Not projections.
Completed builds.

Harrison & Cole had $112M AUM but founder David Harrison was running the practice as if it was still $30M. He was the approval point for every client relationship across all 3 advisors, reviewed every investment proposal personally, and handled all new client onboarding. Two acquisition targets existed — a $94M book from an advisor retiring and a $52M practice looking to merge — but David had no infrastructure to absorb either. Both opportunities would have broken the practice operationally.

Acquisition integration playbook covering client communication sequence, service continuity protocol, and advisor transition timeline; advisor onboarding infrastructure cutting new hire ramp from 8 months to 90 days; investment proposal sign-off framework (David reviews proposals above $2M only); unified client service standard across all 7 advisors post-acquisition; structured hiring process for 13 new staff across operations, compliance, and client service roles.

Meridian's founding partner James Whitfield had been circling two acquisition targets for 18 months — a 3-advisor Bristol practice (£78M AUM) and a sole practitioner retiring book (£48M) — but couldn't pull the trigger. The reason: Meridian had no standardised service model. Every advisor ran their own process. Every client had a different experience. Acquiring £126M of client relationships with no consistent infrastructure was a liability risk, not a growth move.

Firm-wide client service standard (7 touchpoints, tiered by client segment); unified investment proposal process across all advisors; advisor performance management framework; FCA-compliant client communication templates for acquisition transitions; Bristol office operating model built before day one of acquisition; hiring infrastructure for 5 support staff and 2 new advisors deployed within the first 60 days post-acquisition.

Pinnacle's founder Claire Drummond had built a strong discretionary investment practice but was operationally founder-dependent at scale. Investment committee decisions required her sign-off. New client onboarding required her for the first 4 meetings. Three advisors had been with her 4+ years but had never been given real decision authority. She had two acquisition offers on the table — a Melbourne boutique (A$88M) and a retiring planner's book (A$62M) — and no mechanism to absorb either without breaking the practice.

Investment committee governance model (3 advisors vote, Claire has casting vote on material changes only); new client onboarding protocol (advisors own from meeting 2 onwards independently); acquisition integration framework including a staff retention playbook; ASIC-compliant disclosure documentation templates for acquired clients; hiring profile and structured interview process for 6 new advisor hires and 14 operational staff; Melbourne office launch operating model.

Altus founder Thomas Meier had built a bespoke multi-family office reputation — clients in 6 countries, relationships spanning 2–3 generations per family. Everything that mattered ran through Thomas. He'd been approached by two retiring Geneva advisors (CHF 62M and CHF 44M combined) and had identified an institutional mandate (CHF 80M) from a family foundation, but had no operational capacity to pursue any of them without degrading existing service. The institutional mandate alone required compliance infrastructure he didn't have.

Family governance documentation framework (each family's wealth narrative, decision preferences, and communication protocol made portable across advisors); institutional mandate reporting infrastructure built FINMA-compliant from scratch; acquisition integration model for both Geneva books executed simultaneously; advisor authority matrix giving all 10 advisors clear decision scope without requiring Thomas; structured hiring system for 6 new advisors across Zurich and Geneva; client segmentation model reducing Thomas's personal involvement to 14 highest-complexity relationships only.