Case study |
The firm that goes deeper than the balance sheet
About Collie
Collie Financial Planning was founded in 2005 in Asheville, North Carolina, to provide clients with comprehensive planning and investment management.
Why they switched
After their custodian underwent a merger, administrative work started crowding out the thorough planning the firm was built to do. Collie moved to Altruist to get their time back.
The results
Advisors at Collie Financial Planning reclaimed 20 hours per week, which they put toward deep planning and serving the children of longtime clients.
Mike Collie started Collie Financial Planning in 2005 with a specific idea of what an advisor should be.
“We didn’t want to be the firm that only knew the details of our clients’ financial lives,” he said. “We wanted to know the details of all aspects of their lives.”
In practice, that means tax strategy, charitable giving, estate planning, and—for many of Collie’s clients—investing in line with their faith.
When the
busywork
took over
The trouble arrived when Collie’s longtime custodian was acquired. As the two firms merged, the administrative load climbed—redundant forms, manual processing, transfers that had to be chased down.
None of it was the work clients came for, and all of it drew from the same fixed set of hours.
So the firm moved to Altruist.
“Opening accounts went from taking weeks to taking minutes,” Mike said. “Updating a beneficiary or changing an address took a few clicks instead of extensive paperwork and client approvals.”
Michael Collie from Collie Financial Planning is a client of Altruist and was not compensated for this testimonial. This testimonial, which includes the featured video and all quotes, reflects his own experience, may not be representative of other clients’ experiences, and is no guarantee of future performance or success. Collie Financial Planning has received benefits from Altruist, including, but not limited to: account transfer (ACAT) credits, PAS fee waivers, and Altruist platform fee discounts. These benefits were not provided in exchange for this testimonial; however, it is a material conflict of interest, as it may influence Michael Collie to view and describe Altruist more favorably than he otherwise would.
Altruist and our affiliates did not pay for this testimonial, but we do earn revenue from financial advisors who use our platform. This customer review may not represent the experience of others and isn’t a guarantee of results.
Hazel is a software product of Altruist Corp. Hazel does not provide investment advice.
Time savings described reflect Collie Financial Planning’s own estimate, are specific to that firm’s circumstances, and may not represent the experience of others.
Tax-loss harvesting does not guarantee any particular tax result and is subject to wash-sale and other IRS rules. Inclusion of a third-party model in Altruist’s model marketplace is not a recommendation or endorsement of that model or its provider.
“
We’re not spending time on paperwork anymore, which has allowed us to engage with clients on a much more human level. We’re not rushed to move on to the next administrative task.”
Mike Collie, Founder and Senior Advisor, Collie Financial Planning
Hours of time,
redirected
With the move, each advisor gained an estimated 10 hours a week from cutting admin work. Hazel, Altruist’s AI engine, added another 10, bringing the total to 20 hours a week reclaimed per advisor.
The time back expanded who Collie could serve.
“We’re able to speak to multiple generations—clients in their 80s, clients in their heavy accumulation years, and clients in their 20s just starting out,” Mike said.
A recent case made that real. A longtime client referred their 19-year-old son, just starting a business of his own. The firm readily brought him on, and now works with both.
“The impact we’ll be able to have long term by serving that client from the beginning will give him an extra decade of wealth building and wise financial decisions that he otherwise wouldn’t have had,” Mike said. “And we wouldn’t have been able to support that had we not gained the capacity to serve both of those clients as a result of working with Altruist.”
Both, not either
The next generation isn’t only on the client side. Logan Collie, Mike’s son, joined Collie Financial Planning as a financial advisor after spending four-plus years gaining experience at other firms. He’s the team’s heaviest day-to-day user of Hazel. His test for any system comes down to one question: Does it force a choice between moving fast and getting the details right?
“I like to think you can either choose efficiency or you can choose detail,” Logan said. “A lot of times, they don’t come in the same offering. Hazel lets us have both.”
Most of Logan’s week runs through Hazel—meeting prep, notes, and follow-up. In a recent three-hour first meeting with a husband and wife who didn’t share the same views on money, Hazel let him stay in the conversation instead of heads down in a notepad.
On the investment side, Altruist’s rebalancer and tax management system automate the trading, so Mike and Logan are able to harvest tax losses for clients more often—with less of the hands-on work it used to take.
Personal advice,
at scale
Collie also wanted to build a system for delivering the same level of care to every client, not just the ones with the most complex needs.
Faith-based investing, tax strategy, estate planning—guidance that used to happen at a high level for most clients can now go deep, for every client, with Altruist.
When Altruist added Eventide’s faith-based models to its model marketplace, Collie finally had a way to align portfolios with clients’ values.
“No longer will advisors have to sacrifice performance to provide faith- and values-based investing to clients,” Mike said.
Built for
what’s ahead
Mike’s advice to advisors weighing a change comes down to one question.
“Ask yourself where you want your firm to be five years, ten years, twenty years from now,” he said. “Once you have a clear picture of what that looks like, honestly evaluate the custodial partners out there, and think about which one is going to be in the best position to serve your clients.”
It’s the same test Collie ran, and for them, the answer was clear.
“For us, we had no question that that was Altruist,” Mike said.