CPA firm Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck adds wealth-advisory arm
Tim Ellis (left) and Greg Davis (right) are chief investment officers for RBG Wealth Advisors, an arm of CPA firm Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck. Skeet Haag (center), a managing partner with Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck, said “Greg and Tim know our core values and our firm and have worked with us for several years.” (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Memphis-based Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck is partnering with two veteran wealth-management advisers to launch a wealth advisory division.
Greg Davis and Tim Ellis, both Certified Public Accountants and Certified Financial Planners, have been tapped to head RBG Wealth Advisors, a fee-only, independent wealth advisory firm.
“When you look at why we exist, it is to challenge and inspire our employees and clients to achieve their goals while creating lasting legacies,” said Skeet Haag, a managing partner of Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck. “What we were really missing was the last piece that (RBG Wealth Advisors) has.”
Haag said that the CPA firm has contemplated having a wealth advisory arm for quite some time, but could never identify the right people to spearhead it. Davis and Ellis fit the bill.
Davis and Ellis previously worked with Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck advising clients on taxes and preparing tax returns.
“We’re very cognizant about finding the right person for the right seat,” Haag said. “Greg and Tim know our core values and our firm and have worked with us for several years. When the opportunity came up, we talked and then this is when RBG Wealth Advisors was born.”
Ellis said that RBG Wealth Advisors is a “really good business model” because it’s a full-service wealth advisory firm that includes investment management, financial planning, goal attainment strategies and tax and accounting services.
“RBGWA is very CPA-centric and well versed in tax knowledge,” Haag said. “As an owner of our CPA firm, our owners also use them (RBGWA) for retirement planning and wealth advising. That’s how much faith we have in it.”
While the concept of having an “all-in-one” firm under one roof isn’t new, RBG is one of the few locally owned firms striving for this model.
“There are other firms that are similar in structure and are closely related to accounting firms,” Davis said. “But most of what you’re seeing are when it’s this sort of concept of more national presences that are trying to do this. As locally owned, independent firm, I definitely think we’re different than most of our competitors here.”
The team said clients can benefit from this comprehensive model because it makes it easier to communicate among departments.
“It’s easy to implement some of these strategies that can make a big difference for clients,” Ellis said. “We can directly communicate what we’re trying to do and put those strategies in action.”
RBG Wealth Advisors and Reynolds, Bone & Griesbeck are operating under one roof, but long-term plans include having a separate but nearby office for RBGWA so clients can walk between the two.
Davis and Ellis are the only wealth advisers with RBGWA along with an administrative staff. They hope to add one adviser every 12-18 months, increasing the roster to a staff of six advisers in five years.
“I’ve gone through the process through RBGWA’s onboarding and everything else, and their retirement planning platform is second to none,” Haag said. “We’re trying to do this right. We got the infrastructure set up, and their retirement-planning platform is very impressive.”
Topics
RBG Wealth Advisors Greg Davis Tim Ellis Skeet HaagChristin Yates
Christin Yates is a native Memphian who has worked in PR and copywriting since 2007. She earned her B.S. in public relations and M.S. in mass communications from Murray State University.
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