Local Baltimore business, BFG Financial Advisors, received the 2023 Ascend Award for Innovation during the annual Ascend Financial Advisor conference hosted by Kestra Financial in February. The Innovation Award recognizes a visionary business that is blazing a contemporary trail in the industry with cutting-edge technology, next-generation service or marketing models, or other programs designed to evolve the business of wealth management advice. The recognition comes with a $5,000 donation to Junior Achievement of Central Maryland, the organization chosen by BFG.

BFG Financial Advisors earned this award based on the unique models put into place over the last few years. The team, led by CEO Eric Brotman, introduced a cooperative business model aimed to not only grow their own practice, but other advising firms as well.

By identifying what makes each firm different–both the strengths and the weaknesses–the team sought out firms that have complementary gaps and established strategic partnerships. They broke away from the competitive mindset of the industry in order to forge a path for cooperative business models in which rising tides truly raise all ships.

Taking it a step further, the leaders of the firm have hosted educational webinars and spoken at conferences explaining the success of these cooperative business models and teaching other firms how they can implement similar changes.

Not only did BFG find partners to fill gaps in their practice, but they also revolutionized their processes to remove those gaps all together.

In 2020 amidst the financial devastation of a new pandemic, they saw what was missing in the financial planning industry: accessibility. It was clear that the pandemic disproportionately affected the less wealthy and that better planning could’ve made a difference. After weeks of recalculations and identifying processes that could be streamlined, BFG began to offer services without an asset minimum in a way that was transformative for clients and profitable for the firm.

This change–aptly named Financial Planning for All–gave formerly ignored families an advisor to turn to and gave the firm a training ground for newer advisors. Without the complexities of planning for the ultra-wealthy, associate advisors could take the lead on these clients, helping the upwardly-mobile meet their goals while taking great steps in their own careers.