Ficomm Partners

Most firms are constantly looking for the next growth strategy. Wescott Financial has spent nearly 40 years proving that the best one might be closer to home than you’d think.

Their growth has been built on long-term relationships, specialized expertise, operational discipline, and a willingness to invest in the systems and people that make growth repeatable instead of random.

It’s the same strategy four decades later, but executed better every year.

Check out this episode of Growth Leaders of Wealth Management for lessons on building an advantage that compounds over time and what it takes to build a business that can evolve without losing its identity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFvbswPqic

Nearly 1 in 10 HNW investors now turn to AI to find a financial advisor.

That number was too small to track two years ago. Today, it has its own section in our research.

Our CEO Meg Carpenter joined Financial Planning to break down what that shift means for advisors and what they need to do about it. The short version: the same work that builds your discoverability on Google is what gets you recommended by AI. A strong digital presence, a clear point of view, and consistent content across channels.

For advisors managing $5M+ clients, the urgency is even sharper. Over 25% of that investor segment already uses AI in their advisor search.

Read the full feature in Financial Planning: https://www.financial-planning.com/news/adapt-or-disappear-ai-search-is-rapidly-changing-the-referral-game

Ficomm is proud to be a two-time finalist in the 2026 .com Industry Awards, up for Client PR Campaign of the Year and Industry Focused Podcast.

Long before either became a finalist, they began as ideas.

→ The SEIA Leadership Transition Campaign started as a hard question: How do you tell the world about a major change without losing hard-earned trust?

→ The Growth Leaders of Wealth Management Podcast started even smaller, with a hunch that the best growth lessons come from real operators talking candidly.

These nods reflect what we care about most: telling stories that move people and keeping the growth conversation human in wealth management.

Thank you to the Wealthies for the recognition, and congratulations to every finalist on this year's list.

The New Growth Equation is live.

In early 2026, we surveyed 1,000 high-net-worth investors about how they find, evaluate, and choose their financial advisor. This is the most detailed picture we've seen of the modern HNW buyer journey, and the data contradicts some of the deepest assumptions in the advisory business.

The report includes original analysis from , Founder and CEO at , on why the referral gap exists and what firms can do about it.

Stop building your growth strategy on assumptions about how HNW investors behave.

Get the full report: https://ficommpartners.com/new-growth-equation

The future of financial planning depends on who we welcome into the profession, and how well we support them once they're in.

Last week in Washington, DC, Ficomm CEO and Co-Founder Meg Carpenter helped facilitate the first in-person meeting of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Advisory Council, where she serves as Vice Chair alongside Chair Bob Glovsky, CFP®.

Four working groups spent two days advancing the strategies that will shape the next generation of CFP® professionals: reaching youth (especially girls and students of color) earlier, supporting college students through certification, opening clearer pathways for career changers from law, accounting, and adjacent fields, and strengthening mentorship and sponsorship for early-career planners already in the profession.

The work is grounded in data, focused on action, and connected to one of the most important questions facing our industry: how do we build a profession that reflects the people it serves?

This is exactly the kind of work Ficomm believes in. Growing the advisor profession is how we grow the impact financial planning can have on millions of households.

Thank you to the CFP Board team and to every Council member showing up with rigor, generosity, and a long view.