Episode 14: John Hill on Working With Physicians As Clients

“Well, I talked specifically about the idea that it was very difficult to build equity initially in a sole practice model. It was just not heard of. And so I think the accumulation piece was critical for these guys. You know, doctors have to live up to this understanding in the community that they make a lot of money and they live well and they have the biggest boats and they drive Mercedes and had the biggest houses. And quite frankly, a whole bunch of them did and put a hurting on themselves as a result of that. I think the challenges that we faced and where we had to focus early on and continuing until today, is getting the physician to really understand what their limits are, what they should live within, who they are, and how they have to prepare for that.”

Building a niche practice is a proven way to grow and build a reliable, stable client list and develop skills that allow advisors to serve a specific audience at the highest levels. In this packed half hour, we’ll hear how John Hill started approaching physicians after discovering that they were underserved, and in need of specific remedies and attention, using skills he realized he already had. Don’t miss this rare insight into the founding of one of the larger east coast RIAs and how it got there.

John Hill CFP®, founding partner and CEO of Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Maryland, who with his two partners, Ken Solow and Dwight Mikulis built a $2 billion advisory partly based on building a niche practice serving physicians. After graduating college with a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration, he ended up in the management fast lane at a major manufacturing company. He soon left his management position behind to pursue work in financial planning, was hired in a large institution where he met both his future partners at Pinnacle. In 1992, Ken and John resigned their position so they could start a firm in line with the vision to serve clients better without conflicts. The next year, Dwight joined them and Pinnacle Advisory Group was born.