Bryan Hasling

If you’re a principal at an RIA firm and want first-hand advice about how to attract and retain young professional talent, ask Bryan Hasling.

A graduate of the financial planning program at Texas Tech University, Hasling has seen many of his friends and former classmates enter the profession with great hopes and then quit out of frustration and disillusionment only a short time later. “Most of the time, their leaving was completely preventable,” he says, believing the problem often stems from successful advisers being great at providing advice but not so good at managing the people who provide advice.

Now a partner at his Alamo, California-based firm in the East Bay area, Hasling attributes his success to the mentorship and development opportunities afforded him at his firm. To help improve opportunities for young advisers, Hasling created the Millennial Planners blog, which covers the issue of adviser retention as well as other practice management topics.

He said he came to be interested in helping people with money and finances when his parents got divorced. “I lived with my mom, who was swamped with confusing paperwork and struggling to handle what little money we had,” said Hasling, “I decided to help her figure it out.”

— Evan Cooper