Happy Labor Day Weekend!

This weekend, I’m enjoying some college football here in Charleston after a full week of work, as we all take in the last breath of summer before September hits with its full onslaught of busyness for our businesses.

For me, next month means plenty of time on planes. Earlier this week, driving on I-26, I passed a tractor-trailer hauling a brand-new Rolls-Royce airplane engine—destined for a Boeing 767 Dreamliner assembled right here in Charleston. It got me thinking about the incredible power of these engines, the expectations placed on them, and how they transform the way the world moves.

That’s where I’ll focus this week’s Rising Tide.

I hope your weekend is relaxing and filled with good moments. Here’s this week’s edition.

1. Still Spinning: What Jet Engines Teach Us About Continuity in Wealth Management

2. Next Mile: Building a Firm That Lasts: Trust, Culture, and Communication 🎧

3. Wealth Management’s Data Workshop: From Chaos to Clarity

4. Milemarker On the Road ✈️

Still Spinning: What Jet Engines Teach Us About Continuity in Wealth Management

There’s a quiet moment on the tarmac that says more about resilience than almost anything else in business.

A few years ago, I landed in Detroit on a connecting flight from Tokyo. My wife and I were headed to Chiang Mai, Thailand. As we waited at our gate, I noticed something: the same aircraft that had just completed a transpacific journey was preparing to take us on the next leg to Seoul—without ever shutting down. Its engines, though idling gently, were still spinning. Still ready.

That image stuck with me.

Today, I realize that moment holds a powerful lesson for wealth management firms.

Your Firm Is Not a Jet Engine (Yet)

Most wealth management firms operate more like a collection of small propeller planes than a commercial jetliner. Some engines are sputtering. Others need hand-cranking just to get moving. There’s no unifying flight plan. No redundancy. No black box. Just duct tape, handoffs, and whiteboards.

And yet… you’re still flying.

But the goal isn’t to just stay in the air.

The goal is to fly through any storm. To navigate complexity. To scale altitude and speed without your passengers being unnecessarily jostled. And most of all—to ensure you can land the plane safely, not just once, but again and again. From one generation to the next.

That’s what real continuity looks like.

The Power of Operational Continuity

Jet engines are designed for continuous operation. Some long-haul flights last over 16 hours. The engines don’t get to catch their breath. They cool down on the move. They idle with precision. They only undergo major service every few thousand flight cycles.

That’s not accidental. That’s engineering + process + expectation.

Your firm needs the same.

Wealth management, at its core, is about long-range planning. But most firms lack a “mechanical system” that enables uninterrupted propulsion. When one advisor or team member leaves, a process breaks. When a client dies, the relationship evaporates. When your tech stack glitches, you resort to Excel and prayer.

Operational continuity means:

 • You can land the plane in any weather.

 • You can pass the controls to the next generation.

 • You have a flight plan, a checklist, and telemetry.

If your engines aren’t spinning when you’re on the ground, you won’t be ready for the next flight.

Build the Right Engine

Your job is to build a business engine that doesn’t need constant maintenance and keep the propulsion going—supporting the long, sustained success of your clients through thoughtful planning, seamless service, and enduring relationships.

Document your workflow. Don’t rely on tribal knowledge. Document how you onboard clients, how you run meetings, how you process trades, and how you prepare for generational transitions.
Build operational telemetry. Know your numbers. Know which parts of your firm are lagging, where your revenue leaks, which processes stall.
Assign crew responsibilities. Pilots don’t refill fuel or load baggage. Your team should know what they own and how to hand it off.
Create redundancy. A two-engine plane can fly if one fails. Make sure your firm has built in backups.

And when you do it right, you’ll move from a firm that hustles to keep up… to one that hums with continuity, ready for the next leg of the journey.

Final Thought: Still Spinning

I’ve thought about that plane on the tarmac many times since that trip to Thailand.

Engines still spinning. Crew in motion. Flight plan filed. Passengers onboarded.

Ready again.

If your firm aspires to serve for generations, it can’t shut down between each flight. It needs continuity, clarity, and a culture of preparation.

Because the most important part of the journey… might just be the one after this one.

______________________

On the Pod: Building a Firm That Lasts: Trust, Culture, and Communication

Episode 107: On this week’s episode, Kyle Van Pelt sits down with  Richard Alt, CEO of Carnegie Investment Counsel. With more than two decades of experience, Richard is committed to true fiduciary principles—putting clients’ interests first, eliminating conflicts of interest, and helping investors navigate risk with clarity and trust.

This week, Kyle talks with Richard about his unconventional path into wealth management, inspired by his grandmother’s financial struggles, and why fiduciary duty drives his work. He unpacks the six key risks investors must navigate, discusses Carnegie’s recent Eagle Ridge acquisition, and highlights how communication and culture underpin successful firm transitions. Richard also shares his perspective on technology, the limits of AI in advising, and why trust and human relationships remain central to helping clients answer the ultimate question: “Am I going to be okay?”.

(00:00) - Intro

(01:34) - Richard's money moment

(06:26) - How to identify a trustworthy financial advisor

(08:56) - Celebrating Carnegie’s 50th anniversary and lessons from decades of experience

(10:44) - The six types of financial risks and how to manage them

(15:02) - Inside Carnegie’s recent partnership with Eagle Ridge

(18:12) - Why clear communication is the key to successful firm transitions 

(22:47) - The surprising origin story behind Carnegie Investment Counsel’s name

(25:12) - How Carnegie leverages technology—and why AI won’t replace advisors

(30:24) - The biggest challenges facing financial advisors today

(33:25) - Richard's Milemarker Minute

⚡️Bookmarks

Wealth Management’s Data Workshop: From Chaos to Clarity

Drowning in data but struggling to make it work for you?

Let’s fix that—together.

🗓️ Tuesday, November 11 | 1:00–4:30 PM MST
📍 Candy Factory | Denver, CO
💵 $575 per seat

Join Milemarker’s CTO and Lead Data Scientist for a half-day, hands-on workshop built for RIAs and broker-dealers who are ready to cut through the noise, prepare for AI, and scale with confidence.

You’ll discover how to:

• Unlock your warehouse + data lake so your team can trust and use firm-wide data.

• Simplify integrations and streamline connections across your tech stack

• Apply AI tools like OCR and natural language to your existing systems

• Deliver insights to advisors, execs, and compliance—without bottlenecks

If you’re ready to turn data chaos into clarity and build a scalable, high-performing firm…

Reserve your seat now

Milemarker on the Road
Catch my team on the road at the following events or cities:

1. September 3-4 - New York, NY

2. September 7-10 - Los Angeles, CA

3. September 10-12 - San Diego, CA

4. October 4-8 - Utah

If you’re in any of those cities and would like to arrange a meeting time, please reply to this email, and we’ll schedule something on the calendar.

Jud Mackrill