CASE studies • strategic partnerships

Keep Your Identity.
Accelerate Your Future.

Building a successful advisory firm takes years. Choosing the right partner for its next chapter means thinking beyond the transaction.

Contact Alex Brockman

At a glance

Firm: Midwest Wealth Management
Industry: Wealth Management / Financial Advisory
Transaction: Merger with Larson
Primary Opportunity: Accelerate long-term growth while preserving firm identity
Key Areas of Alignment: Culture, client experience, advisor autonomy, technology, leadership and growth

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AUM before merger

???%

AUM after merger

???%

Employee Retention

???%

Growth Since Merger

~97%

Client Retention

???%

Client Households Served

THE AMBITION

Where Do We Want to Be 10 Years From Now?

Midwest Wealth Management approached the decision with a long-term perspective.

Rather than asking only what a transaction could accomplish today, leadership considered what kind of firm they wanted to become over the next decade.

That meant finding an organization already approaching that future while still allowing the Indianapolis team to maintain its own identity.

Among the firms they considered, Larson stood out for sharing a similar vision, culture and philosophy around the client experience.

“Of all the firms that we talked to, they were the ones that probably shared a lot of the vision, the sentiment, the client experience in the same way. It was just a pretty natural fit.”

Alex Davis

THE FIT

Shared Vision. Shared Client Philosophy.

Culture was an important part of the decision, but the team also looked closely at Larson’s leadership and its vision for the future.

They saw an organization investing in technology, resources and other capabilities necessary to remain competitive.

But another quality stood out:

Larson’s leadership remained close to the people the organization ultimately served.

Senior leaders continued running active practices and meeting directly with clients.

For the Midwest Wealth Management team, that created confidence that the people making decisions about the future of the organization still understood the everyday realities of being an advisor.

What They Were Looking For

Freedom to continue growing their practice
A shared vision for the future
Cultural alignment
A similar philosophy around the client experience
Investment in technology and resources
Leadership connected to advisors and clients

THE TRANSITION

Integration Without Erasing Identity

Joining a larger organization can create an obvious concern:

Will we have to give up the way we do things?

The Midwest Wealth Management experience challenged that assumption.

The team gained access to Larson’s home-office infrastructure and resources while maintaining the ability to bring its own ideas and successful practices to the organization.

When something worked, Larson listened.

And when an idea could benefit the larger organization, it could be adopted and shared across the company.

THE PARTNERSHIP

Partnership is easy to promise.

The Midwest Wealth Management team experienced what it meant when an important client opportunity emerged.

Larson leadership had made a simple commitment:

“If you need me, I’m there.”

Paul Larson

When the moment came, that commitment became tangible.

Paul Larson drove through the middle of the night to personally support the team on a significant client case.

“That’s what real partnership looks like.”

For the Midwest Wealth Management team, support wasn’t limited to infrastructure, technology or corporate resources.

Leadership showed up when it mattered.

THE ADVISOR EXPERIENCE

More Support Without Sacrificing Autonomy

Scale brought additional resources, but it didn’t mean abandoning the entrepreneurial mindset that helped build the Indianapolis practice. Advisors have flexibility to continue growing their businesses while drawing on Larson’s larger support system.

“As an advisor at Larson there’s really no cap on your upside.”

Brent Robbs

ENTREPRENEURIAL FREEDOM

Flexibility to grow
Advisor autonomy
Room for new ideas
Ownership of client relationships

ENTERPRISE SUPPORT

Technology
Specialized expertise
Leadership access
Home-office infrastructure
Broader organizational resources

A PLATFORM FOR GROWTH

THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE

Minimal Disruption. Stronger Confidence.

Client retention was one of the team’s biggest concerns entering the transaction.

Would clients understand the decision?

Would relationships remain intact?

Would joining a larger organization disrupt the experience they had worked so hard to build?

A couple of years after the transaction, the team reported an encouraging answer.

~97%

CLIENT RETENTION

“Client retention was one of the biggest data points that we were concerned about.”

Alex Davis

THE TEAM

Continuity Beyond the Client Relationship

Protecting clients wasn’t the only concern.

The people who helped build the firm mattered, too.

Looking back on the transaction, the speaker noted that the employee team remained intact while nearly all client relationships stayed with the organization.

That continuity helped validate the original decision.

The merger created an opportunity to gain the resources of a larger organization without dismantling the team responsible for the firm’s existing success.

CLIENT CONTINUITY

~97% retained

TEAM CONTINUITY

Employees Remained

THE IMPACT

Coming Out Stronger on the Other Side

A merger is ultimately judged by what happens after the paperwork is signed.

For the Midwest Wealth Management team, the post-transaction experience provided several forms of validation:

Clients
Stayed

Employees
stayed.

Referrals
increased.

Gained access to broader resources.

Maintained flexibility.

“We learned each other’s styles. We asked a lot of questions. I really feel like we are on the same page now. We’re on the same team.”

Alex Davis

KEY TAKEAWAY

Growth Doesn’t Require Giving Up What Made You Successful.

For independent advisory firms, joining a larger organization doesn’t have to mean surrendering identity, autonomy or the relationships responsible for the firm’s success.

The Indianapolis experience offers another possibility:

Keep the relationships.

Keep the entrepreneurial spirit.

Add the infrastructure, expertise and scale to go further.

The right partnership doesn’t replace what you’ve built.

It gives you more ways to build on it.

Where Do You Want Your Firm to Be 10 Years From Now?

Whether you’re thinking about growth, succession, scale or simply what the next chapter could look like, choosing the right partner starts with understanding where you want to go.

Alex Brockman

Director of Corporate Development

As Director of Corporate Development, Alex leads strategic growth initiatives centered on thoughtful partnerships, long-term value creation, and sustainable expansion.

A strategist by nature, Alex understands what it takes to build and scale businesses in today’s evolving economy. He brings a rare blend of big-picture thinking and practical execution. Over the course of his career in financial services, he has worked across strategic growth, mergers and acquisitions, marketing, brand transformation, and change management, experience shaped through roles with organizations such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo Advisors, NewGround, csg, and Experience Fresh.

Entrepreneurship has always been a defining thread in Alex’s career. He has launched several companies focused on empowering business owners with growth strategies, revenue generation, and idea development. From hands-on ideation sessions to scalable solutions, Alex has helped entrepreneurs move from vision to execution with clarity and confidence.

Beyond the boardroom, Alex is deeply committed to service. Alongside his wife, he gives back to their community through their “Four-F’s” methodology, an approach rooted in generosity, intentionality, and impact. Their mission is simple but meaningful: creating change one living room at a time. At Larson, Alex is passionate about partnering with advisory firms in a way that honors what they’ve built while strengthening what comes next. His focus is on creating flexibility, reducing friction, and helping founders move forward with confidence, clarity, and choice.

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