von Stefan Heringer and Dr. Nikolaus Braun
Dear Sir or Madam,
Seven years ago, when we founded Neunundvierzig, we had a clear goal in mind: Inspired by best practices from Australia and the U.S., we wanted to establish a financial advisory service that focuses on people’s life plans—not financial products. Two things were clear to us from the very beginning:
If we were serious about this, we would need to keep learning constantly. We would need much more time for each client. That’s why we made a promise: At Neunundvierzig, no fee-only advisor will ever be responsible for more than 49 families.
As of July 2024, here’s where we stand:
- Families: 129
- Advisors: 4
- Families per advisor: 32
We’re not yet exactly where we want to be, and there’s still plenty to learn. But we’ve already achieved a lot:
1) Emergency planning, wealth succession, and generational management: We now have a robust network of lawyers, tax advisors, and notaries who work closely with our clients and us.
2) Support with business sales and philanthropy: While these topics are relevant only to some of our clients, we’ve built strong expertise in these areas as well.
3) Financial planning: We have significantly expanded this field and have had Simone Zollner dedicated exclusively to financial planning for over three years.
4) Understanding what money truly means to our clients: Year after year, we have improved in helping our clients clarify why money is important to them and aligning their entire wealth strategy accordingly.
5) Investing in our internal operations: We’ve put a lot of energy into improving our processes and technology.
Tim Juling continuously refines our processes, develops software, and standardizes and digitizes everything that isn’t direct client interaction. Samuel Bauch has joined as a full-time team member focused solely on ensuring smooth administrative execution. While clients rarely notice these behind-the-scenes efforts, they guarantee the quality of our work.
From founders to a specialized team
When we, Stefan Heringer and Nikolaus Braun, started Neunundvierzig, we initially did everything ourselves. Today, our specialized team allows us to go deeper and expand our range of services.
This has also led to an evolution of our "49 clients per advisor" promise. At the beginning, each family was simply assigned one advisor, with mutual backup. Now, we take a much more team-oriented approach. Some examples:
- Milena Musial handles common client inquiries that do not require individual consultation.
- Simone Zollner leads financial planning within the firm.
- For complex portfolio construction or product-specific questions, we bring in Karsten Klee.
- Stefan Heringer is passionate about preparing the next generation for financial independence through family workshops and events.
- Supporting clients before, during, or after a business sale is often so complex that Stefan Heringer and Nikolaus Braun typically collaborate on these projects.
What hasn’t changed: Each family still has one dedicated advisor responsible for the client relationship—and never for more than 49 families.
Best regards,
Your
Stefan Heringer & Nikolaus Braun
P.S.: We welcome your thoughts at nachdenken@neunundvierzig.com.
27/07/2024
