Growth strategies and insights for professionally managed firms. Learn from the advisors and executives building tomorrow's top practices.
RIA Edge Podcast: Building an Integrated Wealth Management Firm with Mike LaMena
Wealthspire's Mike LaMena, CEO details how the firm is bringing together private wealth, institutional advisory, retirement services and family office capabilities as it continues to grow.
September 8, 2026
In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Mike LaMena, CEO of Wealthspire, about how the firm is bringing together private wealth, institutional advisory, retirement services and family office capabilities as it continues to grow.
Mike shares how Wealthspire structures advisor teams around deeper client relationships, uses a “cross-solving” approach to connect needs across different parts of the firm, and invests in areas such as trust, estate planning, tax and technology. He also explains how M&A, advisor education, international expansion and a long-term approach to profitability are shaping Wealthspire’s next stage of growth.
Mike discusses:
How Wealthspire connects private wealth, institutional, retirement and family office services around client needs
Why advisor teams need access to trust, estate, investment, tax and lifestyle specialists across the firm
How “cross-solving” can connect institutional relationships and private wealth opportunities in both directions
Why Wealthspire targets 30% to 35% margins while continuing to invest in organic growth, M&A and capabilities
Where Wealthspire sees room to grow, including integrated tax, Canada, the UK and cross-border client needs
Resources:
Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast on Wealth Management
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Spotify
Connect With David Armstrong:
Connect With Mike LaMena:
About Our Guest:
Mike LaMena is the Chief Executive Officer of Wealthspire, bringing nearly 30 years of experience leading and scaling global wealth management organizations. Since becoming CEO in 2019, he has guided Wealthspire through a period of significant growth and transformation, helping evolve the firm into an integrated independent platform serving individuals, families, institutions, retirement plans, and businesses across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Mike is known for his people-first approach and his belief in the power of thoughtful guidance and strong relationships to create meaningful impact. Under his leadership, Wealthspire has expanded its capabilities and national footprint while fostering a culture centered on collaboration, innovation, and long-term relationships. He has championed initiatives focused on advisor empowerment, philanthropy, inclusion, and purposeful growth.
Before joining one of Wealthspire’s predecessor firms in 2017 as President and COO, Mike served as President and COO of HighTower Advisors, helping scale the firm from a startup into a nationally recognized wealth management platform. Earlier in his career, he served in multiple senior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley across New York and Hong Kong. Before beginning his career in financial services, Mike served as a volunteer high school teacher at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, reflecting his long-standing commitment to education and mentorship.
Mike is a frequent industry speaker and host of Wealthspire’s Great Aspirations podcast, which explores leadership, purpose, and legacy through conversations with entrepreneurs, athletes, and changemakers. In 2024, he was named “CEO of the Year” at the RIA Intel Awards. In addition to serving on the board for Wealthspire, he also serves on the Advisory Council for the Wealth Management program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, supporting the development of the next generation of industry leaders.
Facts Only
* Mike LaMena is the CEO of Wealthspire.
* David Armstrong is the host of the RIA Edge Podcast.
* The podcast episode was released on September 8, 2026.
* Wealthspire integrates private wealth, institutional advisory, retirement services, and family office capabilities.
* The firm operates in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
* Wealthspire targets profit margins between 30% and 35%.
* Investment areas include trust, estate planning, tax, and technology.
* Mike LaMena served as President and COO of HighTower Advisors.
* Mike LaMena held senior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong.
* Mike LaMena was named “CEO of the Year” at the 2024 RIA Intel Awards.
* Mike LaMena serves on the Advisory Council for the Wealth Management program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies.
Executive Summary
Wealthspire is executing a growth strategy centered on the integration of diverse financial services, including private wealth, institutional advisory, retirement services, and family office capabilities. By utilizing a "cross-solving" approach, the firm aims to connect institutional relationships with private wealth opportunities and provide advisor teams with specialized access to tax, estate, and lifestyle experts.
The firm's expansion focuses on organic growth, M&A, and international reach, specifically targeting needs in Canada and the U.K. While pursuing this scale, Wealthspire maintains a specific profitability target of 30% to 35% margins. This operational model seeks to balance aggressive capability investment with long-term financial sustainability. Leadership emphasizes a people-first culture and advisor empowerment as the primary drivers for scaling the platform into a comprehensive independent wealth management entity.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that of a sophisticated evolution in the RIA space: moving from a siloed "advisor-client" model toward a holistic "integrated platform" model where specialized capabilities (tax, trust, international) are treated as an internal ecosystem rather than outsourced plugins.
This content is a promotional summary for a podcast, effectively serving as a corporate capability statement. The primary load-bearing mechanism is the use of proprietary terminology like "cross-solving" to frame standard cross-selling as a client-centric innovation. By blending operational metrics (30-35% margins) with humanist values ("people-first approach"), the narrative attempts to signal both fiscal discipline and cultural empathy.
Patterns detected: ARC-0052 Authority Games
The driving paradigm is the "Platformization" of wealth management. The unstated assumption is that scale and integration inherently lead to better client outcomes, whereas smaller, specialized boutiques might be viewed as insufficient. This echoes the broader corporate trend of horizontal integration to capture the entire lifecycle of a high-net-worth individual's financial needs.
The primary beneficiaries are the firm's shareholders and the executives steering the M&A strategy. For the client, the second-order consequence is a shift from a personal relationship with a single advisor to a relationship with a corporate system.
Bridge Questions:
1. How does the "cross-solving" model impact the fiduciary independence of the individual advisor?
2. Does the pursuit of 30-35% margins eventually conflict with the "people-first" investment in organic growth?
3. What are the specific risks of integrating cross-border services in the UK and Canada that a consolidated platform is better equipped to handle than a local specialist?
Counterstrike Scan: An influence campaign pushing this narrative would use "thought leadership" podcasts to normalize the consolidation of independent RIAs, framing the loss of boutique independence as an inevitable "evolution" toward "integrated capabilities." The actual content aligns with this corporate marketing pattern but lacks the aggressive urgency of a coordinated campaign.
Sentinel — Human
This text reads like a professionally summarized transcript or press release focusing on an executive interview, exhibiting the typical structure and content of human business reporting.