Two Careers, One Firm: Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn on What Actually Drives Growth

Our CIO on why the constraint facing the Fed sits at the long end of the curve, not in the committee room.

A recent podcast conversation with host Louis Diamond covered three decades of friendship, the decision to take on minority private equity, and why one of the industry's most productive advisors chose to merge rather than sell.

Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn met inside the Northwestern Mutual system more than thirty years ago. They sat on the same field committees, compared notes on portfolio construction, and stayed in touch across eleven years and two different firms. In August 2026, Spahn Financial merged into OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners — the largest acquisition in the firm's history and its first presence in the Chicago market.

In a recent long-form interview, both principals walked through how they got there.

From Institution to Firm

Andy began selling life insurance as a college senior and joined a Northwestern Mutual district agency in Northern New Jersey in May 1984 alongside his twin brother and longtime partner, Scott. He earned his CFP in 1986, at a point when few advisors held the designation, and secured securities licensing early. The firm left Northwestern Mutual in 2015 with roughly $3 billion in assets, seeking multi-custodial flexibility and greater optionality for clients.

Kevin's path was less conventional. He practiced as a trial attorney for six years before entering the business in 1994, drawn less by the economics than by the change in dynamic.

He credits Andy with helping him move from estate planning and insurance into wealth management. By the time he considered a change, his practice served substantial, complex households, and insurance had become a smaller share of the work.

The Capital Decision

Andy was introduced to Joe Duran in March 2024 through a mutual acquaintance. He and three partners closed with Rise Growth Partners in August 2024, becoming the firm's first platform investment; the balance of the firm followed in 2025.

He had held four or five serious conversations before that, several of which reached late stages before being abandoned. The recurring problem was structural: proposals that paid the principals a premium multiple while offering the broader advisor base an average one. That failed a commitment made years earlier — that whatever the firm eventually became would benefit everyone in it.

Andy is direct about where control sits.

The transaction also required rebuilding the firm's economics. Before the investment, the business ran almost entirely on 1099 relationships. Today more than 85% of advisors and assets sit inside W-2 partnership structures. The conversion took approximately ninety days — a timeline Andy attributes not to process design but to three decades of doing what the firm said it would do.

Why a Merger, Not a Sale

Kevin's firm — 18 people and roughly $2 billion in assets — had ample alternatives. He did not shop the market.

His original succession plan called for transferring ownership internally, funded by revenue from the existing client base. On examination, it carried concentration risk in both directions: the plan depended on his continued production, and equally on a small number of key people remaining. He was also candid that firm management had never been the part of the work he enjoyed.

The merger addressed both the client base and the team.

Equity in a larger, faster-growing enterprise was the point. Kevin's framing was straightforward: as advisors and their clients age, new business slows and distributions begin, both of which compress the value of a standalone book. Ownership in a diversified firm is a different asset.

He applies the same three tests to a partnership that he asks new clients to apply to him: trust, demonstrated value, and philosophical alignment.

What the Firm Optimizes For

OnePoint BFG now exceeds $18 billion in assets and expects to pass $20 billion by year-end. Andy identified three priorities, in order:

• Client experience. Every client deserves the best available advice and service.
• Advisor experience. A transition is difficult even when an advisor is leaving a good institution. The obligation is to make it the right decision years later, not just at closing.
• Growth. The firm targets 10% organic growth. It achieved 7.5% last year and was slightly above 5% at the halfway mark this year.

That third priority governs recruiting. Andy is unsentimental about scale for its own sake: if the firm cannot demonstrably help an advisor grow, the conversation ends.

He places the firm mid-spectrum between full advisor autonomy and full standardization. Branding is not negotiable. Investment programs largely are — roughly 80% to 85% of advisors use the firm's CSA desk and think tank voluntarily, and Andy declines to mandate anything until his team can prove it is better and more cost-effective than what an advisor can build alone. Legacy assets carry embedded gains and legacy relationships carry history; forcing liquidation to fit a model portfolio is not on the table.

Andy continues to serve roughly 500 client relationships with his team while leading the firm, a point he considers central to his credibility with partners rather than incidental to it.

For Advisors Who Believe They Are Stuck

Asked what he would tell an advisor weighing unvested deferred compensation, renewals, or proprietary product trails, Andy's answer was arithmetic rather than rhetoric. Renewals decline as premium production slows. Growth compounds. The firm runs the analysis itself, and if an advisor would be materially worse off five years out, he says so and walks away.

The distinction he draws is between an institution and a firm. Advisors inside large institutions often build a practice at their own cost, absorbing the margin drag themselves. A firm supplies that infrastructure.

Kevin's parting advice was narrower and, in his telling, the most valuable thing he learned in twelve years: hire and affiliate with people who know more than you do. He cited a portfolio manager recruited from a decade-plus tenure at a major trust bank, now a partner in the practice.

Andy's own retrospective was shorter. He does not regret waiting, and he is grateful the firm had the nerve to move when it did.

Disclosures

Investment advisory and financial planning services offered through Bleakley Financial Group, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, doing business as OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners (herein referred to as "OnePoint BFG"). For more information regarding OnePoint BFG, including important disclosures, please visit adviserinfo.sec.gov.

The third-party information contained herein is provided for informational and discussion purposes only. OnePoint BFG does not represent this third-party information as its own. While OnePoint BFG has gathered this information from sources deemed to be reliable, OnePoint BFG has not reviewed or verified any information input by your financial professional or that of the third-party source, nor can OnePoint BFG guarantee the completeness or accuracy of this data.

OnePoint BFG does not offer legal or tax advice. This document is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified attorney or tax professional. You should not take any action based solely on the information provided on this report without seeking legal counsel from a licensed attorney or tax professional in your jurisdiction. No attorney- client relationship is formed by your use of this document.

OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners ("OnePoint BFG") often uses Artificial Intelligence ("AI") in the generation of reports such as the above. OnePoint BFG and its employees are bound by all applicable Firm policies and procedures when using AI. AI is subject to risks and limitations. OnePoint BFG has established policies and procedures to ensure all AI generated materials goes through human review prior to dissemination. For additional information regarding AI, please refer to OnePoint BFG's ADV 2A.

The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors and Louis diamond are not affiliated with OnePoint BFG nor compensated by OnePoint BFG.

The opinions expressed by Andy Schwartz and Kevin Spahn are their own personal views and experiences as Investment Advisor Representatives. The information contained herein is provided for informational and discussion purposes only and is not, and may not be relied on, in any manner, as legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory advice, nor does this constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or sale of securities. The information, as set forth herein, should not be construed or interpreted as OnePoint BFG's guarantee of any particular investment outcome or a guarantee of future investment returns or results.

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