Why change in wealth management is speeding up — and what we can do about it

There’s a saying that one dog year equals seven human years.

Our Dog Nacho wearing his Flag Football Plays Last Weekend

But it’s also a fitting way to describe what’s happening in wealth management today.

A firm that launched five years ago already feels like it’s been through several eras — tech platforms, client expectations, market cycles, and messaging all shifting at once.

The pace of change isn’t linear anymore.

It’s compounding.

We’re operating in dog years.

Why time feels like it’s speeding up

Psychologists talk about something called the proportional theory of time — the idea that time feels faster as you age because each year becomes a smaller fraction of your life.

In our industry, we see this too.

Your first few years as an advisor or firm owner feel endless — every decision feels big, every client conversation feels pivotal.

But then you find your rhythm, build systems, grow confident.

And one day you look up and realize: the industry moved.

What was cutting-edge three years ago now feels outdated.

Your tech stack is dated.

Your clients want different conversations.

Change didn’t knock politely — it sprinted past the door.

Gradually, then suddenly

Ernest Hemingway wrote that bankruptcy happens in two ways:

“Gradually, then suddenly.”

Ernest Hemingway

That’s also how transformation works in wealth management.

Firms talk about evolving for years, then one catalyst changes everything.

It could be a generational wealth transfer.

A new regulatory framework.

Or a cultural shift in how investors think about money, values, and meaning.

AI, automation, direct indexing, and personalization — they’ve all been simmering in the background.

And now, they’re boiling over.

The “someday” future of our industry is showing up all at once.

The compression of time

Change has always been part of our story.

But now the cycles of change have collapsed.

Client expectations shift in months, not years.

Marketing and communication strategies expire faster than portfolios.

Products, pricing, and platforms evolve with every update.

Even trust itself — once built over years of in-person meetings — is now built in seconds online. (Ideas/firms like Wealthfront now have $88B in AUM and have 194M in annual net revenue).

And investor psychology? It’s evolving just as fast.

Clients don’t want to be managed; they want to be understood.

They crave transparency, automation, control, and personalization — all at the same time.

The future investor is emotionally intelligent and digitally fluent.

They measure value not in statements, but in clarity.

The “All at Once” Moment

Here’s the tension we live in:

Building a firm still takes time.

Developing a team, a culture, a process — those are long games.

But the world outside is moving all at once.

That’s why the best firms aren’t built for speed — they’re built for readiness.

They invest in infrastructure.

They capture and understand their data.

They automate the repeatable, and free humans for what matters most.

They don’t guess what clients want; they listen through the numbers.

They sense what’s shifting long before it breaks the surface.

Because when the “all at once” moment arrives — and it will — those who are ready won’t just react.

They’ll lead.

Living (and building) in dog years

The truth is, dog years aren’t just about aging faster — they’re about adapting faster.

The firms that thrive in this era will be those that:

• Invest early in data and decision systems that reveal what’s changing before it’s obvious.

• Build agility into their workflows and operations.

• Develop empathy for how investor psychology is shifting — from accumulation to meaning, from transactions to relationships.

Change will keep compounding.

Cycles will keep shortening.

And the next “all at once” moment will come faster than the last.

But for those who stay alert, curious, and ready — it won’t feel like chaos.

It’ll feel like an opportunity.

Because the truth about dog years is simple:

They’re shorter, yes — but they’re also full of life.