Signature Estate & Investment Advisors, a $30 billion hybrid registered investment advisor based in Los Angeles, has hired Brad Repinsky as director of estate, tax, and financial planning to scale holistic planning for the firm’s private client group.
SEIA hired Repinsky from Fidelity Investments, where he had spent about 10 years building up a financial planning division for high-net-worth clients. In his new role, he will help the RIA expand its services for wealthy clients, focusing on planning and services related to the intergenerational wealth transfer.
SEIA, founded in 1997 by Brian Holmes, has roots in estate planning but has recently moved upmarket to work with more wealth clients and has expanded nationally through acquisitions. Repinsky will use his experience from Fidelity and, before that, Goldman Sachs and its Ayco company to scale services such as trust formation, philanthropic planning, corporate trustee services and legacy preservation.
“This is not just about a single hire—it’s about expanding the depth and breadth of what we offer our clients,” Matt Matrisian, the recently hired president of SEIA, said in a statement.
Repinsky said his team with Fidelity started small but grew to more than 70 members as clients’ need for financial planning grew.
“I saw that and felt very lucky to be in the space I was in,” Repinsky said. “But when the opportunity arose to join a company that has its roots in estate planning but didn’t have a lot of people like me on staff, I felt I could do something similar to what we did at Fidelity, which was lean into planning more.”
Repinsky said he will work with advisors across SEIA on areas including estate and tax planning services, business development and client strategy. He anticipates adding more people to the team as he builds it out for SEIA.
“The industry is in a really interesting place because everyone is understanding that it’s not just about investment return anymore,” Repinsky said. “I look at financial planning as a big puzzle … the puzzle pieces move around over time, and our goal for the advanced planning group is to help people figure out how their puzzle is fitting now and for clients to be able to be thoughtful and efficient as the puzzle pieces move around.”
Repinsky is heartened by technological advancements that are making financial planning more efficient and effective. He remembers data gathering for clients from 20 years ago that might have taken weeks or months, but today can be done in hours or days.
“The more touches an advanced planner has with a client, the more secure a client feels about their life and having a plan,” he said. “Clients feel much better with a team approach, and that’s what we want to create.”
SEAI has grown from $20 billion in client assets to $30 billion since the start of 2024, and is operating out of 24 offices around the United States. It sold a majority stake to Reverance Capital Partners in 2022, which started its RIA dealmaking.
Repinsky said he looks forward to discussing some of the new technology and capabilities that SEIA might bring for its private client group. He said getting advisor feedback before they move ahead would be essential, but he has seen several interesting options coming to market from fintechs.
He’s also looking forward to being at a nimbler organization to get such capabilities in place.
“Big organizations can be great,” he said. “They have their processes, they have people in charge. But things just take a little bit longer because there are so many people who have to sign off on things. The advantage of startups and RIAs is how quickly they can act. … The clients are going to see and feel that.”
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