Episode summary
Ep 488: Bringing Hiring In-House To Support Rapid Growth After Doubling AUM To $600M In One Year ...
Financial Advisor Success (Kitces)
· · Hosts: Michael Kitces, Adam Van Deusen · Guests: Joe Schmitz Jr.
Summary
Joe Schmitz Jr. says Peak Retirement Planning has scaled by treating hiring like a core business function rather than an occasional task. The firm now oversees about $630 million in AUM for roughly 1,000 client households, and he says it has grown to around 40 staff while maintaining a strict focus on fit, pace, and service quality. That approach is built around a younger team, college recruiting, and a one-year training model meant to turn new hires into client-ready advisers faster than a typical firm.
A big part of the episode is about his highly structured hiring funnel. Joe says the firm received 5,400 applicants last year for 19 hires, and that the process includes a one-way video interview, multiple virtual interviews, required reading and training, a dinner, a case study, and a shadow day. He says the goal is to screen for three traits: A+ player, foxhole, and rocket ship, while also confirming that candidates can handle the firm’s intensity and growth expectations.
Joe also argues that Peak’s marketing and recruiting work reinforce each other. The firm uses LinkedIn, university speaking, internships, YouTube, books, and media appearances to attract both clients and candidates. He says being explicit about the firm’s Christian conservative values reduces turnover and helps candidates self-select in or out before they join.
Key takeaways
- Joe Schmitz Jr. says Peak Retirement Planning grew to about $630 million in AUM and roughly 1,000 client households while building a 40-person team around hiring discipline.
- He says the firm received 5,400 applicants for 19 hires last year, showing how much volume is needed to support a selective process.
- Joe’s hiring filter centers on three traits: A+ player, foxhole, and rocket ship, with emphasis on excellence, team commitment, and growth mindset.
- He says the firm’s one-year training program and early client-facing exposure are designed to accelerate young hires faster than typical industry career tracks.
- Joe argues that openly marketing Christian conservative values improves retention because candidates understand the culture before joining.
Notable quotes
“We require all of our adviserss to get the CFP credential or be in process of getting it”
“we have 5,400 applicants last year. We only hired 19”
“we are a Christian conservative firm. So we lead with those values”
“we want to be the best, not the biggest”
“we want people that have a purpose bigger than themselves”
How the episode opens
Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsus to hear stories of how leading financial adviserss navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next level in your advisory business. And now, here's your host, Michael Kitsus.
Welcome everyone. Welcome to the 488th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast. My guest on today's podcast is Joe Schmidtz Jr.
Joe is the founder of Peak Retirement Planning, a hybrid advisory firm based in Columbus, Ohio that oversees $630 million in assets under management for approximately 1,000 client households. What's unique about Joe, though, is how he has grown his firm to 40 staff members in just four years in part by bringing hiring in-house and creating a hiring process that screens candidates to ensure they are a good fit for the firm's values and will stay for the long haul. In this episode, we talk in depth about how Joe generated more than 5,000 applicants for 19 positions last year.
In part, by taking a whole firm approach towards attracting candidates on LinkedIn and by speaking to students at local colleges. how Joe created a tech forward hiring process that allows his team to efficiently screen candidates while ensuring they fit the firm's growth and serviceoriented values and how Joe established a summer internship program with 25 to 30 interns taking part this summer that allows the firm to attract and evaluate potential full-time hires. We also talk about the marketing tactics Joe has used to rapidly grow his firm, including a YouTube channel, inerson events, television and radio appearances, and authoring four books among others.
How Joe focuses his content on key retirement and tax planning topics that are important to his ideal target clients, which include Midwestern millionaires and individuals with pensions and at least $1 million in retirement savings.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- financial advisor hiring
- aum growth
- client retention
- team culture
- marketing strategy
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Peak Retirement Planning
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Financial Advisor Success (Kitces), this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Kitces. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
