Placing a Founding Chief Operating Officer for a High-Growth RIA

Hanover was engaged by a fast-growing Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) to conduct one of the most consequential hires in the firm’s young history: its first-ever Chief Operating Officer. With over $3 billion in AUM and ambitious expansion plans on the horizon, the firm needed an experienced operational leader who could bring structure and scalability without sacrificing the entrepreneurial culture that had defined it from the start. Hanover delivered, completing the search ahead of schedule, even across a holiday season.

Background

Our client is a growing Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). The firm was founded less than 5 years ago by a group of partners who led a successful team within a wirehouse and decided to go independent, launching their own RIA. The first few years of the firm’s existence were focused on establishing clients, stability, and setting up basic systems and processes. Mainly through vendors, the firm was able to create a functional ecosystem for its clients and advisors.

In 2025, the firm continued to grow, and the partners realized that they were increasingly being pulled away from their core responsibilities – mainly augmenting and strengthening existing client relationships, and establishing new ones – to handle operational issues. Operations were handled as a team effort by the partners, each one overseeing certain aspects of what would eventually become a Chief Operating Officer role.

This shared approach, in addition to pulling partners away from their normal roles, also caused inconsistency and miscommunication. By late 2025, it was realized that a dedicated COO was required for the firm, which had now reached over $3b in AUM.

The Process and Key Criteria/Challenges

Hanover was selected by the RIA to conduct this key hire. The RIA met with multiple search firms, but recognized Hanover’s deep experience and track record within the RIA and larger wealth management space . They also valued that the delivery team conducting the search would be reachable and flexible in its approach.

Hanover met with the RIA in person to get a sense of the firm’s culture, meeting with many of its partners to learn their insights into what they expected from the role. Key requirements and factors were established.

Key Criteria and Challenges

The ability to scale

The firm needed to find the right balance of hiring someone who would bring larger firm knowledge and best practices as the RIA continued to scale, but who could also be hands-on and not afraid to get into the details.

Broad oversight and vendor relations

Responsibilities for the position included overseeing technology, HR, client services, compliance, trading, firm growth strategy, and process optimization. Vendor relationship management was also important, with many services being handled by external providers.

Firm culture

Beyond the core responsibilities, Hanover was able to gain a deep understanding of the firm’s culture, which became a critical aspect of the search. The key was finding an individual who could maintain the RIA’s entrepreneurial spirit while establishing key operating procedures and processes that would allow it to scale.

The firm was also deeply committed to building a sustainable, multi-generational firm, bucking the growing trend of private equity-backed firms looking to consolidate and/or sell off in the near future. A thoughtful “builder” and long-term partner was required.

Urgency

While the RIA wanted to conduct a thorough and thoughtful search, there was also a level of urgency to find and attract the right person. For one, the firm felt they’d waited too long to address these ongoing challenges.

They also had a geographic expansion planned for early 2026, so it felt like the longer they were without this person, the more they were being held back. Incidentally, this search was conducted amidst the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holidays, with no interruption in delivery cadence.

Brand recognition

The RIA, while successful and growing, was not widely known within the market. Hanover was able to craft a strong narrative and background for the firm that could be used in presenting the opportunity to prospective candidates, helping to boost the firm’s brand and subsequent attraction to target candidates.

Location

The RIA needed this role to work in-office at least three days a week.

Search Execution

The team at Hanover spent two weeks identifying key competitors and talent, establishing a long list of qualified candidates and targets from a combination of our established network, industry referrals, and pure research. A variety of backgrounds were presented and reviewed with the hiring team. This dialog and review of backgrounds proved invaluable for both the client and Hanover, as additional considerations on the search were discussed and addressed.

Once the long list was reviewed and target candidates were prioritized, Hanover went to work, contacting the candidates and putting them through their multi-stage vetting process. While the RIA didn’t have a well-known name in the market, Hanover was able to generate excitement and deep interest in the opportunity. Two weeks after the long list meeting, Hanover presented a list of six strong candidates, all of whom were selected by the client for initial discussion.

Hanover led the scheduling and facilitation of the interviews. Multiple feedback meetings and check-ins with the client were conducted throughout the interview process to ensure that client and candidate feedback could be exchanged, and that candidate expectations could be maintained through a highly efficient process.

Outcome

Ultimately, the RIA successfully hired its top-choice candidate, an individual described by two of the firm’s partners as “a diamond in the rough” and “a superstar.” Incidentally, this candidate came to Hanover via industry referrals, leveraging our deep network in the RIA and wealth management space. The RIA made the hire a full month before their internal expected timeline, a great benefit to a firm that is keen to keep growing.