Creating a planning-focused culture in a boutique wealth management firm

As young advisors, Christian Hutchins and Jesse Brown got their start at competitive broker-dealer and RIA firms. Like their peers, they were focused on gaining referrals, securing prospect meetings, and landing new clients to grow their books of business.

Although the pair learned a lot about what it takes to attract clients, what they truly loved was slowing down and working closely with families to understand their values, goals, and hopes for the future. Hutchins and Brown began envisioning an independent firm of their own to help families create and preserve generational wealth.

"We wanted a channel where we could grow our business, but also be hyperfocused on actual relationships," says Hutchins. "The core of our vision was to stay focused on planning."

In 2024, the pair created Rolling Hills Advisors, a boutique wealth management firm with offices in California and Texas. Following their original vision, they’ve developed a firm culture that emphasizes intentional growth through deep relationships with each client, enabled by a supported independence model that provides mentorship and operational assistance.

Developing a client-centric approach

Hutchins and Brown already had many of the skills needed to run their own RIA firm. They had both opened new offices for their previous firm and were responsible for developing financial plans, managing portfolios, and even paying rent. But before making the move to full independence, the pair knew they needed to look broadly at the advisory landscape to evaluate their options.

They first hired a consultant to guide them through various business models. The consultant introduced the pair to Mariner, a wealth management and advisory firm with platform offerings that enable independent advisors to scale their practices, access growth-oriented resources, and reduce operational burdens.

By working with Mariner, Hutchins and Brown could focus on serving clients in exactly the way they wanted and outsource operational tasks not directly related to client work, such as compliance, reporting, and selecting CRM software. “There's a lot of technology that Christian and I really didn’t want to research by ourselves and try to find the best options out there, and Mariner had everything available for us,” says Brown.

In addition, they gained access to a host of resources to help expand their services, including alternatives investment research and estate and tax planning experts and tools. As an independent firm, they were also able to maintain their custody relationship with Fidelity, which made it easy to transfer existing clients’ assets over to Rolling Hills Advisors.

“The custodial relationship was huge, and I don’t think we would have made the move if we had to change it,” says Brown.

That smooth transition and the additional support from Mariner meant that Hutchins and Brown could focus on developing the culture of their new firm—one defined by intentional, multi-generational relationships and thoughtful planning conversations grounded in each family’s financial goals and values.

“I reached out to all my clients and asked how they would feel if we never talked about investments again. They all confirmed what I suspected,” says Hutchins. “Our clients really just want to know if they are okay, and they really want you to know what's happening in their lives.”

Leaning on expert guidance and finding mentors

One of the most valuable aspects of Rolling Hills’ supported independence model is that Hutchins and Brown don’t feel like they are out on an island by themselves.

The founders have leveraged Mariner's coaching team to sharpen the firm’s growth strategy and explore potential new services to offer. They have also tapped into a community of fellow advisors eager to share best practices in running an independent firm.

Insights from Mariner coaches and other teams on their platform will be critical in helping Hutchins and Brown chart the direction of their firm over the next 5, 10, or 15 years. “As founders trying to build a business and build a brand, to sit in a room with a bunch of other people doing the same thing—you can't really put a value on that type of dialogue,” says Hutchins.

Evolving while preserving their firm’s culture

True to the vision that inspired them to launch Rolling Hills, Hutchins and Brown plan to grow slowly and intentionally. Their emphasis is on organic growth that comes from their planning focus and strong relationships. They also plan to sharpen their marketing strategy to better tell the story of what makes Rolling Hills different.

The firm anticipates attracting more young, talented advisors when the time is right. “We really wanted to focus on our culture first and have our processes in place, so that when we do bring in other people, they really understand what we do,” says Brown.

They are confident about maintaining this focus on culture and client relationships while still adapting to the changing financial landscape thanks to Mariner’s support. And over time, Hutchins and Brown plan to pay forward the mentorship they've received by sharing their expertise in running an independent firm with the next generation of advisors—or anyone looking to make a career change.

“We want to teach other advisors the way we were taught, show them all the mistakes that we made, and really try to push this business forward because we have the long game to play,” says Hutchins. “That is the beauty of how we built this company. We have the time to do that.”