Episode 19: Portfolio Manager for $18B Long/Short Hedge Fund to President of $4B+ Wealth Mgmt Platform, Shannon Spotswood President of RFG Advisory on the Power of the Pivot
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Imagine, you’re a woman – one of very few women even in hedge funds. And you’ve got your dream job, a high-powered hedge fund manager for a double-digit billion specialist hedge fund.
Now, imagine what it would take to give that up.
Guts. That’s what. Today’s guest, Shannon Spotswood had the guts to make a major career change when she was at the top of her game. She did something unheard of and it paid off.
Shannon is one of the only people I know to go from one side of the table in the investment world to the other and do so with style, grace, and massive success. That’s why I can’t wait for you to hear from her as we discuss:
Her backstory – from a 14-year old girl already dreaming of working on Wall Street to making her place in this male-dominated industry
The breaking point that led her to step away from her dream job and finance altogether
How that break reenergized her and redirected her back to the investment world where she found true passion and purpose at RFG
More about Shannon:
Shannon is President of RFG Advisory, a $4.5B wealth management platform who just took on an equity partner with a vision of revolutionizing the game. RFG was built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs – advisors who have a touch of rebel in their DNA.
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Resources mentioned in this episode:
Books: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz | Powerful, Patti McCord | Atomic Habits, James Clear | The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
Transcript
Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.
Shannon Spotswood: [00:00:00] Here I was kind of at the top of my game at this hedge fund that had grown from under a billion dollars to well on its way to where it is now, which is 30 billion in this really important role, doing really cool, sexy stuff, and I couldn't do it anymore. And all I'd ever wanted since I was a teenager was to be in that seat.
Shannon Spotswood: So I took a very hard left turn. And I partnered with a woman and I went from the tallest building at the time in San Francisco and a very large team to building a luxury children's clothing company in a garage with upside down boxes of infant cashmere and 100%. Illegal cotton pajamas.
Stacy Havener: Hey, my name is Stacey Havener.
Stacy Havener: I'm obsessed with startups, stories, and sales. Storytelling has fueled my success as a female founder in the toughest boys club, Wall [00:01:00] Street. I've raised over 8 billion that has led to 30 billion in follow on assets for investment boutiques. You could say against the odds. Yeah. Understatement. I share stories of the people behind the portfolios while teaching you how to use story to shape outcomes.
Stacy Havener: It's real talk here. Money, authenticity, growth, setbacks, sales, and marketing are all topics we discuss. Think of this as the capital raising class you wish you had in college, mixed with happy hour. Pull up a seat, grab your notebook, and get ready to be inspired and challenged while you learn. This is the Billion Dollar Backstory Podcast.
Stacy Havener: Imagine being at the top of your game. You've got your dream job, a high powered hedge fund manager for a double digit billion dollar specialist hedge fund. Your company gets acquired. [00:02:00] You're now part of a huge asset management firm, a distribution juggernaut. You're closing nine figure deals at will. And imagine you're a woman, one of a very few women, even in hedge funds and your aces.
Stacy Havener: Imagine what it would take to give that up. Today's guest is Shannon Spotswood, whose career path was all of that story. And so much more. Shannon is one of the only people I know to go from one side of the table in the investment world to the other. And do so with style, grace, and massive success.
Stacy Havener: Shannon is president of RFG advisory, a 4 billion wealth management platform who with a vision of revolutionizing the game. RFG was built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. [00:03:00] They serve advisors who, let's be honest, have a touch of rebel in their DNA. Don't we all as entrepreneurs, this is the story of disruption, much needed industry disruption.
Stacy Havener: And in a way. This story is also about personal disruption, the kind we all need, yet very few of us are brave enough to face. Sometimes you need to tear things down to build them back better than ever. Grab your popcorn, my friends. This is a story you don't want to miss and a person you can't help but cheer for.
Stacy Havener: Shannon will inspire you. That is money. Good. It is my absolute honor to invite you into this conversation with my friend, Shannon Spotswood. This is so fun. Who thought I would start a podcast by singing, but there it is. I'm so thrilled that you're here with us, Shannon. Thank you so much for being
Shannon Spotswood: here.
Shannon Spotswood: Oh my gosh. I am [00:04:00] picking it up. I'm so excited to be here. We're going to have a lot of fun today.
Stacy Havener: Yes, we are. You know, I think one of the best things about podcasting for me is I get to have my friends on here and I'm like, come on. I take all my podcast listener friends. I'm like, come on into the room with us.
Stacy Havener: You get to be a fly on the wall. And I know today's conversation is going to be epic. Can we start with my favorite, which is your backstory and. Since I know your back story really well, I want to make sure that we talk about the fact that you were on the other side of the table for a long time in your career.
Stacy Havener: So that's my one little request to work in.
Shannon Spotswood: Absolutely. I mean, it's part of what I love about the title of your podcast because I think the, uh, everyone has a backstory of what propelled us into the position we are today. You learn a lot about people in that backstory, so thank you for for asking and I'll, I'll tell you, I think the theme of my backstory is all about the power of the pivot and [00:05:00] you're 100 percent correct in that I spent more years on the institutional side of the business than I have in retail wealth management, so 20 plus years in San Francisco, and I am a little bit now that I'm a mother of teenagers.
Shannon Spotswood: I realize I'm a little bit of an odd bird in that I knew from a very young age that I wanted to quote work on Wall Street. And when I was, you know, I've told this story a million times when I was 14 years old, I asked my parents for a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and I was intrigued by money.
Shannon Spotswood: I had kind of put together very early on that there was a lot of power in understanding money. And so I was intrigued by that. I was a child of the 80s. I graduated from high school in 89. And so, you know, that was such a different era. I wanted to know more about it. So I moved straight to San Francisco after undergrad.
Shannon Spotswood: I was on my dream job, which was being a portfolio manager at a hedge fund. [00:06:00] And I was fortunate. Right out of college, I went to work for one of the first hedge funds in San Francisco as the administrative assistant to the CEO and founder. So this was not a glamorous job and was a long way off of where I had my, my hopes and my dreams set.
Shannon Spotswood: But the, the reason I took that job is the woman who was the lead portfolio manager there. Was a woman and at the time was one of the only women running a fund, certainly in San Francisco, but I would, you know, wager to say, even nationally, there were very few and she was just an instrumental mentor took me under her wing, taught me how to.
Shannon Spotswood: Model companies, I got to sit on the trading desk. This is the beginning of the IPO boom. So I really got to be very close to the nerve of hedge fund management. From there. I did the obligatory tour of duty as an investment banking analyst, sleeping under my [00:07:00] desk, got promoted, got to help them start an M and a team.
Shannon Spotswood: That means you have no life, but more fun than I could have ever hoped. So it was the early, early, uh, 1. 0 of the internet. So I would sit in drafting sessions and we would be writing prospectuses that were literally, what is the world wide web? What is the internet? We would drive up and down the highway.
Shannon Spotswood: In the South Bay, you know, and knock on the doors of companies, we only did high tech and high tech health care and would say, have you ever thought about going public? Do you need access to liquidity and capital? So it was just, I mean, you can't even imagine how much fun we had young, smart, hungry, disruptive mindset.
Shannon Spotswood: And after that time in investment banking, I was asked to come and join a hedge fund called Symphony Asset Management and finally landed that dream job and for six years ran a long short equity fund for them. [00:08:00] It was one of the hardest, one of the most interesting, one of the most challenging things I could have ever hoped to do.
Shannon Spotswood: Talk about being in the room with the smartest people globally and having to show up every single day with your a game and don't let them see you sweat. I mean, if there's anything that you're going to learn running a hedge fund is like, there ain't no crying on the trading desk and you're as good, you know, that's.
Shannon Spotswood: It's a job where you're as good as the alpha you generate. So I have a real heart for all the portfolio managers out there and, and everyone who, who does that because there's a lot of sleepless nights and, and questioning your decisions. But the, the intangible skills learned in running a. Fund are some of the things that I think have served me so well in building RFG and being a part of our tremendous journey, because you learn how to [00:09:00] synthesize a tremendous amount of data and really build a, you know, a strategy around disparate pieces of information in a cohesive way to, and, and then you also get very comfortable with decisive decision making.
Shannon Spotswood: Yeah. And that is, I think, such a hallmark of, of leadership is, is being able to, to live in that zone. We got acquired by Nuveen Investments. So we were this institutional hedge fund. We really didn't talk to real people. And all of a sudden this like juggernaut of retail distribution. owns us and needs to do something with this investment that they had made.
Shannon Spotswood: And so I was tasked with the responsibility of helping to incubate strategies for Nuveen and distribute them through their wholesale channel. And it was met with just wild success. I mean, we had a very sexy story and Nuveen had a very powerful [00:10:00] distribution arm. And that was a, um, just unbelievable combination.
Shannon Spotswood: And I remember, I'll tell you a quick story. I was in like, I was in the UBS office, one of the very first offices in Beverly Hills, and we were bringing these new strategies to the market that we'd incubated based on the way we ran money in the hedge fund. And there was like an immediate interest and I had never heard the term like dropping tickets and I called, you know, the, the, the partners that I worked for.
Shannon Spotswood: And I was like, oh, my gosh, like, we just got this order for, you know, several hundred million dollars. Like, this is amazing. We're such idiots because hedge fund sales cycle is like 2 years. And here we were, like, in this retail channel. With really a powerful solution for those advisors, clients. And that was my first glimpse, if you will, into the retail wealth management space was, was building that business for Nuveen and for Symphony.[00:11:00]
Shannon Spotswood: And then this is where the pivoting really. So I had been on the ground floor, those two hedge funds. I was one of the very first employees in the door. I was one of the very first analysts hired at the investment bank. So I had been on the ground floor of companies, you know, growing really explosively and, and through that.
Shannon Spotswood: phase of corporate evolution. I call them my reckless procreation year. So I woke up at about 34 years old and I realized, Oh wait, I was so busy doing all this stuff I love professionally. I forgot to have a baby. So three children, three and a half years, my youngest daughter was born in May of 2008. So her first two years of her life, uh, were going through that crisis and I hit a wall.
Shannon Spotswood: I straight up hit a wall where I literally could not get on another airplane. I just, I physically like got to this [00:12:00] point where I couldn't leave my children. It was so disorienting because here I was kind of at the top of my game at this, you know, hedge fund that had grown from under a billion dollars to well on its way to where it is now, which is 30 billion dollars in this really important role, doing really cool, sexy stuff.
Shannon Spotswood: And I couldn't do it anymore. And all I'd ever wanted since I was a teenager was to be in that seat. So I took a very hard left turn. And I partnered with a woman and I went from the tallest building at the time in San Francisco and a very large team to building a luxury children's clothing company in a garage with upside down boxes of infant cashmere and 100 percent illegal cotton pajamas.
Stacy Havener: This is so important. Can I just tell you, it's so important that you're sharing this story because I know how [00:13:00] many women and men probably hit that point where you're like, I can't get back on a plane. I can't do it. And what's so. Great and vulnerable and authentic about what you said is that for many of us who hit that wall, it's so much more than a job because we've defined ourselves by that job.
Stacy Havener: So it's not just what am I going to do for work? It's who the F am I anymore? So here you are. Now your startup literal garage with this. Okay. So you're like, you know what? I'm done with everything. I thought I wanted to do. Now I'm over here. I'm a mom and I have a children's. So like, keep going. This is unreal.
Stacy Havener: It's awesome.
Shannon Spotswood: So we built a business plan and basically when I joined, it was mostly a home show where you're, you know, hosting in people's houses and I'm like, yeah, no, this is not the way we're going to do this. And [00:14:00] so, you know, we had just this opportunity to. build retail presence, build a website. We built one of the first websites actually on Shopify, which was really a lot of fun.
Shannon Spotswood: We ran a competitive RFP for an e commerce platform. So we took this, you know, in my, the woman who founded the brand, who was my business partner, tremendously talented, creative brain, great designer, had a really fantastic concept, and we turned it into a real business. And, you know, we, through the course of that had some amazing highs.
Shannon Spotswood: We. Gwyneth Paltrow bought the clothes. And so we got to be featured in Goop. We got to go to Vogue. We got to do a collaboration with Gwyneth and her team. So we got to do some really, really amazing, amazing things. And during the course of three years of running Busy Bees, my husband and I decided To really take a very bold leap after living in San Francisco for more than 20 plus years.[00:15:00]
Shannon Spotswood: We took our three small children and we left San Francisco. We moved to Birmingham, Alabama. You can imagine when you tell people that you're moving to Birmingham, Alabama from San Francisco and know you're not from there and know you don't have jobs there and that you're moving there to get closer to family and to.
Shannon Spotswood: Just slow things down and really, um, dig in to being a part of, of a community. People thought we had lost our bloody minds and been kidnapped by aliens. Like it was just like, cause we really had this incredibly vibrant life in San Francisco. And so it was one of those, like. Deep gut feeling where you just have to, you know, that great Buddha saying leap and a net will appear.
Shannon Spotswood: The noise got so loud in both of our heads that my husband and I were like, we are being called to move our family and we're going to do this. It's what we have to [00:16:00] do. So I spent a year once we moved to Birmingham, going back to San Francisco and Hong Kong and New York and running the children's clothing company.
Shannon Spotswood: And as my family rooted in to living in Birmingham, my energy level started to perk back up. And I started to find myself kind of casting an eye around the financial services and reengaging and reading the wall street journal and felt like that. Energy just entering back into, into my head space. And so after the third year, we, my partner and I sat down and kind of looked at the business plan and we'd checked every single box.
Shannon Spotswood: And that business was beautiful. Full the way it was, it didn't need to go on a big growth strategy. It didn't need to have outside capital injected into it. Like it was a beautiful luxury little brand that served a very specific customer and that's where it [00:17:00] needed to stay. But I realized for me that what I love more than anything is that opportunity.
Shannon Spotswood: Where talent and opportunity intersect and you get to build something bigger than yourself. As I closed the door on that children's clothing company, I spent about six months in reflection on that. What is going to be my next chapter? What am I looking for? I have this 20 plus years of institutional experience and as an investor, as an investment banker, there's a lot of things I can do with that.
Shannon Spotswood: I'm living now in a new city and a new part of the country. And so I titled my job search, seeking the intangible. And what I was looking for was that magical moment that like, I knew in my heart that what it was going to take for me to re engage full time. In the world of [00:18:00] finance that I was going to have to be passion driven and I was going to have to be on a mission that was much greater than a title or just a job.
Shannon Spotswood: It was going to have to be that rocket ship of ground floor building something. And so seeking the intangible was, uh, my calling for my, my job search that led me to RFG.
Stacy Havener: Oh, my gosh. What a story. Also, what a great title for a book. Just saying. I know you're a reader, but like, just jot that. That's gotta be it.
Stacy Havener: Right? At some point. So you have these, the pivots. I love how you give everything a theme. It's such true storytelling and narrative building because you're The way you just talked about your backstory is it's is a narrative, obviously, but when you were living it, you were living it as like, I'm writing a story.
Stacy Havener: I'm I'm writing a story the whole time. And the story is your life, right? You're like, I am putting intention around [00:19:00] what this is going to look like for me where I am the season. I'm at. In my life and the whole time for me as you were talking, I said, Oh my gosh, she's such a builder. Like that was the thing that when Nuveen bought you, that was gone, right?
Stacy Havener: Because that's not building anymore. And the thing that you went to, you needed a break clearly, but you also went back to building from the ground up again. And so I love that you recognized it in yourself. And so now of course we need to. Understand like, okay, so you come back. Now you come back to finance on the other side of the table.
Stacy Havener: And of course, we know you're going to be building. So tell us about
Shannon Spotswood: that. Call it a, a God wink moment, call it destiny, call it the universe, having a guiding hand that, you know, when you put your energy out there with intentionality, it's amazing. The doors that are unlocked and the, and the opportunities that unfold.
Shannon Spotswood: So [00:20:00] Bobby White, the founder of RFG. And I were introduced through a mutual friend of my across the street neighbor is just got this amazing Rolodex and he was very generous and introducing me to everyone doing anything remotely related to finance and in Birmingham and Bobby was on that list and as as Bobby says, you know, he woke up the morning of our meeting and he's like, I looked at your resume and I'm like, well, why would I hire her?
Shannon Spotswood: She could do my job. But you know, if Doug Colthorpe tells you to do something, you're going to do it. So he's like, I took the meeting and I was basically doing the exact same thing. Well, if Doug Colthorpe was going to introduce me to someone, I'm going to show up for the meeting, but I'm not going back into retail wealth management.
Shannon Spotswood: Like I kind of saw that with Nuveen, like that's not really my jam and Bobby and I, 10 minutes into our meeting. We're having a conversation about the future of wealth management, and he had started RFG. It is now 20 years ago. So at the time, 13 years prior and had gone on this tremendous, like intentional growth [00:21:00] path through two succession driven partnerships had taken RFG from about.
Shannon Spotswood: 450 million in assets to about 1. 2 billion. And he was an advisor. He recognized that he basically was at that moment where he'd outgrown his, his leadership team. He'd outgrown his business model. He was basically predominantly brokerage and assets. He'd outgrown his custodial relationship. You know, he was just there with this, like, now I've achieved this goal of this size, but I'm just got to get back to eating this elephant.
Shannon Spotswood: I really don't know if I can move anywhere after this. And so we sat down, we started having this conversation about the future of wealth management. And what if you could tear down the house of RFG and build it for the, from the ground floor up to serve independent advisors against this backdrop of this tremendous disruptive winds of change that continue to blow [00:22:00] around us today?
Shannon Spotswood: The generational wealth transfer, the succession crisis, the overwhelming amount of private equity coming into the industry and into the FinTech space, serving the industry, the changing needs of the next generation of investors, fee compression, robo advisors, like all of these forces that are, that are really key.
Shannon Spotswood: Thank you. Influencing the future, that was the conversation we had in the first kind of 15 minutes of meeting each other. So we both canceled the rest of our day and spent two and a half hours in his office with a legal pad, you know, the proverbial cocktail napkin, Billy mapping out what became RFG 2. 0.
Shannon Spotswood: Wow. I walked out of that meeting, Stacey, in the parking lot, and I was like, this is it. I found my intangible, like, this is what we're going to build. And it like gives me chills, like I can relive that moment so clearly in my mind every time I tell that story. [00:23:00] We'll be
Stacy Havener: back in a moment after a word from our premier brand partner, Ultimis Fund Solutions.
Shannon Spotswood: Since our founding in 1989, we believe that alternative investments are integral part of client portfolios. Unfortunately, delivering high quality hedge funds and private market exposures has always been a challenge for the wealth management industry. These type of alternative investments introduce unique challenges related to taxes, qualifications, paperwork, and reporting.
Shannon Spotswood: As a result, high net worth investors tend to be significantly under allocated to both hedge funds and private markets relative to institutional
Stacy Havener: investors. That's Stephanie Lang, Chief Investment Officer from Homeric Berg, an 11 billion RIA headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that serves over 2, 700 clients in 46 states.
Stacy Havener: You can tell they believe in helping [00:24:00] high net worth clients access hedge funds and other alternative investments. They are equally as passionate about broadening that access for all their clients, not just qualified purchasers or a select group of accredited investors. Meet Nick Darsh from Ultimis with some backstory.
Stacy Havener: Hall McBurg
Shannon Spotswood: created a 3C1 fund in January 1999 to provide their high net worth. and institutional investors with ready access to a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. As interest in the fund grew and the constraint of the 100 investor rule loomed, HB began exploring ways to continue expanding the investor pool without negatively affecting existing shareholders.
Stacy Havener: We'll hear more about the creative fund conversion work that made it possible later in the show. Now back to the program, that's so good. And you know what I love about it [00:25:00] too is, you know, you talked about what you wanted to build in a very sort of high level way, but as you tell the story for both of you, I think it sounds to me, it was a moment of saying like, this is the right person.
Stacy Havener: And it's so true that people do business with people and that your heart was bought in that meeting and those two hours you were like, this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm doing. I'm, yes. Did you have to rationalize your, your brain has to kick in and rationalize all the pieces? Like, well, what does that actually mean?
Stacy Havener: Like, where do I go for, for my job every day? What are my hours? What are all the little details that you got a square, but it doesn't really matter at that point because you're. Already sold you're in, and that's true. Even in our industry. That's true.
Shannon Spotswood: Absolutely. It's hard for us in our industry to trust that feeling because we are drawn [00:26:00] to finance due to our analytical minds, due to our love of numbers and the rationality that.
Shannon Spotswood: It is, you know, numbers give you a tremendous amount of freedom because it's a defined state. Whereas what we're talking about is being very vulnerable and being very heart led. And Bobby is, he has a tremendous amount of things that really make him unique. But the one thing that stands out to me, especially at that time, you know, back in 2015, there weren't a lot of.
Shannon Spotswood: Founder advisors who would be willing to even have that conversation of like, let's disrupt everything. I mean, that was our discussion. Let's tear the entire house down. The value proposition is going to change. The business model is going to change. The culture is going to change. The team is going to change.
Shannon Spotswood: Like there is not going to be one inch. Of this business that is going to look the [00:27:00] same after we undertake this transformational journey together. And I'll tell you what, if you're running 1. 2 billion, you know the math on this. He had a very, very good lifestyle company. So it is all about people and it is so much is about like, do you have the courage to leap or are you going to be defined by fear?
Shannon Spotswood: Yes.
Stacy Havener: And I hope that really resonates with the people listening in whatever, wherever that hits, let it, because it doesn't have to be something so huge as, You know, re, re, basically recreating your company. It could just be in some of the other pivots you talked about, Shannon, just changing careers, changing jobs, getting out of an industry altogether.
Stacy Havener: Like be okay with that. Let it lead you.
Shannon Spotswood: The beautiful thing that happens, and we all know this, but the only way you can open another door is to close one. [00:28:00] And what I have found, you know, in my, in my different chapters, the experience and opportunity that has unfolded after each pivot has wildly exceeded what I hoped for.
Shannon Spotswood: And so that for me gives so much confidence to like step over that threshold, face that fear. You know, one of my favorite quotes is everything you want is on the other side of fear. And that's
Stacy Havener: the ante, right? That's the ante. You have to pay that due or you're not going to get it. You don't get to sit in your cushy job and at Nuveen and just have this opportunity fall on your lap.
Stacy Havener: It doesn't work that way. The other thing I think is really interesting is you reopened a door and that's okay too. Like you thought I'm done with invest. I'm done. I've done it. I've hit where I wanted to be. I've done all the things and I'm [00:29:00] out. And then you came back. And so that's also something I think when we're facing those courageous moments to remember is that you can always go back.
Stacy Havener: It's not like you're walking through the door forever and you can't turn around again.
Shannon Spotswood: I think this is really true across the board. We get one shot, right? This is it. This is our one life we get to live. And if you are not waking up every day, passionate about what you're building, passionate around about who you're with, I'm a weekend learner.
Shannon Spotswood: So I consume my podcasts on the weekends. And one of the quotes that I put into my, you know, running, running diary of learning was the only motivation that Is intrinsic. And the only way to have intrinsic motivation is to be passion driven. You can't be ambivalent and you certainly can't be like, Oh, I [00:30:00] I'm demotivated by who I'm with and what I'm doing.
Shannon Spotswood: And so I think that once you really tap into that as a guiding light and touchstone for Where you live, who you are, what you're building, what your career looks like, it becomes very black and white. We have a saying at RFG that we use all the time, all the time about so many different facets of our business, which is, it's a heck yeah or heck yeah, a heck no.
Shannon Spotswood: Like there is no in between. There is no ambivalence. It's such a
Stacy Havener: great vibe to live by. If it's not a heck yeah, then it is a heck no. And in fact, I think that's a good dovetail because I'm really curious how you're going to answer this question since we've talked about it before. So, here you are now, you've joined RF RFG, you're going to build it differently, you've got a new vision, and [00:31:00] you're kind of going into a space that's got players.
Stacy Havener: Right. It's got some people in there doing a similar thing. Good ones. Good ones. So you're going in as an underdog. You're going in as a challenger brand. And as we've talked. The biggest thing it's to me, it's never about better, even in like the hedge fund, even in the fund, it's not about better. That's not what people want incremental outperformance.
Stacy Havener: What people really want is different. How is RFG different than the other people doing the same type of platform building?
Shannon Spotswood: Literally, my brain is like flooding with all of our, you know, cultural attributes and how we define our mission, vision, values. I'll share it with you like this. We had the, the tremendous good [00:32:00] fortune that comes from walking through the valley of fear that gives you the clarity to know what you're building matters.
Shannon Spotswood: During our, you know, this process, we had advisors who raised their hand, although with some certainly trepidation to say, we believe in your vision. We're willing to take it with you. We can see what you are wanting to deliver. And so when we thought about RFG 2. 0. And what we were building, it was the touchstone of independence, independence.
Shannon Spotswood: We want to, we want to support independent advisors. We want independence to mean something. We want it to matter. We want to win on showing up and consistently delivering day in and day out an exceptional client experience. So we said early on, we're going to win with a servant heart and a warrior mindset, and we are going to be just.
Shannon Spotswood: [00:33:00] Absolutely laser focused that we're going to iterate to excellence that we're going to only hire a team of a players that we are going to be passionately committed to disrupting ourselves that we are going to seek out best in breed technology. That works for advisors that we are going to win when our advisors win, and that was going to be like our guiding light, our mission, our DNA of building the platform.
Shannon Spotswood: And when I say like, you have to walk through the valley of. Here and nothing becomes more clear than when your back is against the wall and you're like, is it going to work? And every single person is looking at you and it's like, it's too much change. It's too hard. It's not going to work. It's too expensive.
Shannon Spotswood: You're going to either run out of passion or you're going to run out of cash and you're never going to be able to do it. And our other partner, Rick, who's our chief investment officer. You know, the three of us were just like entrenched in the [00:34:00] belief that advisors who are entrepreneurs at heart, who want to build something, who see a vision for their clients and their firm and their brand.
Shannon Spotswood: Are going to want to be partners with R. F. G. And so we came and continue to position R. F. G. very differently from the rest of the industry. We aren't looking to go out there and recruit thousands of advisors to our platform or make a ton of different acquisitions and roll them, you know, roll them up under our platform.
Shannon Spotswood: We want to deliver exceptional service at every facet of the business to advisors who want to build enterprise value on their personal balance sheet, who want to think very disruptively about their client experience and who want to be independent. And they want it to mean something.
Stacy Havener: I love that. That was so good.
Stacy Havener: Also, what I hear throughout there, that [00:35:00] disruptor piece is hitting for me. Because there are some advisors who look to a platform when they sort of are like, I'm kind of checking out a little bit. Like, I don't really want, I'm, I got like one foot out the door and this is the way I'm going to maybe eventually get the other one out.
Stacy Havener: Right. And. That's not what you're saying. That's not what you're saying. You're saying we want the people who are jumping in with two feet and want to build in a disruptive and different way. And that's very different. We don't want the advisors who have one foot out the door. We want the advisors that are jumping in with two feet.
Shannon Spotswood: One, because culturally there is alignment there, and there is no one that is going to be more frustrated than being partners with RFG than someone who has one foot out the door and one foot in the door, because we're going to show up every single day with this is how we want to serve you with this [00:36:00] big bear hug and coaching and technology and best practices and workforce Flows and talent and team like we're going to bring it every single day.
Shannon Spotswood: And if they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like I'm just trying to, you know, punch the clock until I'm out of here. That's a terrible, terrible fit. And, you know, for us, like we skew younger in terms of age of advisors. So our average advisor is in their early forties. We skewed a high growth because our advisor partners are looking to us to help them align their time to what is going to bring them the most fulfillment.
Shannon Spotswood: So they are focused on revenue generating activities, and we're going to wrap the services and the talent around them, and that looks different for every advisor. Whether it's passion prospecting, whether it's a, a lifestyle practice, whether it's a high growth practice, we want to meet the advisor and their definition of independence, but I will say like the commonality [00:37:00] is all in.
Shannon Spotswood: We're all in and our advisors are all in and so Stacey, one of the things that we're really excited about that we're working on is we have successfully helped a lot of advisors with their succession plan, but we've done it with a different lens, which is that 4th quarter. Once you identify your successor should be one of the most explosive enterprise value, enriching chapters of an advisor's life.
Shannon Spotswood: They're showing up with this tremendous amount of trust and relationship goodwill. And then they're saying to their clients, here is my successor. Here is my multi generational strategy for how I'm going to continue to serve you and your children and the legacy of your family. So there's. So much opportunity as we're entering into RFG 3.
Shannon Spotswood: 0 to serve those elite advisors who want to be a part of defining what the future of [00:38:00] our industry looks like. And I've been saying this now for 7 years, and I believe it more now than ever. We are on the why and the road of disruptive change in our industry with the generational wealth transfer, the amount of wealth being transferred into women's hands, into the hands of minorities, our industry has been very successful at serving in a specific way.
Shannon Spotswood: Clients for a long time, but if we look out 2030 and beyond, it's going to look different. And those advisors who are energized by defining what that future looks like, we want to show up and meet them with the services and the talent and the tech to
Stacy Havener: do that. That is so good. And I want to talk about 3. 0 cause I know that's sort of like happening as we speak literally, but I want to spend a minute on this cause there's a lot for people to learn here about what Shannon just said.
Stacy Havener: The first thing that really jumped [00:39:00] out to me is you're brave enough to attract and repel. You're brave enough to say, these are the advisors that are for us, and these are the ones that are not. And when you're a platform, well, really in any business, when you're trying to grow, There's a part of you that's like, what am I saying right now?
Stacy Havener: Like, I'm going to just send people away. What a horrible growth strategy. But it is the only way to grow in a sustainable way because aligning around whatever it is, culture, values, all the things like. You've got it to get clear on it. You have to be brave enough to say, like, this is not for us. The other thing you did that's like an antithesis that I think is really genius is you said, here's what we don't do.
Stacy Havener: Here's what we don't do, right? We're not going to let you sort of like skate off on a succession plan. We don't do that. We don't believe in that. Other people might, but not us. What we [00:40:00] believe is when you're in that fourth quarter, you need to Kick in in a different way, but you have to engage, you have to lean in here.
Stacy Havener: So what I love is that you're, you're showing us the bravery and the courage it takes to not just say you're different in like little ways, but to live it. And that is powerful. So I love everything you said. It's such a great masterclass in differentiation.
Shannon Spotswood: You know, it's so interesting and, and you said this earlier and, you know, Simon Sinek is kind of famous for saying, if you don't understand people, you don't understand business because all of business is people.
Shannon Spotswood: And one of the things that we said early on in building RFG 2. 0 is that we wanted to be, we originally said we wanted to be a service company first. Now we say we want to be a client experience company first, a technology company second, and an RIA third. If you are going to. Differentiate yourself on service.
Shannon Spotswood: [00:41:00] It means that you're going to have to wake up every single day and walk the walk. And we intentionally wrote our, our partnership agreements in kind of bold declarative language. A hundred percent of your data is your own. A hundred percent of your clients are your own, and we'd like you to give us. 30 days if you want to break up with us so we can ensure a easy off boarding for your clients and for you.
Shannon Spotswood: Okay. So no clause, right? No clause. You're living declaratively out on the limb of like, I am going to walk the walk on service. And we said, the only way we're going to be able to do this is with a team of A players who are really passion driven. And what ends up happening is that if you get clear on those attributes of success of who you're attracting and what those a players look like, and you align them on your mission and your vision, magic happens.
Shannon Spotswood: And so for [00:42:00] us, like we live in the net promoter score. Realm and we want the feedback, like give it to us straight up, like good, bad and different. And you know, one of the things that we take so seriously is our net promoter score with our advisors is an 82. It doesn't mean we're perfect. It doesn't mean we don't make mistakes.
Shannon Spotswood: It doesn't mean that there is another day for iterating to excellence. Every single day we can get better. We can bring more depth, we can bring more talent, we can bring more service, but it means you're committed. To owning that and attracting those people onto your team. And that's how you build something really special.
Stacy Havener: 100%. And you know what I find amazing about this is such a tangent, but I'm going to bring it back in a second. What I find so amazing about this idea of a personal brand or showing up authentically, or even corporate branding, if you really do it like with vulnerability and authenticity, when you show up the way you're [00:43:00] showing up.
Stacy Havener: In your mind, sort of you're like, you know, I hope this helps us get clients, right? Because you're like, I'm doing this. I want people to know who we are and I'm trying to attract a repel. What it also does, though, is it attracts and repels teammates and you don't. necessarily think about that. And then the other thing it does is it energizes and reaffirms the teammates you already have.
Stacy Havener: And so what you're doing and the way you're leaning in, gosh, it's just, it has so many facets to it that are even bigger than like, Oh, you know, who are the right clients for us? Cause it's. The A players are going to vibe with that and the B and C players are going to run because they're going to be like, these people are going to hold me accountable.
Stacy Havener: And I am not about that. Right. And so it's awesome. It's so awesome. So let's, let's talk 3. 0. Tell us what's going on. Cause the very first time I met you, I asked you [00:44:00] a question, which was. And it wasn't, this is like this year, I said, so do you guys have private equity backing or what? And your answer was no.
Stacy Havener: But now, what would the answer
Shannon Spotswood: be? We are so excited and to share and have announced that we partnered with Longridge Equity Partners to really build 3. 0. And I can't, literally can't imagine a better, you know, team to get in the trench with us for this, this next exciting chapter for RFG. We'll be back in a moment
Stacy Havener: after a word from our premier branch partner, Ultimis Fund Solutions.
Shannon Spotswood: When we first launched our internal fund to funds as a limited partnership, it was a great option for us to be able to provide a hundred of our accredited and qualified purchaser clients with access to a diversified portfolio of hedge fund strategies. However, Fast forward to 2016, our firm had grown [00:45:00] to manage over 4 billion and serve over a thousand clients of various sizes, accreditations, and tax situations.
Shannon Spotswood: We still firmly believe that high quality hedge fund exposure is important to client portfolios. It provides stability, To client portfolios and generates a return stream that was not available in public and equity and fixed income markets. Unfortunately, the 3C1 structure with its slot limitations, high minimums, and K1 reporting was no longer ideal solution for our growing.
Shannon Spotswood: And complex client base, we looked at various alternative options with third party hedge fund managers, liquid hedge mutual funds, but also discovered that we had an opportunity to register our fund with the S. E. C. Preserve is extensive track record and solve all of the issues that the three C. One structure was creating for our business.
Shannon Spotswood: That's when we teamed up with Ultimis to begin the process of registering our legacy fund with [00:46:00] the SEC and converting it to a tender offer fund.
Stacy Havener: We'll hear more later in the show. Now, back to the program.
Stacy Havener: So I have so many questions. I want to talk about RFG 3. 0, of course, but I also for people who are thinking about this, should I take an equity partner? Tell me a little bit about that. Like, how did you know? You've done so much great sharing around like people do business with people. Was it the same experience here or tell us why you picked them.
Stacy Havener: So
Shannon Spotswood: this is a lot of soul searching. Up until this point, RFG was owned by me and my two partners and that looks a lot like a lot of other firms and you know, it's way more than ownership. I mean, this is your, this is my fourth child, right? This is your baby. For us, the journey really started about 18 months ago.
Shannon Spotswood: We have always had a very rigorous, um, advisory board and [00:47:00] process around our advisory board. We met, you know, three times a year. We would invest about 40 to 50 hours in preparing for our board meetings. We use them as not only vision casting, but really holding us accountable. Where are, what was in that SWOT analysis?
Shannon Spotswood: That was keeping us up at night. You know, it was a incredibly important part of our success to date and journey. And so 18 months ago, we started having a conversation around. We could be building the best platform out there and we'll stand kind of shoulder to shoulder. With anyone in the industry of being able to deliver for advisors in tech in transition in the service and in the investment management in growth, like we'll get in the, you know, get in the ring and, and be able to hold our own there.
Shannon Spotswood: But we started to have this conversation that if all of our, our competitors are more [00:48:00] well capitalized than we are, do we lose even if we're the best? And so we just put it out there as a board item 18 months ago. And if I'm honest, we ended up doing this partnership, entering into this partnership with Longridge probably two years before we planned on it.
Shannon Spotswood: I mean, it was with that kind of intentionality that we're doing, you know, one, three, five year goal setting and planning. So for us. We always are running kind of what I call like the, the white boards, the art of the possible white boards of what do we see from a vision perspective and technology? What do we see in investment management?
Shannon Spotswood: What do we see in the team? What do we want to build? How do we want to present and create? That next generation client portal, that next generation advisor dashboard. So all of that is existing in some form with conversations happening so that when [00:49:00] we get to a point that we have the opportunity to execute on that mission, we're not at the beginning of the journey of trying to understand what, what it is that we want to build.
Shannon Spotswood: So Longridge actually found us. Through a board member, um, they were looking at another company and, and learned about us and we're looking for a platform company to invest in having been, you know, very successful in the space before they came to visit us and in Birmingham and in January and kicked off the process and we spent the next really seven, eight months getting to know each other and it became very clear that they see the industry the way we see the industry and, you know, For them, I think there were a couple of things that stood out.
Shannon Spotswood: Number one was the net promoter score and that when they spoke with our advisors and they talked with about 15 of our hundred advisors, they said, when we talk to RFG advisors, they don't just give you a reference. They're evangelists [00:50:00] for the brand and for what you're building and what they're building.
Shannon Spotswood: And so that was different. The other thing was that they believe in the power of independence, that independence needs to mean something, that you are going to show up, that advisors matter, that you're going to deliver service without compromise, and it was that turn of phrase, that without compromise, that culturally spoke so Thank you.
Shannon Spotswood: You know, it was our DNA. And so they really felt that that was the future of the industry, that there was a place in the market, there's obviously a tremendous amount of very well capitalized, incredibly successful, very smart, like huge, huge amount of respect for our competitors that are doing the aggregating platforms that are doing the M& A forward roll up strategy.
Shannon Spotswood: We want to build something that is all about that independence and that entrepreneur's journey of building. And, you know, that really connected [00:51:00] with Longridge. And, and so that was what led to, led to our partnership. And so it's, it's interesting when you're not running a process and you're not looking for a partner and you've just, and it's, there is somewhat of a tie back to, you know, what I was saying earlier about.
Shannon Spotswood: When you're clear on your mission, vision, values, when you're clear on what you want to deliver that is in service of others, how am I going to win by helping others win, helping advisors, when helping their clients, when, when you're putting that out there in the universe, when you're surrounding yourself with people multipliers of your energy and of your vision.
Shannon Spotswood: Then you're going to attract that into your life. I really believe that as we've now, when this airs, we will have closed the deal. You know, there's an element of inevitability around our partnership. And I am just like, [00:52:00] so. Immensely grateful. I mean, it is, it is an incredible nod to our team and to our advisors that Longridge picked us as a partner because they, they had a lot of choices and it's a really extraordinary moment for RFG and I am very humbled by it.
Shannon Spotswood: That was such
Stacy Havener: a great lesson in choosing your partners because what you said first and foremost wasn't like, Oh, you know, they were going to write the best check with the best terms. It wasn't that it was, they aligned with us culturally. And sometimes I think when you're. Selecting a partner, no matter what it is, a vendor of any kind, an equity partner, anything, you still have to evaluate them, in my opinion, with the same lens as if you were hiring them to work in your business by your side every single day.
Stacy Havener: And if you wouldn't want to [00:53:00] see them in the morning, getting your a vendor.
Stacy Havener: Or take their money as a private equity investor. It's not going to work because you don't vibe.
Shannon Spotswood: It's really that simple. It's all about vibing. I mean, really, like,
Stacy Havener: can you vibe, vibe with your people, whether they're full time employees or partners or private equity investors or whatever, but you gotta have the same vibe and that's what you found.
Stacy Havener: I am just loving. The thread that keeps being pulled forward, which is this is a platform for entrepreneurs that is different. That is really different because entrepreneurs have a vibe speaking of vibes and like, that is going to resonate. And what I loved when you nodded to sort of your competitors.
Stacy Havener: Again, I go back to that idea of different, not better. Because who's a good fit for RFG, an advisor that's a good fit for [00:54:00] RFG might not be a good fit for one of the other platforms. And that allows you not to be competitors, but collaborators. Imagine that, right? If they were as clear.
Shannon Spotswood: And I think, you know, our industry, and I can say this.
Shannon Spotswood: From the investment banking institutional hedge fund side, one of the things I love most, and you and I saw each other last week at the, at the wealthies, there's so much love in that room and openness to collaboration and respect for each other. And like, I have these conversations all the time. With my compatriots in the trench, like building businesses, like everyone is willing and open to share.
Shannon Spotswood: Like there is no, like, I'm only successful if I have a scarcity mindset. And I think part of that is the indie world has always been a little bit of the underdog and still like. You know, newsflash two thirds of the assets are still in the wire houses. We got a heck of a lot of runway in [00:55:00] front of us. So that abundance mindset and that willingness and openness to collaboration is something that I was not expecting when I joined RFG and have been so wonderfully surprised by and is part of what I love about the business.
Shannon Spotswood: I
Stacy Havener: was waiting for the right moment, and this is the right moment, so people on the podcast who are listening audio, you won't be able to see this, but I want to show you, this is a handwritten note that I got from Shannon, I didn't think I had it, remember when I saw you last week, I was like, I don't remember getting it, I found it, it was like, at the office, and like, I just didn't see it, handwritten note from Shannon, And so perfect with what you said is this small token of amazingness that you sent me, which is, says love.
Stacy Havener: And I am, so tell everybody what this is. This is the type of stuff, by the way, I saved it to open it while we were talking, that people need to do more of. All right, so tell us what this is. [00:56:00] Look at these little cards, is what I'm fanning out right now. And on the back are, did you have this made?
Shannon Spotswood: Are these your favorite quotes?
Shannon Spotswood: When I turned 50, um, a couple years ago, deep in Covid, I built a, this customized little box of quotes. You know, I've always loved quotes. I've always had like a quote box. It was originally like a recipe card box, and I would write quotes on it. Now I have an iPhone. That is far more effective. And so I just collect them like I, you know, over really it was over 40 years because I started doing it when I was probably 10 or 11 years old and I just kept them.
Shannon Spotswood: And so they're from, you know, my life, my father, my mother, people have influenced me, my partners along the way. And so it's a box of quotes and I gave them, I had a birthday party and I gave them out as a party favor. I had a maid and gave them out as a party favor. And then I had a bunch of extras made to give to people who I love and who I want to, you know, share.[00:57:00]
Shannon Spotswood: All right.
Stacy Havener: So, first of all, I mean, can people steal this idea? Cause this is a brilliant idea. As somebody who loves quotes, this is like so amazing. I mean, I'm flashing back to like writing quotes on my Textbooks that were covered in paper bags. Can I get an amen? There's so many good ones. I know. Okay. So I'm going to pick one and read it.
Stacy Havener: This will be our segue into, um, unless there's something else you want to talk about work. I feel
Shannon Spotswood: like we're at a fortune teller's booth.
Stacy Havener: I do too. I do too. And people who can't see me are like, what's happening right now? So I'm going to pick one of these and read it. Greatness is not a matter of circumstance.
Stacy Havener: Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice. I feel like that summarizes so much of what we've talked about today around intention. So, that's really... Awesome. Okay. Before we go into my like little Proust questionnaire inspired ending of the podcast, is there anything else you want to leave us with [00:58:00] about RFG 3.
Stacy Havener: 0? Like, how is it different? Is it going to be that much different than
Shannon Spotswood: 2. 0? It is going to be different because we now have a, an incredibly talented capital partner, who's not only showing up with capital to invest in our team and in technology and in the future advisor experience and our, our ability now to offer equity and RFG, which is something we've had requests for forever.
Shannon Spotswood: Um, so we're so happy to be able to do that, but. You know, this is about force multiplication. I mean, we talk about all the time at RFG, the power of five, you are the sum total of the five people you surround yourself with. So for us, like this is a realization of a dream. I mean, when we set out seven years ago to build RFG 2.
Shannon Spotswood: 0 and tearing the house down and wanting. To give advisors this platform to really build their brand and build their [00:59:00] team and serve their clients. Now we get to do that with like this, you know, not only brilliance of, of, of the talent that Longridge is bringing to the table, but capital. So it's different because I think we're going to be able to just impact that many more people, that many more clients.
Shannon Spotswood: If I look at the whiteboards and I shuffle the whiteboards of ideas, Some of the things that we're going to invest in very heavily first, and this is near and dear to your heart, Stacey, is branding and marketing. We want to win on that hill all day long. And this isn't just like, Oh, I'm creating a website and a logo.
Shannon Spotswood: It's like, no, no, people connect with people. We want to help advisors. Create brands that unleash their personality and allow them to amplify that one to one connection with their prospects and their clients in whatever way that looks a niche practice a, you know, growth practice of. Women focused practice, [01:00:00] whatever that looks like, we wanna harness that energy and reflect it back in events, in conferences, in social, in digital, in ss e o, in the website, in the logo, in the email campaigns like we wanna win in branding and marketing.
Shannon Spotswood: It's hugely important to us. It's something we've already invested a significant amount of time and energy in. So that's going to look different. We also believe very strongly in the intersection of behavioral finance and money. So our advisor dashboard, our client portal, we think that the advisor of the future is a financial life guide.
Shannon Spotswood: We've always called our portal Fetch Financial Life Hub. Emphasis Is on the word life. Like what makes financial advisors so amazing is they forge these very Deep trusting relationships, and they're one of the only people now in someone's life who [01:01:00] knows anything about them. We're kind of drive through doctor's appointments, and a lot of people don't live in cities with their families or aren't a part of a faith based community or whatever it is.
Shannon Spotswood: Their financial advisor is who knows the most about their hopes, their dreams, their fears, like money is emotional. So we want to take that next generation of technology, whether it's the advisor dashboard or the client portal and inject. All of that into that experience, like advisors should be able to walk in, you know, we, we spent a lot of time and, and helping them build the teams around them and how those team members can really be a powerful advocate for their clients, can bring workflows to them, can bring systemization to the advisor's practice.
Shannon Spotswood: So they don't have to think of all that and manage all that. But advisors, when unleashed and held accountable to spending the majority. of their time in a client [01:02:00] facing or prospect facing position and doing it in a way that is like to borrow Stephanie Bogan's phrase, like high happiness, high fulfillment, like that is the goal.
Shannon Spotswood: So we want to take, you know, that partnership with Longridge and invest in that talent, invest in that technology, invest in that experience. So as we look up, you know, three, four, five, 10, 15 years from now, it is a community of aligned advisors. Who are really passionate about their entrepreneurial journey are building enterprise value on their personal balance sheet and most importantly, are kind of answering the call to serve like we're knit together by that like service above self mission and I hope that, you know, as, as we build 3.
Shannon Spotswood: 0 with, with Longridge, that RFG really means that in the marketplace, it means a lot of passion and a lot of heart. I love
Stacy Havener: all of it, and I love the idea that, that this partnership is a force multiplier. [01:03:00] Because that's how you believe advisors should build, and that's how you're building. So you are walking the walk and walking the talk.
Stacy Havener: You're doing it. You're doing it. It's so awesome. This is so exciting. Thank you for all of that. Oh my goodness. Okay, so now I'm going to put you. Back in the hot seat because this next section is patterned after proofs questionnaire, which are questions that are designed to help us get to know you better.
Stacy Havener: And I'm really excited for this because I adore you. And this is just going to give me more to love about you. Okay, so the first question is, what book inspires
Shannon Spotswood: you? Okay, so this was such a hard one for me, so indulge me a little bit. I am a avid reader, like the books are stacked high, strategy books stacked high around my bedside table.
Shannon Spotswood: I slept on this last night. I'm going to give you my five that I always recommend to people that are must reads, and then my one, if I had to pick one. [01:04:00] So the first one is The Hard Thing About Hard Things. By Ben Horowitz. This is like the entrepreneur's, like, Bible. Gotta read it.
Stacy Havener: Also, if you like rap, you will love it as well.
Stacy Havener: Right?
Shannon Spotswood: Yes. Exactly. The next one is Powerful by Patti McCord, which is, uh, she was the chief people person at Netflix. A lot in there about disruptive mindset, about building high performing teams that challenged me and helped, helped us grow in a way that I really appreciate. The obstacle is the way. Ryan Holiday given to me by my brother, who is amazing.
Shannon Spotswood: You're going to love this one. Building a story brand. Yes. Such a great, such a great book. So good. Must read it. And Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is my go to graduation gift. Every child in my house has one. Like if you see me, I will probably give you Atomic Habits and a quote box. I love it. And then my one that if I [01:05:00] really, I went to bed kind of thinking about this and I woke up and it was the power of now.
Shannon Spotswood: Eckhart Tolle. Wow.
Stacy Havener: Okay. Unexpected after that list. So why that one?
Shannon Spotswood: This has been so fun, by the way, and so energizing. And I really thought about what is it about a book that sticks with you? And it is something that is truly transformational that you try and live every single day. And the power of now is about being where your feet are being present.
Shannon Spotswood: You can't change the past and you certainly can't predict. With accuracy, the future. So all you have is this moment and what are you going to do to maximize it? And I mean, I think that for me is, is it, you got to be present.
Stacy Havener: That's how you live your life though. You're just, your life has been a collection of nows and you've done that really, really well.
Stacy Havener: And that's actually true for all of us. We probably just don't realize it the way that you were able to realize it [01:06:00] early on. So that's amazing. Okay. Okay. So let's. Switch gears a bit from books to places. What place inspires you? What's your happy
Shannon Spotswood: place? Anywhere outside. My daughter once said, she's like, mom, you're like a flower.
Shannon Spotswood: You bloom in the sunshine.
Stacy Havener: What a wonderful thing to say. Also, like, that's awesome. Oh, that's wonderful. Okay, perfect. Okay. Now let's imagine. Well, you are a rock star, but you're a literal, literally like you're, you're going into a stadium filled of your adoring fans. I'm in the front row, by the way, and, um, you're going to give a speech and it's all about, um, what was the book title?
Stacy Havener: Seeking the
Shannon Spotswood: Intangible. Yes. Seeking the Intangible. Yes. Ooh, I love this. We're going to manifest this, baby.
Stacy Havener: Yeah, we're manifesting it. So you're walking out on the stage to give this amazing presentation, Seeking the Intangible. What is the walkout anthem they
Shannon Spotswood: play? [01:07:00] Fantastic Voyage, Coolio.
Shannon Spotswood: That's
Stacy Havener: the best. The best. I love it. Oh my gosh. What a great one. What a fabulous choice. Okay, this is an interesting one, given your career path. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?
Shannon Spotswood: If the world was different, I would love to serve in office. I would love to be a senator. You'd be amazing.
Shannon Spotswood: Unfortunately, we'd have to live on like a different planet given the political nature of it all, but I, I would love to do that and actually was a double major in college in political science and economics because there was this part of me that was called to that, but
Stacy Havener: that's what I would do. So interesting.
Stacy Havener: And, you know, one of the things I've noticed from meeting other people who, when they share their backstory, tell me that they're children of. [01:08:00] Politicians. It's like a new version of PK. It's politicians kid, right? But they all have something very similar, which you have as well, which is an amazing ability to connect with people.
Stacy Havener: And so in some way you're doing it probably in a much more fun and enjoyable corner of the world. Okay, so flip side, what profession would you not like to do? Flight
Shannon Spotswood: attendant. I spend so much time on airplanes. I feel so sorry for all of them. Like they work really, really hard. People are mean to them.
Shannon Spotswood: Those carts look very heavy. Absolutely. The whole thing. Like it's just like combat pay. I mean, it's a hard job and we are all so reliant on them. And like, you know, the
Stacy Havener: hours they have to work and the time away from family, you're right. I never thought about it. It would be awful for me as well. Yes. Okay.
Stacy Havener: Now here's a more reflective question for you. What do you want people to say about you after you've retired or left
Shannon Spotswood: the [01:09:00] industry? That I showed up authentically and with ruthless positivity every, every day. I mean, I'm going
Stacy Havener: to say that after this podcast is over, I'm going to go out to my colleagues and Say that exact thing.
Stacy Havener: I mean, you are authentic and positive and your energy is contagious. Like really? Yeah, really. It is.
Shannon Spotswood: I feel immense gratitude. I feel like I'm an ordinary person. Being given this gift to live this extraordinary life. And it's, it is such a gift. And I'm, I'm so grateful for the journey. I'm so grateful for the team at RFG that I get to be, you know, building with every single day.
Shannon Spotswood: I'm grateful for the promise that we're all on this journey that is impacting so many people. Our profession has so much nobility to it. Like there is so much good that is being done and. I, you [01:10:00] know, I kind of pinched myself because of all the different chapters that I've been through that I get to be here now doing this.
Shannon Spotswood: I'm grateful for it every day. And I'll, I'll leave you Stacey with something that I heard over the weekend that I thought was so. So powerful. And it was, we need to stop focusing so much time worrying about protecting people's downsides and start spending more time working on getting more people, more upside.
Stacy Havener: It's so beautiful. And I love what you said. It reminds me of the quote that I picked out of the Shannon Spotswood quote. Stack because it's a choice and I think part of the reason that you are living such an extraordinary life is because you chose to and you recognize it and you're ready for it and I think to me that's such a gift to everybody listening to realize that like you can choose you can [01:11:00] choose.
Stacy Havener: To be great, to live an extraordinary life, to show up every day with gratitude. This has been such a joy on so many levels. Thank you for being here. If people want to follow along on the journey, like what's the best place? I mean, your LinkedIn posts, by the way, are, are awesome. The one you just did recently with your friends, like you're showing up authentically, even on social.
Stacy Havener: I'm proud of you. What, how can people, how can people follow along?
Shannon Spotswood: I'll tell you, and you know, I know we're wrapping up, but it's hard, like, for everyone who feels like you're out of your comfort zone, being authentic and being out there on social and your posts, like, it's really hard and you just have to do it anyway.
Shannon Spotswood: So, Shannon Spotswood on LinkedIn, rfgadvisory. com, we're on YouTube at rfgadvisory, we're on Instagram at rfgadvisory. We'd love for you to be a part of the journey. We have two podcasts. So we have disruption blueprint is our podcast and game film with Dr. [01:12:00] J led by our VP of tech, Dr. Jordan Hutchison. So check us out, follow along, join us.
Shannon Spotswood: We're building something fun. That's
Stacy Havener: it. Yes, you are. And, um, I am going to be checking those out. I didn't know you had podcasts, so you just got a new podcast subscriber And
Shannon Spotswood: hopefully a guest. Hopefully I can turn the tables.
Stacy Havener: I will totally be a guest. And I will, I really want you to take this away. Like you are doing amazing work and I am cheering for you and I know so many people who listen to this are cheering for you too.
Stacy Havener: I'm not just cheering for RFG. I'm cheering for you. If you know a fund manager or a founder in the investment world with a great story, drop a note to Stacey at Stacey Havener. com and tell me about it till next time. I'm Stacey Havener. Thanks for listening. And now a final word from our premier brand partner, Ultimis Fund Solutions.[01:13:00]
Shannon Spotswood: The conversion of Omer Berg's LP into an integral fund empowered them to grow the fund from 90 million to over 200 million. And expand the reach from 100 investors to nearly 700 new investors and continues to grow today by pursuing the conversion. It was able to lower minimums to 25, 000 welcome accredited investors.
Shannon Spotswood: In addition to qualified purchasers, the entire conversion process was highly efficient because homework Berg chose to partner with ultimates and other partners with a proven track record in this type of structure to structure product transition. The headlines are often too focused on new interval funds from pedigreed providers, this new fund from this cool, big firm, et cetera.
Shannon Spotswood: Maximizing a fund's potential through a conversion can be powerful too, as we see in the story of Hallmark Berg. Traditional Investment Management and Alternative Investment Management Are converging more retail investors are demanding access to non correlated strategies in a liquid asset classes to compliment or [01:14:00] supplement public markets exposure interval and tender offer funds offer managers a flexible wrapper that combines many of the benefits of both 1940 Act and private fund structures.
Shannon Spotswood: Interest in these products has increased significantly in the past decade. And we anticipate the volume of new launches and structure conversions to continue well into the future.
Stacy Havener: This
Shannon Spotswood: podcast is for informational
Stacy Havener: purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products or to adopt any investment strategy. Investment values may fluctuate and past performance is not a guide to
Shannon Spotswood: future performance.
Shannon Spotswood: All opinions expressed by guests on [01:15:00] the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm.
Stacy Havener: Manager's appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacey
Shannon Spotswood: Havener or Havener Capital Partners.
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