Three financial advisors who took a years-long approach to setting up their own registered investment advisor are now live with about $650 million in client assets and a focus on working with company executives.

Tempo Wealth, based in Independence, Ohio, is being led by founders Corbin Blackburn, Tim Farley and Bernie Garrah, along with their staff of seven. The advisors worked together at a MassMutual Life life insurance affiliate, Skylight Financial Group, then tucked in under a local RIA, Cleveland Wealth, before setting off on their own.

“In 2019, we knew we wanted to make the move to either start or join an RIA—we wanted to be a fiduciary, be independent,” Blackburn said. “We had some connections in the area that had just started [an RIA] and they offered us a deal to essentially tuck in underneath them for a bit, feel if it’s the right fit.”

When the team moved to Cleveland Wealth, they brought over about $135 million in client assets. Over the next five years, they built up their client base, focusing on executives at public and private companies in various states, though really embedding with about three companies, according to Blackburn.

As time passed, they saw their practice shifting from the needs and focus of Cleveland Wealth, a roughly $1 billion RIA as of its latest Form ADV.

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“There were things we wanted to do, whether procedurally, or investment lineup-wise, or technologically, that they just didn’t have the same interest in,” Blackburn said. “It was just a difference of business practices.”

Part of that change was moving from combining customer relationship management platform Redtail and portfolio management and reporting system Black Diamond to Advyzon. While the transition was not easy, Blackburn said the team likes Advyzon because it consolidates more of its processes.

“We got to a point where we had a lot of tools that weren’t talking to each other,” he said. “This aggregates things better, so that was a big piece.”

In addition, the team wanted to move to an online-based financial planning system where clients could access their financial picture 24/7, as opposed to periodic PDF read-outs.

Finally, they wanted to offer clients private market and other alternative investments. They are currently working on those offerings, which Blackburn anticipates will include third-party funds for clients in the $3 million to $5 million asset range and proprietary offerings for those with greater assets and the ability to spread their investments.

“A lot of the clients we are dealing with work for private equity firms,” Blackburn said. “They understand the space and are looking to get opinions on deals.”

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So far, the transition and messaging have worked with clients, with roughly 99% of the assets moving over. Tempo Wealth custodies with Schwab, which it had been using previously, but it has also added Altruist as an option.

Blackburn said that in the future, they will look to add other advisors. In terms of age, Blackburn is 35, Farley has just turned 40, and Garrah is in his early 50s.

“We’ve got a lot of runway,” Blackburn said. “But we’re trying to build something beyond ourselves. It’s a place we want other advisors to be able to come and tap into the systems and processes that we’ve built and to possibly serve the niche we are building.”