From Broker-Dealer to Independence: Ken Shotsberger’s First Year

Background

After more than a decade in wealth management, including seven years in leadership at a large broker-dealer, Ken completed his first year operating as an independent financial advisor at Victory Financial. He credits the large-firm environment for strong training and early career structure, while noting that independence offers a broader solution set and more flexibility to tailor planning to individual client needs.

Why Independence - and What Changed

At a broker-dealer, product shelves and processes are typically more prescriptive. Moving to an RIA model shifts the emphasis to owning the framework: establishing how recommendations are selected, documenting fit, and standardizing reviews. Ken views that shift as productive; the responsibility increases, but so does the ability to align planning with client objectives across a wider range of options.

Transition Realities: Process, Paperwork, and Timelines

Ken characterizes the transition as solid overall but candidly acknowledges common friction points advisors should anticipate:

• More systems to learn during onboarding and daily operations.

• Registrations and approvals that can take longer than expected without a detailed plan.

• Legacy documentation requests (e.g., procedures still built around paper-era assumptions) that require client education and internal checklists.

The Operating Model: Centralizing on HALO

To reduce “swivel-chair” work across tools, Ken centralized day-to-day activity in HALO (Victory Financial’s advisor platform). In practice, that meant:

• One hub for planning notes, documents, and follow-ups

• Templated onboarding workflows that minimize ad-hoc emails

• Repeatable client review agendas tied to action items

The result: clearer visibility into client status, fewer hand-offs, and more consistent meeting preparation.

Client Experience: What Tangibly Improved

While independence doesn’t change the fundamentals of fiduciary care, Ken saw several operational gains after standardization:

• Faster onboarding once checklists were implemented

• Clearer recommendations with documented rationale

• Streamlined communication so clients know who to contact

• Access to a broader toolkit for unique planning needs

Business Ownership Mindset

Independence comes with true business ownership: staffing, tech selection, service design, and process refinement. Ken treats these as ongoing disciplines rather than one-time projects, reviewing capacity and client experience quarterly and making incremental improvements as the practice scales.

Lessons Learned for Advisors Considering Independence

1. Account movement. Build in timeline buffers.

2. Standardize early. Write onboarding and review checklists before day one.

3. Choose a system of record. Centralize tasks, notes, and documents to cut friction.

4. Communicate proactively with clients. Explain how independence benefits service and clarity.

5. Respect legal constraints. Align pursuit strategies with non-competes and client assignment rules.

6. Invest in documentation quality. Good notes and rationales make reviews faster and compliance cleaner.

Ready to explore what independence could look like for you? Reach out to our President, Kyle Wardlaw, at kyle@victoryfinancialgroup.com.