The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors

The episode contains several concrete observations about industry evolution (capital availability increases, fee compression, transition speeds improving) and useful frameworks (four pillars of RIA launches, push vs. pull factors for advisor movement), but relies heavily on restating known dynamics without deeply novel analysis. Much of the discussion covers ground that has been widely discussed in advisor circles (RIA growth, technology spend, platform consolidation), and the specific data points provided (11,000 advisor transitions, 90-120% of revenue for BD deals) are relatively surface-level metrics without deeper investigation into causation or implications.

“capital's been a, a huge innovation I guess in the last five years. I'd say just to give you like rough quotes, please don't hold me to it, but traditional transition broker dealer deals were five years ago, 40 to 60% of trailing 12 revenue today are somewhere between 90 and 120%”

“It typically comes down to one of three things, at least on the push front that drives advisors to movement. Service being number one, technology being number two, and economics being number three.”

The episode largely synthesizes existing industry knowledge rather than introducing contrarian or first-principles thinking. The IBD vs. RIA comparison is framed competently but conventionally; the Toyota Tundra analogy is illustrative but not novel thinking. The final segment on net interest margin disruption via tokenized cash (Altruist) is the most original contribution, but it arrives late and receives minimal exploration. Most other insights reflect consensus advisor-community wisdom.

“To independent broker dealer. Um, you like the foundation of everything all under one roof. You like a lot of the resources, but you have some meaningful frustrations and you want to see if another provider in the market can solve for those right. Or you can upgrade. If I instead Louis decided that I wanted a sports car or a Jeep Wrangler or something, I would be looking at a different category altogether.”

“the way you build your business is going to make your business far more valuable than the number of dollars underneath your name.”

Josh Tomalak has relevant practitioner experience (6 years at TD Ameritrade in RIA advisory, 6 years at Diamond Consultants in advisor transitions), giving him legitimate exposure to the landscape from multiple vantage points. However, he is primarily a consultant/advisor-services role player rather than a founder or operator who built and scaled a business at significant scale. His insights are informed but second-hand; he advises on decisions rather than having made major directional business bets himself. For a B2B podcast focused on operators, this is solid but not exceptional guest caliber.

“I spent about six years doing nothing but helping, uh, financial advisors explore the RIA space. Whether that was to join or partner with an ria, sell to an ria, or in most cases launch their own ria.”

“And in the last six years at Diamond Consultants has been a very, uh, interesting purview into what a lot of the broker dealers have done and are doing to make themselves more RIA ish and be very compelling to the right advisor.”

The episode cites a few specific numbers (11,000 advisor transitions in 2025, $8 billion Serity Partners valuation, 90-120% of trailing revenue for BD transition deals, Raymond James and LPL's $500M tech spend) and names specific companies (LPL, Cetera, Raymond James, Crescent, Wealth Enhancement Group, Altruist). However, specific examples of client situations or detailed case studies are largely absent. Claims about what advisors are experiencing are often generalized (e.g., 'nine out of 10 conversations start RIA-curious' but 'less than half end up launching') without concrete supporting examples or data breakdowns. The Altruist tokenization example is mentioned but not explained with specifics on mechanics or impact.

“over 11,000 experienced advisors changed firms, which is a large number. A lot of those numbers are within the independent world.”

“traditional transition broker dealer deals were five years ago, 40 to 60% of trailing 12 revenue today are somewhere between 90 and 120% sometimes north of ah, that for the right team”

Host Louis asks logical follow-up questions and builds on Josh's answers effectively, creating a conversational flow that progresses through IBD basics, RIA basics, capital trends, and ultimately misconceptions. However, the host rarely pushes back or challenges claims; he mostly affirms and extends Josh's points ('I absolutely agree,' 'Well said,' 'Exactly right'). There are few moments of productive tension or where the host interrogates an assumption. The interview reads more as collaborative affirmation than investigative dialogue. A stronger interviewer would have pressed on specifics (e.g., 'You said less than half of RIA-curious advisors launch - why?' or challenged the assumption that 'business formation matters more than AUM' with counterexamples).

“And rightfully so. A lot of senior management of these firms have said let's uh, not lose these teams. It's going to be a lower margin business for us, but at the rate that they're growing, it's going to pay off in the long run.”

“I'd say I've learned more over the last six years from some of your ramblings than most people learn in an MBA course. So keep doing what you're doing.”