Successful Advisor Ron Davidson Finds Successor at LPL

Financial advisor Ron Davidson has built quite the career. After establishing Foresight Wealth Management in Greensboro, NC, he became a member of the Million Dollar Round Table, as well as the Association of African American Financial Advisors. He was also elected the first Black president of the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (NAIFA) North Carolina chapter.

After 35 years, he’d started considering a well-earned retirement. Davidson’s number one goal was to ensure his over 600 clients would be taken care of with a rock-solid transition plan. With a client base that’s 70% Black, he sought a Black junior advisor to take over. Three years later, his search had yet to yield a suitable successor.

A chance meeting solved his succession problem

A chance meeting between Davidson and Johnny Rutledge, founder of Waxhaw, NC’s Rutledge Financial Partners, at a Charlotte golf club was a game-changer. On this day, the two discovered they worked in the same field and were both thinking about changing broker-dealers.

In 2019, Davidson would embark on a thriving partnership with LPL Financial. LPL’s Advisor Diversity & Inclusion initiative would be a key factor in his decision. After meeting with LPL Adversity Diversity & Inclusion program head, Lauren Taylor Riley, and Rutledge, Nick Miles, the wheels of a partnering future were set in motion.

Today, Rutledge Financial Partners is the successor to the thriving business Davidson has built—and Miles is keeping the focus on client connections. “Ron has had some clients longer than I’ve been alive, so I understand that I need to build up that trust to have clients be comfortable with me. But that is my number one goal,” Miles said.

Black wealth management firms merge within LPL

Davidson retired from Foresight in April, after selling the practice to Rutledge. As part of this partnership, Davidson saw a great benefit in utilizing LPL Business Solutions’ Assurance Plan to protect his clients further.

“After about a year of conversation back and forth about the company – about our different processes, how we like to do things with clients – we just felt like we were a good fit,” Rutledge said. 

Shortly after the sale, Davidson started RL Davidson Consulting. With the firm, he plans to pass on knowledge to the next generation of financial advisors. “I’ll be training young advisors to try to help retain them. Firms can hire me to help their younger African American advisors to teach them about our market, and about a lot of tools they may not get in a book,” Ron said. 

According to Miles, Davidson represents more than seasoned expertise and guidance for new and developing Black financial advisors. “Ron is seen in our eyes as like a pioneer in the industry … he jumped and cleared hurdles that I, to be honest, don't have to jump and clear now because of people like him.”

The merger of these two successful firms, through a partnership with LPL Financial, speaks to LPL’s ability to connect like-minded advisors in an ever-growing and diversifying community of financial professionals.

As LPL Financial continues creating the tech-forward tools financial professionals need, it also continues providing the resources and support that allows every business owner to pursue their vision of success. With every initiative, LPL hopes to continue creating a financial industry that better reflects the diversity of those it serves.

The views and opinions expressed by the LPL Financial Advisor(s) may not be representative of the views of other Financial Advisors and are not indicative of future performance or success. Neither LPL Financial nor the LPL Financial Advisor can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered.

Rutledge Financial Partners, RL Davidson Consulting, and LPL Financial are separate entities.