Reimagining the future of financial guidance
When Benjamin Littman, one of the founding members of Pure Financial Advisors LLC (“Pure”), started in the wealth industry in 2007 , he wanted to change how clients were interacting with their advisors. This led him to joining forces with Mike Fenison (Pure’s original and now retired founder) and the initial team at Pure: “Our goal was to provide white-glove service by taking things off the advisor’s plate so they could focus on client relationships,” Littman says.
Littman and his partners wore many hats in the beginning of the firm, and their hard work paid off. They’ve expanded to more than 150 employees today, managing to achieve their big dreams of growth. From the beginning with zero AUM to today’s surpassing of $7.39B AUM1, Envestnet was a key partner along the way.
“Mike read an article about Tamarac (subsequently acquired by Envestnet) early on, and that was how we started our journey many years ago,” Littman explains. By collaborating with the Envestnet team on their rebalancing, billing, reporting, and trading requirements, Pure was able to scale the platform over time to meet their needs. “Envestnet has been there every step of the way. From collaborating on new features to hearing our feedback, we’ve always felt like a valued customer,” Littman says. “We grew up in the industry alongside one another.”
Acting on the opportunity to grow and scale
The foundation for Pure's acceleration came from a what-now-seems-obvious realization: their advisors wanted to be in front of clients, instead of spending all their time on back-office tasks. Acting on this insight led to several key developments:
- Pure created a comprehensive support system handling technology, IT, compliance, and administration – freeing advisors to concentrate on what they do best: building client relationships and providing direct service. This shift proved to be a major catalyst for the firm's growth.
- The firm established an internal trading team leveraging Envestnet's tools to streamline operations. They developed sophisticated models for rebalancing, asset location, and tolerance bands, enabling advisors to make decisions in the clients’ best interest without a lot of manual work. This technology-driven approach has paid off in multiple ways, with Littman noting, “Envestnet allows us to scale the blocking and tackling, which helps us add more value for our clients.”
- By utilizing Envestnet’s tax-loss harvesting, Pure could look at portfolios from all angles, which is critical for their "millionaire-next-door" clients who own a home, are looking to retire, and have an investment property. “Technology enabled us to look at taxable accounts and then capitalize on losses in a scalable way,” says Littman.
Besides the user-friendly and sleek interface, Littman says they enjoy the support and relationships that Envestnet offers: “The employees care so much about the success of the platform,” he says. This collaborative approach extends to data sharing, as Pure has been able to leverage raw data from the Envestnet system to assist with their own software development.
Building a lasting legacy
Now with thousands of clients and hundreds of employees, Littman hopes to further their growth, but also their mission: “Our mission from the very beginning has been to provide financial education and advice to all who need it. And while we’ve scaled rather quickly, we know we’re still in the first inning of achieving that mission. There’s still a long way to go.”
Mentorship is also a large part of how they hope to accomplish their mission, offering younger advisors in the industry an opportunity to learn. “I recommend that anyone new to the industry understand the different types of firms available to them, and the ins and outs of the different business models and value propositions, both for clients and for the advisors,” says Littman. To help advisors expand their knowledge and skills, they’ve created a career path for the CFP® Professional and offer thought leadership on planning, tax strategies, and other investment topics.
Littman believes that the gap will continue to widen between medium- and large-sized RIA firms when it comes to technology. “Coming to a firm like ours, the ease of doing business for an advisor is very attractive,” he says. As Pure continues to scale their impact in the advisory space, Envestnet couldn’t be more pleased to be a partner in their success.
See how other advisory firms are using Envestnet wealth management technology to grow their business. Visit https://www.envestnet.com to learn more.
