OpenArc and SageSpring invested in training for decades before last year's 100,000-advisor estimate
OpenArc and SageSpring train new advisors for three and two years, American Banker reported, against a projected 100,000-advisor gap by 2034. The open question for firms copying them is whether apprenticeship keeps a book of business intact when a senior planner retires.
The Investor · Invest desk
OpenArc runs a three-year training class for new advisors and SageSpring runs a two-year mentorship program. A widely cited estimate from last year puts the industry 100,000 advisors below the number needed by 2034.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenArc's training class for new advisors | 3 years | 1 | |
| SageSpring mentorship | 2 years | 2 | |
| Advisors short of need by 2034 | 100,000 advisors | widely cited estimate from last year | 14 |
What happened
- Both firms became fully independent only in recent years, with assistance from RIA services firm Dynasty Financial Partners.
- At OpenArc, partner and senior wealth management advisor Clifford "Trip" Farren leads the training program for new advisors.
- Tidecrest CEO David Wagner began campus talks at UC Santa Barbara after seeing little financial planning coursework there and hundreds of internship applications at his own firm.
- American Banker suggests smaller firms can have trainees shadow a successful advisor on the same team, run regular instructional courses, or open senior planners' doors for office hours.
Why it matters
- exposure Firms with no internal pipeline carry the succession risk American Banker describes: books of business stranded when senior planners retire without trained successors.
- contradiction American Banker's summary says RIAs are abandoning "eat what you kill" training, yet its text puts OpenArc and SageSpring among only a small number of peers with internal pipelines.
- decision A firm too small to build a class has to choose between a scaled-down pod and the outreach route: internships, outside collaborations, and promoting the field to students and career changers.
SageSpring's own figures show how much a team holds. Jeffrey Dobyns, the firm's president, put it at around 50 advisory teams and $10 billion in client assets [3], an average of $200 million a team [12]. The average hides the spread, and the article did not report how much of it sits with planners near retirement, what either firm pays trainees, how many trainees finish or how many stay.
The programs are built to avoid a specific start. Dobyns said: "It's just crazy that most firms have them go by themselves and have them cold call or knock on doors, etc." [4] David Wagner of Tidecrest Wealth Management made a similar objection to the sales model: "You expect inexperienced people to do business development, and I don't think that's sustainable." [6] American Banker calls that sales model high-failure [17], and the barrier behind the failure is persuading enough people to place their life savings with a recent entrant that the newcomer earns a sufficient income [18]. A pod puts the newcomer on the same team as a successful advisor [9], and we think that is the retention device, or rather the attempt at one.
OpenArc gives a different account of itself. "It's a culture of giving back that was started a long time ago by some of the folks on the board," said Clifford "Trip" Farren, who leads its training program [10]. Both firms have run internal training for decades [5], well before last year's estimate of a 100,000-advisor gap by 2034 [14].
We could be wrong in three ways. Completion rates could match the industry's high failure rates [17], with a salary hiding the same attrition. Clients could leave with the retiring planner whoever sits beside them. Or the programs could pay off mainly as recruiting tools while relationships decide retention. The measure that would settle it is the share of a retiring planner's clients still at the firm two years later.
Scale is the other limit. A firm's program protects that firm's clients, and the Tidecrest session that drew about 15 people [8] is 0.015% of a 100,000-advisor gap [13] (a crude comparison, since the attendees are students and the gap counts advisors).
What to watch
- Completion and client-retention figures from OpenArc, SageSpring or any pod-structured RIA, set against the industry's high failure rates.
- The share of a retiring lead planner's clients still at a pod-structured firm two years after the handover.
- Attendance at Tidecrest's second quarterly information session, against the roughly 15 who came to the first.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption15
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives40
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
OpenArc Corporate Advisory, an Atlanta-based registered investment advisory firm, runs a three-year training class for new advisors.
- [2]
SageSpring Wealth Partners, based in Franklin, Tennessee, runs a two-year mentorship program.
- [3]
SageSpring has around 50 advisory teams, 200 employees and $10 billion in client assets.
- [4]
"It's just crazy that most firms have them go by themselves and have them cold call or knock on doors, etc."
- [5]
OpenArc and SageSpring became fully independent in recent years with assistance from RIA services firm Dynasty Financial Partners, but each has been investing in internal training programs for decades.
- [6]
"You expect inexperienced people to do business development, and I don't think that's sustainable."
- [7]
After noticing a dearth of financial planning coursework at his alma mater, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the hundreds of applications for internships at Tidecrest Wealth Management in Newport Beach, CEO David Wagner started giving talks on campus and launched quarterly information sessions for aspiring professionals.
- [8]
The first Tidecrest information session, held earlier this month, drew about 15 people.
- [9]
Smaller firms can enable newer entrants to shadow a successful advisor and work on the same team with them rather than building a client base alone, convene several trainees for regular instructional courses, or open senior team members' doors for college-style office hours.
- [10]
"It's a culture of giving back that was started a long time ago by some of the folks on the board," said Clifford "Trip" Farren, a partner and senior wealth management advisor with OpenArc, where he leads the firm's training program for new advisors.
- [11]
RIA owners who lack the resources to build a developed training system could still invest in internships with a boost from growing external collaborations in the industry, or take time to promote the field to young people and career changers.
- [12]
SageSpring's client assets average $200 million per advisory team.
- [13]
Fifteen attendees equal 0.015% of a 100,000-advisor gap.
- [14]
One widely cited estimate last year suggested that retirements and consumer demand for advice will leave the industry 100,000 below the headcount of advisors needed by 2034.
- [15]
Advisory firms that fail to build internal talent pipelines face succession risks and stranded books of business as senior planners retire without trained successors capable of retaining clients.
- [16]
OpenArc and SageSpring have joined a small number of peers that created their own internal talent development pipelines and career paths.
- [17]
Forward-thinking RIAs are abandoning the high-failure 'eat what you kill' sales model in favor of multi-year, salaried apprenticeships and pod structures that embed junior talent directly into established advisory teams.
- [18]
The difficulty of convincing enough people to place their life savings under the care of a recent industry entrant, so that the newcomer generates enough business to earn a sufficient income, has always posed high barriers to entry into the profession.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- americanbanker.comWhat 2 RIAs get right about training new advisors as shortages loom
1 article · October 13, 2026
Topics and entities
Follow any of these and your For You feed starts watching them — no settings page required.
Topics
- Registered Investment AdvisorsFollow
- Advisor succession and talentFollow
- Wealth management industryFollow