Where RIAs stand on the full-time, return-to-office trend

RFG Advisory is a far, far smaller financial firm than Dimon’s and, according to Abby Salameh, the RIA's chief growth officer, has a far less extreme attendance policy, allowing employees to work up to two days a week remotely.

“We typically try to keep 'deep work Wednesdays' with no meetings and time to focus on getting stuff done,” Salameh said. “This seems to work very well and has a nice balance to it. We have found that while it is amazing to be in the office and get the networking and culture building relationships that are so vital to the firm, it is also really important to give a bit of balance.”

She notes that RFG Advisory does have many remote employees who obviously work from home all the time. They are predominantly sales and relationship management or practice consultants who are expected to be out in their regions visiting advisors, so it is not a requirement for them.

Salameh also disputes the idea that workers who work from home are less productive than those who commute to the office five days a week.

“When you hire talented A-players, they will be productive anywhere they work. It is all about having the right people in the right roles on the bus that will drive efficiency for the firm. We are a fast growth organization, and as such, have hired talented professionals who come with that growth mindset.”

Jon Foster, president and CEO at Angeles Wealth Management, said the firm has gone back to its pre-COVID work policies, but with a bit more flexibility.  

“Support, ops, and management are in the office every day. But client-facing personnel are in or out, depending on client interaction,” Foster said. “However, we try to be understanding and flexible for our staff when their family responsibilities collide with their day job.”

Added Foster: “Our private wealth clients entrust us with their family wealth, and they pay us a lot of money to do it. I don’t think they want to pay us to work in our PJs from the couch at home.”

In Foster’s view, the act of commuting is unproductive, but working together side-by-side in the office is more productive than working from home, especially when effective collaboration and education is a measure of productivity. It also depends on the employee’s work-from-home environment, he said. 

“If you have a private, quiet room to work in, with no domestic distractions and your full office set up, you can be really productive from home. But how many people actually have undistracted work from home environment? No childcare or eldercare responsibilities, no Amazon deliveries, no barking dog, no lawnmower in the background?” Foster said.  

Innovation and creativity are the reasons why Ryan Eisenman, cofounder and CEO at RIA fintech provider Arch, has his company operating fully in-office five days a week. He maintains that this approach “anchors our culture from the beginning and continues to drive our growth.”

“Direct collaboration allows us to move rapidly, enabling persistent innovation across our platform,” Eisenman said.

On the other hand, Robert Sofia, founder and CEO of fellow RIA fintech provider Snappy Kraken, fully embraced remote work from the company’s pre-COVID inception in 2016 and has no plans to change now. Sofia said the company has a team of 105 employees serving thousands of advisors and remains 95 percent remote.

“We don’t mandate a five-day in-office schedule because we believe remote work works when it's done right. Success in a remote environment requires discipline, accountability, and consistent communication. We supplement our remote culture with strategic in-person touchpoints, including quarterly [objectives and key results] planning sessions and team meetups,” Sofia said.

The perception that employees working from home are less productive stems from leaders and employees who aren't cut out for remote work, and therefore struggled to adapt to it during the forced transition caused by COVID, he said. While some take advantage of remote policies, he said there is a way for companies to strategically build high-performing remote teams.

“For remote to work, companies need to hire self-motivated and disciplined individuals, focus on outcomes and [key performance indicators] rather than hours spent at a desk, establish clear policies, implement the right technology and maintain structured meetings. If these things are prioritized, remote work can lead to a deeper talent pool, happier employees and a more scalable, efficient organization,” Sofia said.