From empty rooms to enduring legacy: How Bruce Vaughn built his advisory

If you ever want to test your patience, try assembling a puzzle without knowing what the final picture looks like. That’s exactly what building a financial advisory firm can feel like—especially when the industry itself seems designed to keep you playing a never-ending game of musical chairs.

For Bruce Vaughn, that realization came early. In 1983, he joined a small firm with four partners. Within months, the firm unraveled—two partners left almost immediately, and another followed a year later. By the time the dust settled, Vaughn found himself, at just 27 years old, with an offer: become a partner and keep the business alive.

He took the leap, but after 12 years, he hit another crossroads. Despite years of success, his partner never truly saw him as an equal. So, in 1996, Vaughn walked away, determined to build something on his own terms.

The problem with the industry - And a new approach

One of Vaughn’s first insights after going solo was how traditional financial advisory firms were structured to be inherently unstable. Advisors were trained, gained experience, and then left to start their own firms - essentially becoming the competition.

Instead of following the same pattern, Vaughn decided to break the cycle. He reinvested every dollar he could back into the business

His approach? Hire and train young advisors but keep the clients tied to the firm, not the individual. Advisors earned a salary and a percentage of the revenue from the clients they worked with, but the firm retained ownership of those relationships. This model created a more sustainable business, where growth didn’t mean losing talent - it meant strengthening the team.

Vaughn’s approach to firm ownership evolved as well. Rather than waiting for advisors to leave, he invited them in. He sold his long-time colleagues, Dan Lash and Rose Price, each a 10% stake in the firm—at a price they could afford, with the profits they helped generate paying down their ownership shares.

For Vaughn, having years spent training advisors, the last thing he wanted was for them to walk across the street and open a competing practice.

“They didn’t have all the funds to buy in, so I lent it to them,” he explains. “They took their share of the profits and paid me back, and in the end, everyone won.” This structure gave younger advisors skin in the game, keeping them committed while ensuring a smooth transition when Vaughn was ready to step back.

Over time, VLP didn’t just grow—it absorbed nine other firms. His first acquisition was negotiated on a napkin. A retiring advisor, who had been an employee, wanted to exit the business. Vaughn made him an offer: he’d take over the clients, ensure continuity, and structure the deal in a way that let the retiring advisor walk away with something tangible. This negated the requirement for lawyers, and drawn-out negotiations.

Since then, VLP has acquired firms through personal connections, industry events, and strategic outreach. But Vaughn is quick to point out that the landscape has changed.

Vaughn details his approach saying, “Most of the advisors we acquire are one- or two-person shops with limited infrastructure. We don’t just buy clients; we integrate them into a structure that ensures they’re well taken care of long after the original advisor retires.”

Understanding the client-adviser relationship

Vaughn observed an important trend in the industry: most advisors build client bases that mirror their own age. Advisors who start their careers in their 30s often attract clients in a similar life stage, and as the years go by, their clients grow older alongside them.

“The average client is usually within 10 years of the advisor’s age,” Vaughn explains. “That’s just normal. People like to work with people who are like themselves.”

This dynamic creates challenges as advisors and their clients approach retirement. Vaughn notes that clients in their 70s may feel hesitant about working with a much younger advisor, but at the same time, they know the critical period for financial guidance is during the years immediately before and after retirement.

“You don’t want to be working with someone who retires right before you need them most,” Vaughn emphasizes. That’s why VLP’s model integrates younger advisors into client relationships early, ensuring a seamless transition when the time comes.

With nine advisors on staff, VLP has the luxury of training new talent over an extended period. “It used to take seven to nine years for an advisor to become competent,” Vaughn says. “Now, with the way we immerse them in our culture and processes, it takes closer to five years.”

Vaughn understands that many advisors never truly plan to retire. But he also knows that failing to plan means failing clients when they need guidance the most.

“Clients don’t want their advisor to retire before them,” he says. “But they also don’t want their advisor to hang on too long and lose their edge.”

That’s why VLP has built a model that transitions clients seamlessly to younger advisors - while ensuring those advisors are properly trained and fully immersed in the firm’s culture before taking the reins. Vaughn believes it used to take seven to nine years for an advisor to become truly competent. Now, under VLP’s mentorship system, that timeline has been cut nearly in half.

As for acquisitions, Vaughn is still open to the right opportunities - but he’s more interested in ensuring the firm's longevity than chasing expansion for expansion’s sake.

At this point, Vaughn is no longer the majority owner. He’s taken a step back from the executive team, focusing solely on client relationships while the next generation of leadership drives the firm forward.

Securities and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, member FINRA/SIPC, a broker/dealer and a Registered Investment Adviser. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. 8391 Old Courthouse Road Ste 203 Vienna, VA 22182.