all on their own, or they can decide to hire us as their ongoing financial planning team that would implement the changes, update the plan during review meetings, and hold them accountable year-to-year. That’s what most clients ultimately want, but we think it’s important for everyone that we only decide on that ongoing relationship after we’ve spent some hours together – so they can see how it all comes together.”

Looking ahead to what the future holds for both the sector at large and Drucker Wealth, it’s all about expansion and evolution.

“We want to continue expanding our reach,” he says. “We have a growth plan that includes hiring new advisors each year while continuing to expand our service offerings and provide an even more comprehensive client relationship. And I think that’s the direction in which the entire industry is going – where every day it’s less about strictly managing investments and more about full life planning. And that’s exciting to see.”

For Drucker Wealth, this means focusing on what Drucker calls “mid-career professionals,” individuals in the thick of life’s most financially demanding stages.

“They’re in what I would say is the busiest planning stage of their lives,” Drucker explains. It’s this demographic, aged roughly between 36 and 49, in which Drucker sees the greatest opportunity for impact. And Drucker’s vision extends far beyond the traditional bounds of financial planning into something much more significant.

“We are bringing on services and platforms that allow us to make it even easier to help clients with things like getting their estate planning documents complete, their taxes filed, and their umbrella insurance set up, for example,” says Drucker. “We will keep building out our internal team as well as our hand-picked partners to maximize the total value we are able to create for our clients. It all starts with that.”