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What AI Can’t Replace: HCR Wealth’s Greg Heller Shares His Formula for Client Confidence
34 Plays15 days ago
Scaling from a two-person shop in 1988 to the nearly $2B AUM firm it is today, founder & CEO of HCR Wealth Advisors, Greg Heller, credits that growth to his advisors forming unbreakable client connections.
As many in the wealth management industry race for scale through AI solutions, Greg believes his firm’s focus on human relationships is a winning formula that cannot be replaced.
This episode explores:
- Breaking the status quo: He explains how he built his RIA on the premise of “doing things differently” than the wirehouse model by offering a wider breadth of options.
- HCR Wealth’s Clarity FORMula™: A huge part of the advisor-client relationship is education; Greg shares how this framework helps advisors get clients to think proactively about their money, circumstances, and values to build toward their ideal life.
- AI’s Place in Wealth Management: Greg says his firm is “absolutely incorporating” AI, but describes why human interaction is still the differentiator that his clients are craving.
- Empowering clients with clarity and confidence: When advising high-profile clientele, Greg observes the key to building a lasting relationship is by providing clarity and confidence. The “more informed clients” become the “clients that stick around.”
Copyright 2026. TradePMR, Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizepodcast.com. HCR Wealth Advisors and TradePMR are unaffiliated companies. If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizepodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only.The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TradePMR Inc. or its affiliates. TradePMR Inc. and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by TradePMR Inc. TradePMR Inc. does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR Inc. is a member of FINRA and SIPC. TradePMR, Inc.,is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission {SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). TradePMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.
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Transcript
Introduction to Synergize Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome back to Synergize. I'm Bill Capell, Chief Client Growth Officer at Trade PMR, Robin company.
00:00:13
Speaker
join us as we bring together thought leaders across a range of disciplines and industry experts sharing insights designed to help r ri thrive in the industry of
00:00:26
Speaker
welcome back to synergize i'm bill capel chief client growth officer at trade pmr a robin hood company And I'm Ryan Neal, Editorial Manager at Trade PMR Robinhood.
AI in Financial Advisory: Impact and Human Relationships
00:00:37
Speaker
And Bill, today, you know, AI, AI, a i AI. EIEIO.
00:00:43
Speaker
ah yeah e io Yeah, exactly. it's It's all anyone's talking about. It's except people are excited, maybe a little nervous. It's a big factor of what we're doing here at Trade PMR. We're talking about it and Robinhood, talking about it all the time, how we can introduce it to advisors. how we can help make our own practices better.
00:01:01
Speaker
But you know, what never goes out of style is relationships. That's even more important here at TradePMR, the human relationships we build with the advisors we work with and the relationships they have with their clients. It's something that we believe AI can never replicate.
00:01:16
Speaker
I couldn't agree more, Ryan. In fact, I think the opportunity that AI is presenting, it's putting a spotlight on the value of human interaction.
Meet Greg Heller: Vision and Values of HCR Wealth Advisors
00:01:24
Speaker
And while AI can do an awful lot for you, and we all experience in our everyday life, what it really can't do, and I don't think we'll ever be able to do, is replace the value of the human interaction. And this is at the center of what it is to be a financial advisor.
00:01:42
Speaker
So leads me to introduce our guest today is Greg Heller, founder and CEO of HCR Wealth Advisors. Greg built his firm in 1988. So that's before ai that's before I think even the World Wide Web and I was a a little one year old in short pants.
00:01:59
Speaker
But the classics, as they say, never go out of style. And Greg believes that the principles he founded HCR Wealth on, deep relationships built on trust and consistency, those are just as relevant today as they ever were, if not more so in our in our era of technology. So to talk about how those ah philosophies and principles can be used for growth and to talk about his own firm's journey, welcome to the program, Greg Hellerer.
00:02:26
Speaker
Great to be here. Thank you, Ryan. And what a kind introduction. Well, Greg, let's get right into it. You know, it's it's an honor to have you join us today. um We had the opportunity of meeting about a year ago or so, and I've been able to watch a lot of wonderful things happen at the firm. But what I want to do is kind of go back to the beginning for a moment.
00:02:47
Speaker
You know, when you set out and started the firm back in 1988, I'm sure you had a vision. How has that vision evolved or has that vision evolved? And if it has, how has it evolved to where we are today? Because back in 1988, we weren't worrying about things like AI.
00:03:02
Speaker
The whole, you know, my whole premise behind the firm was just to do things differently than the way things were being done at the time. And so what happened was it was really the brokerage house or wire house model.
00:03:13
Speaker
And um I really thought there was a better way. Uh, my whole plan was to put together a firm was to focus really on, um, what we call now wealth advisory services and to help people, move forward with a, um, cafeteria of different options that were available versus working off of what was on a platform.
Industry Growth and Client Education in Wealth Management
00:03:42
Speaker
And i really seen that happen in our industry, which I couldn't have guessed. it was going to be as broad as it is today, where we had such a select few items to choose from and to go outside and to find other things and add them to really what we felt was best to breed was incredibly difficult at the time.
00:04:04
Speaker
Whereas today it's far simpler and I think really beneficial for the end user or for all of our clients. So Greg, you guys have been in this business for a while, you know, about 10 years into founding, you guys saw the dot-com crash, right? 10 years later, another financial crisis, pandemic, all these sorts of shocks to the to the markets and your clients. I guess from working through your clients through those uncertain times, ah how do how do advisors work with that? How do they prove their value when they're going through those volatile moments?
00:04:39
Speaker
Right, such a good question. So we really start early and the basis between behind really the the fundamentals of what we use is education. So we're clear in the very beginning, when we have a relationship that there are going to be woobies or what are pitfalls in, um in the roads and especially in markets.
00:05:01
Speaker
And with that, we constantly are in communication with our clients regarding what those could be. And so market adjustments, market corrections, market volatility,
00:05:12
Speaker
is something that myself and the other advisors here have conversations with clients about, um, about daily, because as you know, there are so many outside forces pulling and pushing on what goes on in markets on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual basis that, um, we make sure that our clients are well-informed because I don't care what anybody says.
00:05:40
Speaker
People hate surprises. And so what we have, and so we really focus in on doing what we can in order to make sure there is as few a surprises as possible. And we found out because of that, not only do we have happier, um, and more informed clients, but we also have clients that, um, that stick around.
Serving High-Profile Clients: Niche Strategies and Expectations
00:06:01
Speaker
One of the things that's a hallmark for your firm that I'm detecting here based on our conversations and some of the information you've shared with us is you've kind of carved out an interesting niche along the way here.
00:06:13
Speaker
You have tended to focus on what I might consider to be the kinds of clients that most people would have a hard time connecting with.
00:06:24
Speaker
um you know celebrities, ah professionals that have ah high profiles in public as an example. What was it that drew you to that niche, if you will?
00:06:36
Speaker
ah you know Clearly working and living in the Los Angeles area, you're exposed to them, but still it's a big it's a big step from a traditional role in the old business, the old way we did things, Greg, as stockbrokers, ah to becoming fiduciaries and financial advisors.
00:06:52
Speaker
How did you bridge that gap? How did that how did that story unfold for you? Yeah, another really good question. It really started really um by accident in the beginning. So I think the first publicly recognized athlete was really by a referral that were received by an accountant who um really didn't know if this individual was going to be, you know,
00:07:15
Speaker
Um, somebody that was going to do well, was going to be okay. was going to total bust. And what happened was, is that the client ended up being extremely successful. And what happened on our side was, is we got to go through and find out really what was important to client and what they needed and what they wanted.
00:07:33
Speaker
And so it was all the things that we talk about today, but to be able to communicate to them and really layman terms and be able to execute just propelled us in that whole community of different centers of influence and other individuals and those types of businesses um to referrals and to be able to work with um a number of other groups that feed into that industry. And so that's really how it all started.
00:08:06
Speaker
So you broke into that market through this referral from an accountant, which obviously, i guess, everybody was betting on this individual early in their career, as i if I heard you correctly.
00:08:18
Speaker
And you grew with them, which led to introducing you into their network and similar networks to begin to build this network. this capability to serve these high profile people.
00:08:31
Speaker
What's the difference between serving that whole that high profile client and the less high profile client of means that's been successful in business as an example?
00:08:42
Speaker
Yeah. So what's happened is is I wouldn't necessarily say that those people are more needy. However, they've been catered to, especially more successful they are for a long time.
00:08:54
Speaker
And so they're used to having that personal touch and they like it and they want it. And, um, but they're respectful, they're respectful in regards to, uh, time and space. Uh, but when they do request or when they do need, uh, they don't want to be put aside or let me know that they want to have it. Like they want response.
00:09:19
Speaker
They want to be serviced. Well, they want to know that things are taken care of because in their lives, they've got so many tentacles going into so many different places. And so once they feel good and they're confident about how this has all been set up and how it works through, it's really relatively seamless. They end up being excellent clients and they end up being great people and wonderful to work with.
The Clarity Formula and Client Engagement Strategies
00:09:43
Speaker
One thing I've heard you speak about is your clarity formula. ah Can you touch a little bit up on what that is and how advisors at your firm are using it to to demonstrate their value and build those relationships?
00:09:56
Speaker
Sure, Ryan. That probably is going to date me, but you already did. It's already going to be. Sorry. That's 30 years in the making. So it really starts with what we call what matters most.
00:10:08
Speaker
So we sit down with the client and we work with them on that clarity focus, that's step number one. And then from two, what we do is, is that, um, we get them to visualize, um, their current, uh, financial life, meaning that, um, tell me where you think you are today. And and that's true because they don't know a lot of times.
00:10:33
Speaker
And then give me an idea from there. What's important to you. Is it really your investments? Is it income driven? Is the business that you're running? Um, is it the real estate that either you're involved in or that you have to be involved in?
00:10:47
Speaker
And then we then step to the things as we peel back layers of the onion. Um, what's your, what's the importance of your family? Do you have an estate plan set up? Do you have a state documents? Have you reviewed those documents?
00:11:01
Speaker
And then from there, what we do is is once we peel back those layers and they're not always comfortable to do that, um, These questions aren't easy and a lot of times people do their best not to answer but once we roll into that world and start doing that, it's a flood of information because people want those things taken care of.
00:11:18
Speaker
Um, and then from there we explore the possibilities. Hey, from that we can do this. Now there's trade-offs. Don't get me wrong about what you can and cannot do, but we help identify the gaps.
00:11:31
Speaker
We do stress tests for them in regards to whether or not what it is that they really want to do can happen. And then we get them to imagine what that path is and then help them set out um different goals and objectives.
00:11:46
Speaker
And then from there, Ryan, we design the plan for them. And with that plan, we update that plan at least annually with everybody. We move forward next to that strategic execution. Hey, look, these are the things we're going to do. And, and, and,
00:12:00
Speaker
It's not just the statements, but walking them through and actually doing with them doing it with them, which has been so successful. We make them part of the solution. Yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
It really sounds to me um kind of like classic, not to not to simple oversimplify it, but it sounds like your your your bread and butter, human first financial planning approach. And as I mentioned at the at the top of the podcast, it feels like ah it's almost a ah focus on these sort of core a foundational tenants in our era of, of, of digitization and and AI and sort of all these things that, that you're really focusing on sort of that, that bread and butter financial vice. Uh, can you talk a little bit about that? And, and, and on the other side, are you guys looking at AI and how you can bring that into your practice?
00:12:47
Speaker
Yes. So we haven't had anybody that's come to us that wants to hire us that hasn't asked for all the things that I just discussed with you. So all of those,
00:12:58
Speaker
touch points, all of those, all of that human interaction are things that people continually ask for all the time. And let me know that they're not getting
AI Integration and Maintaining Human Interaction
00:13:08
Speaker
it out there. The reason they've come to hire HCR and do what we're doing with them is, is because once they've tasted it, they said they've never had it before and they don't know if they can get anywhere else. Now I'm sure they can, I hope they don't, but it's, it's one of the things that they continually ask us for in terms of the type of support we give.
00:13:31
Speaker
And by the way, I can't do it alone. So we work in teams. Every client in here has at least three members of the team um associated with each client. So it's, and they, and they have total and complete understanding what's going on with the client. And also to your AI question, which is a great one. We are absolutely incorporating. We have a new system we're bringing in right now, all of these types of things that can help with all of these strategies.
00:13:59
Speaker
One of the things, Greg, I wanted to ask you about was a phrase you shared with me recently, which is something you share with your clients. Call us whenever money touches your life.
00:14:11
Speaker
I love that phrase, and it and it goes back to part of the clarity formula. But it's I don't take it literally. Dive into the sort of the history behind that phrase and Is it really literally money touches your life or is it more to do with the events in your life that will influence money?
00:14:35
Speaker
Yes. So Bill, it really has to do with the fact that we have over a hundred and some odd years here every single day of knowledge. And I'm not, I'm not, it's not to say that we've seen everything, but what we do have when people walk through the door that haven't started with us, they come in because there's been something, an event,
00:14:54
Speaker
a lot times not a good one that's happened in their lives, that if they would have given us a call and we walked that through with them, we would have been able to help them avoid whatever pitfall they might be in.
00:15:06
Speaker
So when we ask people to think about us, anytime money touches your life, it's really a way for us to help them. um hopefully not. Um,
00:15:17
Speaker
step into something that is going to cause negative ramifications in the future. So we do help them. We help people buy homes. We help people sell and buy businesses. We help people on making decisions in regards to how best to pay for future expenses they might have.
00:15:35
Speaker
And we start as early as we possibly can. So all of those things. So when we say that we not really say it tongue in cheek, but we surely do want to hear about what's going on in their lives. And believe me and trust me, they're more than happy to tell us and to put that type of responsibility on our shoulders.
00:15:53
Speaker
Well, Greg, I'm going to move to to wrap up our podcast
Confidence and Relationships: Keys to Business Success
00:15:56
Speaker
here. And something we like to do on the show is have our guests leave our listeners with ah one piece of sort of actionable advice, maybe one or two if you want to go, but one real thing they can take with them back to their firm. So you've ah been in the business for a while, a successful growing firm.
00:16:13
Speaker
For advisors out there looking to to get their firm back on the growth track, what's something you can leave for them? Yeah, Ron, that's really such a great question. And I would really sum it up.
00:16:25
Speaker
And I don't know how helpful this is, but it's with a word. And when I take a look at my clients, the ones who have been most successful, the ones that have been that have built the greatest businesses that have done whatever it is that they've done in their career, I would say it comes down to really one word.
00:16:39
Speaker
And that's confidence. If I were to leak everybody together and see how it was and what it is that they did and what was their secret sauce and all these types of things, they're incredibly confident.
00:16:51
Speaker
And they're driven to succeed. They are on a singular path. Most of them, um, they don't get pulled into 14 or 15 different directions.
00:17:03
Speaker
And I would say that to other professionals that do what it is that we do, I would say the way to, to do that, the way to continually grow your business and to, um, hopefully support and be along for the ride with your clients.
00:17:20
Speaker
is to stay close to them. Be part of that confidence. And if you do that, that is exactly absorbed by everybody around you. And I think everybody out there, you'll see that you'll gain um quite a few clients just from that.
00:17:34
Speaker
Fantastic. So confidence, I guess speaking of confidence, I got to throw out there because you're an LA guy. How confident are you in the Dodgers? Or are you in the Dodgers? my goodness. I only can tell you is I can't wait to wave that banner when we three. Oh gosh. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan. So I'm just going to let that go. but thanks
Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:17:53
Speaker
so much. Great. Thank you for joining the podcast. We appreciate having you.
00:17:56
Speaker
Thank you. It's my pleasure. It's been, it's been wonderful supporting and being on the cast and hopefully I get to do it again soon. And as always, we appreciate everyone who tuned in to listen. Wherever you're getting this podcast, whether it's YouTube or Apple or Spotify or anywhere else, if you could just take a moment to like, subscribe, share, all that good stuff. It helps the algorithm, helps get our podcast out there. And we appreciate you.
00:18:23
Speaker
And stay tuned for our next episode where we'll bring you even more insights and actionable ideas to help you grow your business. And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future holds.
00:18:42
Speaker
If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizedpodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Trade PMR or its affiliates.
00:19:00
Speaker
Trade PMR and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by Trade PMR. Trade PMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice. Trade PMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC.
00:19:19
Speaker
Trade PMR Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, MSRB. For a
00:19:39
Speaker
remember s ipc a registered broker dealer and nonbank affiliate of wells fargo and company copyright twenty twenty six dragake gmr in for a transcript of this episode with sources visit synergize pod dot