Guest: Sammy Azzouz, the President and CEO of Heritage Financial. Sammy is also the author of Beyond the Basics: Maximizing, Allocating and Protecting Your Capital.
In a Nutshell: At Heritage Financial, delivering organic growth is a firm-wide effort built into the culture. And everything the firm does — from its marketing initiatives and client experience to the people it hires and its succession plan — is organized around maintaining a steady stream of new business, strong independence, and happy clients.
On today’s show, Sammy Azzouz discusses how he stepped into the shoes of a Barron’s Hall of Famer when he transitioned to the CEO role and how Heritage has grown to about $2 billion in AUM — with no acquisitions.
.Sammy Azzouz and I discuss:
- How Heritage grows organically when so many firms are struggling to grow beyond what the market delivers.
- Why Heritage is so focused on organic growth and how its advisors contribute to new business development.
- The wide variety of marketing initiatives Heritage uses, including podcasts, webinars, client events, and blogging.
- The proactive succession plan that Heritage Founder and Chairman Chuck Bean developed with Sammy and the management team.
- The path to equity ownership that Heritage offers its employees.
- Working as an advisor versus working as the CEO of an advisory firm.
- How Heritage’s motto, “Every detail matters,” informs its client experience.
- The differences between wealth management and financial planning.
- Crafting a strategic plan that balances clear business goals with an inspiring vision of the future.
- Selections from Sammy Azzouz’s Wednesday Reading List and why Thomas Jefferson isn’t his favorite Founding Father.
.Resources Related to This Episode
- Sammy Azzouz on LinkedIn
- The Boston Advisor – Sammy Azzouz’s blog
- Wealthy Behavior – Sammy Azzouz’s podcast
Note: The image of Sammy was created using Midjourney AI.
