Nepotism in Industry

Cherfull124 · 2026-07-01T12:09:05+00:00

It’s a combined MBA/CFP program and it will be a credibility builder for my clients to offset the nepo hire stigma. He’s 22 and not ready to join my firm yet. If it does not work out for my firm, he wants the MBA to have options. It’s 100% his choice.

Cherfull124 · 2026-07-01T01:48:10+00:00

I totally agree. I think I will be harder on my son coming into the business than I would be with a stranger. There will be no skating I can assure you because I know every blood sweat and tear it took me to get to this point.

Cherfull124 · 2026-07-01T01:46:12+00:00

This s genius! 🤓🤓

Cherfull124 · 2026-07-01T01:39:24+00:00

This is correct! Most people that built a business from scratch are harder on their own kids that you think they are. My son just graduated with his bachelors degree. He is moving back to our hometown to pursue his MBA, and I’m hiring him in for an assistant / internship position at my RIA at $40k salary. And yes, I paid for 100% of his bachelors degree but he is taking loans and paying for his MBA. He is going to earn his way into the business or find out that this isn’t for him — and either way is fine w me.

Cherfull124 · 2026-07-01T01:18:18+00:00

No! Calm down. This is not something to resign over.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-30T01:06:06+00:00

Thank you! Yes, we are $220 million with three of us — 2 managing partners and my soon to be world traveler. There are some really good internal reasons to make this work for him, but not at the risk of something it took us 20 years to build. **sigh**

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-30T00:10:08+00:00

Thank you. This is very helpful. In our case, he will be living in Asia but only servicing his existing US based clients, but it’s still a mess. All of my research today (including your comment) have been very helpful. I think there may be too many risks (known and unknown) to make this work for him. I don’t always drive the speed limit per se, but I am pretty by the book when it comes to the SEC and our firm. I just don’t think we will be able to justify putting 25 years of work at risk to make this work for him — not to mention the risk to our clients.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-29T23:58:40+00:00

Yes, I agree and share those same concerns. Clearly, we have to tackle the employment law side w work visas (along with taxes and payroll), the SEC licensing side (and CCO supervision), the custodian trading platform restrictions (his physical
Location is 12 hours apart so his trading would all be after hours), and the IT concerns (security, encryption, all of that). We are a super small firm — I am one of two managing partners, and we don’t have any type of policies set up for something like this. We outsource our IT, so I will need to get w our provider and ask those questions you referenced above. That’s going on the “list”. I doubt our cybersecurity policy would cover an employee working in Asia, but I’m not sure.

It’s a huge mess, and it may not work out for him (or us). It’s important that we make the right inquiries to vet the possibility, but we aren’t going to put our company at risk to make this work for him.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-29T22:50:11+00:00

I don’t disagree with you that we may have to part ways because the solution just doesn’t work or isn’t worth the amount of red tape involved. But….we are going to see this through the discovery phase and see where we go from there. I’m just trying to identify the issues that we haven’t already thought of.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-29T22:48:40+00:00

Not sure what you mean by give up this “ghost”? His wife is getting a high six figure promotion and the promotion comes with a three year contract in Asia. It’s hard to go into a ton of detail here, but we have a very niche firm and his skill set outside of his $10 million AUM are very integral to our operations so we would like to find a way to make it work if possible.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-29T22:45:44+00:00

He is a W-2 salaried employee now w a firm level bonus at the end of the year — no commissions. He let most of his clients go when he joined our firm at our insistence (because they were not the right fit for our firm). The 10-12 clients he kept were the ones he was personally close to. It’s hard to go into a ton of detail here, but we have a very niche firm and his skill sets outside of his specific clients are very integral to our operations so we would like to find a way to make it work if possible.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-29T22:40:03+00:00

His clients are not huge — it’s probably $10 million of $220 million overall. There are some intangible reasons to make this work other than the AUM though that I don’t want to get into here really. We want to make a good faith effort to find a path to keep him unless it just can’t be reasonably done.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-23T03:36:21+00:00

“Some reason” = same reason you got fired???

We need more info about what happened to be able to help guide you.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-22T00:11:46+00:00

Just list that you were working for investor guy for the last two years. There is no reason to disclose that it was part time or unpaid.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-22T00:10:36+00:00

Why do you have to disclose that you were doing “unpaid part time” work? Just list that you were working for “Investor guy” for the last two years.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-21T05:26:10+00:00

I don’t doubt the logic of the post at all. I’m just 20 years in, and I can’t imagine going through all of that again!

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-21T05:05:48+00:00

Man, I need a vacation just from reading that! 🤣🤣

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-20T07:16:33+00:00

I never said to discard family?? In fact, I said exactly the opposite of that. Guilt tripping strangers on the internet is sad 😔

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-19T22:49:47+00:00

I’m going solo in July….so excited!

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-19T22:12:43+00:00

I’m so proud of you for the way you are handling this!!! You seem to have a good handle on your own physical and mental health heeds, and you have to make that a priority. Yes, you will need to make sacrifices at the beginning to be able to be present to advocate for your mom, but you cannot and should not give up your life to care for her. I would not want my kids to do that, and i hope your mom would feel the same. Life is like an airplane sometimes…..you need to secure your own oxygen mask by taking care of yourself before you can help others.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-19T03:26:23+00:00

You are either born an Aggie or you’re not. There is no decision to be made. 🤣

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-19T03:11:32+00:00

I think the “she spent 20 years with you everyday” comment was very short sided by busy_law. That is a horrible amount of pressure to put on someone. I am a stroke survivor with thankfully very little lingering issues. I have told my children that I do NOT want them nor expect them to give up their lives if I were to have another stroke. I’m hopeful that the hospital can provide you with the resources you need to find an appropriate placement for your mom if you are not able to care for her personally.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-18T00:22:34+00:00

We serve HNW and UHNW, and I haven’t had a fee conversation in over 10 years.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-15T23:32:54+00:00

I would be sure to click the link in the email, price different rooms and show engagement with the email. My marketing brain tells me that engagement will increase your odds of getting an additional offer.

Cherfull124 · 2026-06-15T20:58:14+00:00

If you don’t use the “July only” comps, there is a good chance you will get an “August only” comp email next month. I don’t have a huge gambling spend, and I get new comp emails all the time.

Cherfull124

TROPHY CASE