AdvisorHub Publisher Tony Sirianni sat down with Nate Lenz, CEO of Concurrent Investment Advisors, to discuss the firm’s accelerating growth, recent deals, and how Concurrent is cementing its identity as a platform built for business-owning financial advisors.
Tony Sirianni (TS): Nate, it’s been another massive year in the RIA and M&A world. We passed last year’s record volume before Halloween. How would you describe Concurrent’s momentum as we head into 2026?
Nate Lenz (NL): It’s been extraordinary, truly. We’ll end the year hitting our goal of recruiting roughly $5 billion in newly added assets, but the bigger story is how the strategic investments we’ve made are widening the possibilities for our advisors. Through our RIA Capital Partners program, we’ve taken minority stakes in five independent RIAs. We also acquired an ownership position in Catherine Avery Investment Management, which deepens our investment management capabilities. And, of course, we fully acquired Next Retirement Solutions, a national retirement consulting firm with more than $10 billion in assets under advisement.
When you pair those moves with our recruiting success, we’re now at more than $15 billion in AUM and $17 billion in AUA — crossing the $30 billion total asset mark for the first time. Hitting that milestone just three years after launching our RIA feels surreal, but it also validates something important: the market is responding to what Concurrent has become. We set out to build a true haven for entrepreneurs, and advisors are embracing that vision. They want to build something meaningful and lasting, while still having a partnership, real infrastructure, and a culture rooted in ownership. That combination is what’s driving our momentum.
TS: You recently landed a billion-dollar team. What made them decide Concurrent was the right move?
NL: Bill Keaton and Alfred Sams were incredibly intentional about their next chapter. They had plenty of options, but what they didn’t want was to become employees again or hand over control to a consolidator. They wanted the freedom to build their business their way, while also gaining alignment, equity participation, and access to capital.
Our model allowed them to do exactly that. They kept full autonomy while monetizing part of their business upfront, and they now participate shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the enterprise value we’re creating. And because flexibility around the client experience mattered to them, we ensured they had it — including the ability to custody with Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions. For advisors like Bill and Alfred, that’s the blueprint: build your own brand in your own way, but do it with the scale, resources, and partnership of a national enterprise behind you. That’s what entrepreneurial advisors are gravitating toward.
TS: The independent movement started with advisors who were fed up with the wirehouse world. Do you still see meaningful movement from the wires?
NL: Absolutely — and today it’s driven by something deeper than frustration. Advisors are increasingly realizing how much wealth they can build when they’re true business owners. Independence isn’t just an escape anymore; it’s a wealth-creation strategy.
A great example is Tim Seeger, formerly at UBS, who didn’t affiliate directly with Concurrent but with Cornerstone Private Wealth, one of our regional enterprises. He wanted independence, but he also wanted a local office, in-market support, and a culture rooted in his community. Cornerstone gave him that, while our national platform gave him scale. For many wirehouse teams, that’s the formula: run your own business, build your own culture, and tap into national resources when you need them. It’s the difference between being a producer in someone else’s system and being a true business owner.
TS: Lots of people have launched RIAs. Only a few have scaled them as successfully as Concurrent. What separates the winners from the rest?
NL: Alignment and culture. That’s the whole story. Advisors don’t want to feel like producers — they want ownership, a voice, flexibility, open architecture, and a platform designed to help them grow. That’s exactly how we built Concurrent. The tech stack is institutional. The service infrastructure is deep. But the identity is entrepreneurial. This is a firm built by business owners, for business owners.
And we’re expanding in ways that support even more types of independence. In 2026, we’ll roll out a Platform-as-a-Service offering that lets other RIAs run on our infrastructure while keeping their own brand, equity, and ADV. At the same time, we’re scaling RIA Capital Partners to deploy more capital to firms that think like we do. And we’re actively evaluating larger platform acquisitions where the philosophies align. Everything ladders up to one belief: if you invest in entrepreneurs, you create a more valuable enterprise for everyone involved.
TS: Growth is exciting, but culture can be fragile. How do you scale without losing what made Concurrent special?
NL: By being intentional — every day. Growth doesn’t mean much if you wake up one morning and realize you’ve become just another platform that looks and acts like everyone else. We continue investing in deeper shared services, richer investment resources, better data and analytics, and more ways for advisors to operate efficiently. But we always come back to the foundation: ownership, partnership, community, and independence. Culture is the non-negotiable. Scale is only worth pursuing if we can stay true to who we are while we grow.
TS: Final question — for advisors rethinking their future, what should they be asking themselves?
NL: I think it comes down to three questions that reveal what an advisor’s future could look like. First: do I truly own my business? If the answer isn’t an unequivocal yes, that’s a sign that the structure you’re in may not serve you long term.
Second: do I have a partner who can help me achieve my goals faster than I could on my own? There’s a major difference between operating a practice and scaling a business. Most advisors are exceptional at serving clients, but they need a partner with real experience, proven expertise, and a track record of helping firms accelerate growth. If your platform can’t help you move faster, it may be slowing you down.
And finally: am I in a model that maximizes my net worth — not just my payout? Cash flow matters, of course, but equity and enterprise value matter exponentially more. The advisors who are thriving today are the ones who’ve aligned themselves with structures that allow them to build something with lasting value — something that can outgrow their production and create true long-term wealth.
At the end of the day, independence isn’t about where you sit. It’s about who controls your future — and whether the structure you’re in is helping you build a business that’s truly yours.
See the original article on AdvisorHub.
