Nannette Kamien, CFP®, CDFA®, had been working remotely in Carlsbad, CA, as a financial advisor at an independent RIA based out of New York for three years when she realized she needed to make a change to reach her full potential as a holistic financial planner.
She’s a life-long learner, always interested in new developments in planning and technology, while continually striving to understand her clients—how to best work with them and what makes them tick. Along the way, she’s become genuinely interested in their successes and helping them achieve their goals.
“I’m not just their finance person,” she said. “I'm helping them live their best life, getting to know them, their values and their hopes and dreams for the future. I’m really grateful that they’ve entrusted me with that position in their lives.”
Nannette had ideas on how to improve her planning processes so she could serve her clients even better, and wanted to make that her core focus, so she considered making a change.
At the beginning of her search, she had two major areas of concern about the process she was about to undergo. First and foremost was the impact her decision would have on her clients. “I was worried about finding somewhere they would be well taken care of, where they’d be happy, and where I could offer them similar, if not better, service for their needs; it was really important to me,” Nannette explained. Additionally, she knew she needed to find a place where she could picture herself making a long-term impact.
“A colleague of mine put me in touch with Vantage Impact, and I had an initial conversation with Boston Cardinal about how Vantage Impact could go about helping me find a new firm,” Nannette said. In the beginning, the unknown seemed daunting to Nannette. “I wanted to find a good fit—but I wasn’t sure where to start the evaluation process. That’s where Vantage Impact was able to really add value as they guided me through the process,” Nannette recalled.
“Boston has so many connections and really understands different firms and what is out there. I described what I was looking for, not even sure if my ideal role and firm existed. He assured me it was out there, but that I wouldn’t find it in a job posting,” Nannette said. “In that way, it’s like a matchmaker service: you work with someone who knows what you’re looking for, and then they provide the biggest value - making those introductions. It narrowed down the process a great deal, making it so much easier to find what I was looking for.”
During this process, Vantage Impact put Nannette in touch with Echo45 Advisors, an RIA out of Walnut Creek, CA. After her initial conversation with Jon Henderson, CFP®, CRPC®, Lead Financial Advisor, Owner/Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Echo45 Advisors, she knew that Echo45 Advisors saw the value in having an advisor focused on planning, she knew it was going to be an excellent fit for her and would help her achieve what she wanted to as an advisor.
For Nannette, completing the transition with the help of Vantage Impact made every step in the process easier.
“When you work with Vantage Impact, you have a partner who has your best interests in mind,” Nannette said. “Boston has proven experience in the industry, specifically in the transition space, and knows all the right questions to ask. He was able to pinpoint where I’d be a good fit, allowing me to cut through all the noise almost immediately which saved a lot of time.”
In addition to the guidance he provides on what firms would be a good fit, he knows all the nuts and bolts of transitioning so you don’t miss any steps, Nannette explained.
“Every meeting and interaction made me feel more confident in my decision to move to Echo45 Advisors. I am truly grateful for Vantage Impact’s guidance and support during one of the biggest moves of my career.”
From Jon’s point of view, working with Vantage made the process much smoother and saved valuable time in finding a good-fit advisor to add to his team.
“Working with Vantage Impact was like having an agent, who could lay a lot of the groundwork out for us and help us easily understand what we would be getting with an interested candidate,” he explained. “Vantage Impact brought so much knowledge into every interaction, which allowed us to easily sift through the questions from both Nannette and our firm. It removed a lot of the unnecessary unpleasantries that normally go into recruiting and negotiations.
“They take a very complex process and make it flow smoothly without issues,” he said.
In the end, adding Nannette to the team made perfect sense for the firm. Her role at Echo45 Advisors allows her to focus on specialty services for clients where she brings particular value: divorce financial analysis and college financial planning.
“At Echo45 Advisors, we are always looking to enhance our financial planning services,” Jonhe said “We are thrilled that Nannette is joining us as Financial Advisor/Director of Planning Services. She brings a breadth of financial planning knowledge to our team, and we look forward to integrating her expertise into our current relationships, as well as position our firm to take on additional clients looking for support in this area.”
“I’m excited for this opportunity and consider it to be a very complementary relationship,” Nannette said. “There’s always a better way of doing things, and I look forward to having the space at Echo45 Advisors to focus on improving the overall financial planning experience for our clients.
“Additionally, the team is really what makes it an awesome place to be. Everybody has been very welcoming, helpful, and appreciative of what I can bring to the table. It’s a forward-looking team that creates an excellent product and service for clients. All the pieces of the puzzle are there, and they’re doing what it takes for continued growth and success in the future.”
In addition to the consulting process, Craft Impact (Vantage Impact's sister company) provided strategic communications to support and celebrate the successful transition. Here are a few samples.
Firm Press Release
Firm Bio
