Think Different Wealth Advisors – At A Glance

• Founded: 2021
• Entity: Independent RIA
• Assets Under Management: $10 million
• Services: Financial planning and investment management
• Custodian: Schwab
• Financial Planning: eMoney
• CRM: Wealthbox
• Client onboarding: PreciseFP
• Advisor Support Platform: XYPN
• Performance Reporting: Panoramix

The Think Different Wealth Advisors Story

Chao Zhang, MBA, CFP®, CFA®, founded Think Different Wealth Advisors as a startup independent RIA firm after spending a decade of his career in the hedge fund and investment management space. Based on his philosophy of being long-term focused and “bucking the trend” by not chasing the hottest sectors, he named his firm “Think Different” to showcase how a contrarian approach can deliver added value, while at the same time also differentiating his business from the hundreds of thousands of advisors in the industry.

“Starting out as a new RIA firm presented a number of challenges to getting up and running with my clients,” said Zhang. “But ultimately, being an entrepreneur with the freedom and flexibility to plan and invest the way I want for my clients has been the absolute best way for me to deliver high quality services and retain the client focus needed to be successful.”

As Zhang was building his new firm, he sought out various industry resources to identify and select the key technology tools that would be the foundation for his back office. “One of the key criteria I looked for was a strong customer service culture as I was new at building my firm and would need quality help, support and guidance to optimize my technology,” Zhang noted. “What was particularly helpful were the industry technology surveys that scored the various technology providers on aspects such as pricing, value and most importantly – customer satisfaction.”

What immediately stood out to Zhang was Panoramix’s continued ranking in the T3 Survey as the highest in the customer satisfaction category across the entire technology ecosystem. “I looked at all of the big platforms for performance reporting and billing, but most of the major players were extremely expensive and out of reach, particularly for a startup business,” Zhang said. “Panoramix really caught my eye with its reputation for customer service, satisfaction, price and value.”

“Particularly as I initially started out using the various free tools from my custodian, I quickly realized I needed much more functionality, along with the ability to work with multiple custodians and to have a strong service component, as the basic, free tools were just not supported enough to give me confidence to be part of my business long-term.”

“Panoramix has proven to be the key resource which has become foundational for our technology stack. For example, Panoramix’s billing platform is so customizable that we can do it any way we want, from tiers, to pro-rata, to groups of clients – it can handle all of those variables in a smooth, streamlined workflow. Additionally, performance reporting is very important as a provider of investment services and having the flexibility to assign portfolios to strategies, benchmarks, and accounts makes it easy for us to simplify our reporting processes.”

Zhang learned many lessons along the way in establishing his new business, with a key focus on the ultimate vision for what he wanted to build. “What I tell other advisors looking to go out on their own and start up their own firms is to be very intentional about who and what you want to be,” Zhang said. “It can be a very tough first couple of years, so be prepared for the roller coaster rides which can be very emotional and take a toll on you.”

“However, if you have that clear focus on what type of business you want, the types of clients you best serve and the size and scope of your operations, then you will be much better equipped to handle the many ups and downs and have a clear road-map for getting there. Oftentimes, I see advisors who just sort of wander into their businesses without that clear focus and then end up with a very mixed bag, which ultimately is not what they wanted.”

For Zhang, having his own business goes to defining his personal definition of success. “I love to research stocks and enjoy spending my time doing that, which requires tradeoffs in terms of the size and scope of the business I will ultimately have – and I’m ok with that. However, with technology like Panoramix, I can stay efficient in order to have the freedom and flexibility to spend time with my family, while also creating an excellent income to support our lifestyle. There is really nothing better than that.”