Even after 18 years in the financial advice industry, Michael Lickss, owner of Pacific Wealth Advisory Services, is still finding ways to improve his RIA.
The firm serves younger, tech-forward clients as well as older clientele more comfortable with pen and paper. Lickiss employs a hands-on investment strategy with both groups, leveraging data to help him set the best strategies possible. Together with two other full-time employees, he manages roughly $106M in assets. He moved the bulk of it to Altruist earlier in 2024.
High-Touch — What Makes Pacific Wealth Advisory Tick
Mike Lickiss’s philosophy for running a successful RIA is simple: “It’s not rocket science,” he says. “It’s about relationships.”
Pacific Wealth Advisory serves a dual client base, yet Lickiss’ approach with both groups is highly personalized, with frequent check-ins. He attributes this more involved, high-touch approach to his strong success with referrals, the leading source of PWA’s growth for the past eight years.
A former high school teacher—of chemistry, biology, and physics—Lickiss is exceptionally skilled at making complex ideas understandable. This ability helps him leverage economic data and market behavior to set strategies for his clients, all while explaining things in graspable terms and building genuine connection with his clients. Making the difficult easy is what sets PWA apart—its “secret sauce.”
A Better Offering — How Pacific Wealth Advisory Chose Altruist
In 2017, Lickiss added the advisory approach to his business model.
His original custodian, Fidelity, had a sixty-day hold on all non-Fidelity or Rydex no-transaction-fee (NTF) funds. Short redemption fees were incompatible with his strategy of keeping explanations simple and client fees low. After reading a Kitces article on custodial alternatives, however, Lickiss learned about Altruist—and the value proposition was immediately clear.
At Altruist, Lickiss would no longer have to pay short term redemption fees. In three short weeks, he moved 95% of his $106M in assets under management to Altruist. Today, he not only benefits from the speed and fee savings, but also leverages Altruist’s model building functionality to manage over twenty different model portfolios at scale.
“One client called me when she sold her house,” Lickiss said, about Altruist’s speed and value proposition. “Twelve minutes later, we had taken the money from the sale and put it in the market. You can’t get that anywhere else.”
Longevity — The Future with Altruist
Today, Lickiss depends on Altruist for fast and effective service.
“The interface is clean, transitions are lightning fast,” Lickiss says. “I spend much less time on administrative tasks, which means more time for client touch-ins. More touch-ins means more referrals.” After all, for PWA, high-touch is the name of the game.
More time also means Lickiss can think about the future of PWA. “I want PWA to have longevity,” Lickiss notes. “One of my kids is a senior in high school, but he’s already thinking about how to grow our business, about taking it over one day. I’d love to see that continuity—to see great financial relationships endure over time.”
With his son involved in the future, PWA would be even better poised to connect with younger, tech-forward clients. In laying the groundwork for the next generation, Lickiss is doing what he does best—constantly improving his business.
