A Roadmap Of Longevity
By LISA LOEWEN | Photos by JOHN BURNS
As Clayton Wealth Partners celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, the two founders and four partners who are navigating the company into the future reflect on what’s guided its success: a thoughtful succession plan and a culture of shared values.
When Debra and Randy Clayton started Clayton Wealth Partners more than four decades ago, they chose to forge a new path in the financial planning industry rather than follow the same roadmap that had guided the profession for years.
At the time, most financial planning service firms operated on a commission-based fee structure. The Claytons envisioned a more holistic approach to helping customers reach their financial goals and instituted a fee-only payment structure. This made their client interactions less transactional and shifted their focus to building relationships and long-term planning.
“The entire purpose of financial planning is to help our clients with all of their financial needs, not just their investments,” Randy said. “That means advising them on tax management, retirement planning, saving for their kids’ college tuition and any other long-term goals they have.”
As partners in business as well as in life, Debra and Randy quickly learned that harmony could only come from maintaining a degree of separation. In other words, rational decisions on how to manage portfolio investments should be made without the influence of the emotional, client-focused financial planning side of their business.
“Clients often react to every piece of economic, political or global news they hear,” Debra said. “Investment decisions require a long-term, big picture approach that is not so reactionary.”
SEARCHING FOR TALENT
As Clayton Wealth Partners grew its base of loyal customers, one thing became clear: they needed to hire more people. They also needed to create a succession plan and decide who would someday take over the business.
In 2005 they recruited two newly minted Kansas State University graduates, Elizabeth Young and Barbara Duncan, both of whom hold degrees in financial planning and have their CFP designations. The two financial planners started on the same day and have been working side by side ever since.
“We complement each other well,” Barbara said. “I am very detail oriented, and Elizabeth is more of a big picture thinker, so we bring the best of both worlds to the business.”
Next, it was time to find someone with the expertise and personality to take over the investment side of the company from Debra.
“Finding the right person was more of a hurdle than we expected,” Debra said. “We could find people with the experience that we wanted, but their values weren’t a good fit.”
They soon realized that someone with a Midwestern background would be the best fit for the company culture. When Jim Walden, a chartered financial analyst from Illinois, walked through the door eleven years ago, they knew he was a perfect match. Not only did he have the qualifications and values they desired, but he also gave them the push they needed to expand into the Lawrence area.
“We already had a number of clients that we were serving in Lawrence,” said Jim, whose wife is from Lawrence and wanted to move back there. “It just seemed practical to have an office there as well.”
With two new financial planners and a financial analyst in place, the next generation of the Clayton Wealth Partners dream team was almost complete. The only thing missing was someone to oversee the day-to-day operations. The Claytons turned to someone close to home that they knew they could trust: their attorney, Clint Patty.
“Clint is very personable and outgoing,” Debra said. “He knows 90% of the attorneys in this town and has connections to a wide variety of resources, and could bring numbers-oriented people to the table.”
The Claytons offered Clint the position of CEO, but he refused. He asked them to restructure the position under the title of managing partner because he wanted all four of the new principals to operate as equals.
“I wanted the partners of this firm to be equals who experience the highs and lows together,” Clint said. “That includes Debra and Randy as well. We wanted to keep them on as equity partners as long as possible.”
CULTIVATING EXPERTISE
The dream team and succession plan were finally in place, but Clayton Wealth Partners knew they’d need to be patient as they transitioned 500 clients to a new leadership team in a way that would instill confidence and trust.
“The key to succession is to pass it off in little chunks. You bring the young planners into the meeting with you and gradually let them take on more responsibility, until you let them take over the meeting,” Debra said.
The Claytons continued to mentor their succession team, pushing them to step up to the challenges they’d face once they were making the decisions.
“Once the succession plan really started, we spent about seven years learning the ins and outs of the business and putting in the work,” Elizabeth said. “Then came the buy-in part of the puzzle. We all had to put some skin in the game.”
The official transition of ownership took place in 2020 with the four new partners taking over majority shares of the business and the founders serving as equity partners.
STRONGER TOGETHER
Over the past four years under new management, Clayton Wealth Partners has continued to grow and thrive, with little conflict on company culture or mission.
“The succession has been successful because of the existing culture that Randy and Debra created,” Clint said. “To carry that culture forward is relatively easy.”
They have maintained the team approach to advising clients, instituted by the founders, which ensures that customers are able to speak with someone knowledgeable about their investments at any time.
Their leadership philosophy embraces the team spirit, too. Although each of the four partners focus on a separate area of expertise, they aren’t afraid to offer suggestions based on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. All of them agree that constant communication is the key to their successful partnership.“The structure of equal partnership works because we all have equal voices in decisions. That structure forces consensus,” Clint said.
Afterward, they communicate their consensus to staff and clients.
“Jim lets us know what is happening with the portfolio and investments,” Barbara said. “We then communicate with our clients to let them know what that means for them and their money.”
The company also holds quarterly seminars to educate clients about market drivers that may affect their investment portfolios.
“Our clients get to hear directly from Jim, the person responsible for making the rational decisions in the investment portfolio, so they have transparency about what is happening with their money,” Elizabeth said.
The company works with several nonprofit organizations, and Jim attends their board meetings and offers educational seminars on fiduciary responsibilities.
Clint ensures those lines of communication between the client-facing side and the investment side of the business stay open and active so that the company can maintain its commitment to clients and community.
Clayton Wealth Partners may be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, but with a new leadership team in place, its journey is just getting started.
