The Architect of Independence: A New Blueprint for Financial Advice

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – December 05, 2025 – When Shirl Penney, CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, accepted the 2025 CEO of the Year award from ThinkAdvisor this week, it represented more than just a personal accolade. The honor, presented at the prestigious Luminaries Awards gala in New York City, casts a spotlight on a powerful movement reshaping the very foundation of wealth management—a shift toward independence, empowerment, and a more client-centric financial world.

In a heartfelt acceptance, Penney was quick to distribute the praise. “This award may have my name on it, but it truly reflects the efforts of our entire Dynasty family – our investors, resource partners, clients, and the incredible Dynasty team that is behind everything we do,” he stated. While his humility is characteristic, the award undeniably recognizes his leadership in building a firm that has become a central force in the financial advisory space. For over 15 years, Dynasty has championed a model that gives financial advisors the tools to break away from large, traditional institutions and build their own practices, a model now validated at the industry's highest levels.

From Hardship to a Vision for Empowerment

To understand the impact of Dynasty Financial Partners, one must first understand the journey of its founder. Shirl Penney’s story is a compelling American narrative, rooted not in boardrooms but in the profound challenges of his youth in a small Maine fishing village. Raised by his step-grandfather and facing periods of homelessness, Penney learned lessons in capital stewardship and resilience that he says were “great training to be an entrepreneur.” This background instilled a deep-seated drive to do “more with less” and a belief in the transformative power of opportunity.

After building a successful career on Wall Street with roles at Citi Smith Barney, Penney saw a systemic issue. The traditional model often placed advisors in a position where they were incentivized to sell proprietary products rather than offer objective advice. He envisioned a different structure, one he calls the “Triangulation of Advice™,” where the financial advisor, the custodian of assets, and the product manufacturer are all separate entities. This separation ensures the advisor’s primary loyalty is to the client, not a corporate parent.

This vision became the bedrock of Dynasty Financial Partners, founded in 2010. Penney’s goal was not just to start a business but to change the industry for the better. His leadership philosophy is built on empowering others, a principle reflected in the firm's structure, where every employee holds equity. It’s this commitment to shared success that has fueled the firm's remarkable growth and attracted advisors seeking genuine autonomy.

The 'Supported Independence' Revolution

At the core of Dynasty’s impact is its “Supported Independence” model. The term encapsulates the solution to a long-standing dilemma for financial advisors: how to gain the freedom of an independent business owner without losing access to the sophisticated technology, operational support, and investment platforms of a major institution. Dynasty provides this “synthetic scale,” allowing independent firms to compete with the largest players in the industry.

The results of this model are tangible and impressive. Today, the Dynasty network comprises over 55 partner firms with more than 500 advisors, collectively managing over $100 billion in platform assets. A recent study conducted by F2 Strategy benchmarked Dynasty-affiliated firms against thousands of other independent RIAs and found striking results. Over a five-year period, Dynasty network firms achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3%, more than double the 6.4% average for their peers.

This growth is powered by a comprehensive, open-architecture platform that provides everything an independent firm needs to launch, run, and scale. This includes integrated technology with emerging AI capabilities, a vast Turnkey Asset Management Program (TAMP) managing nearly $50 billion, and access to capital for growth and succession planning. In 2023, the firm even launched its own investment bank dedicated to serving the wealth management industry, providing M&A advisory and valuation services to help advisors navigate their own business evolution.

Reshaping the Broader Financial Ecosystem

The success of Shirl Penney and Dynasty Financial Partners is not an isolated event; it is a barometer of a massive sea-change in the financial world. The independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) channel is the fastest-growing segment of the industry, fueled by advisors and clients alike who are seeking a fiduciary standard of care. However, this migration has been met with a wave of consolidation, as private equity firms and large aggregators roll up smaller practices, sometimes diluting the very independence advisors originally sought.

Dynasty’s model offers a compelling alternative. By providing infrastructure and support without demanding ownership, it preserves the entrepreneurial spirit and client-first culture of independent firms. This has created a powerful ripple effect, demonstrating that a decentralized, open-architecture ecosystem can not only survive but thrive. The firm’s ability to attract minority investments from industry giants like The Charles Schwab Corporation, BlackRock, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management further validates its crucial role as a central utility for the independent movement.

As the wealth management industry confronts the largest generational wealth transfer in history and a wave of advisor retirements, the need for stable, scalable, and independent-minded succession solutions has never been greater. By equipping advisors with institutional-grade tools and a robust support network, Dynasty is not just building a successful business—it is building a more resilient, diverse, and client-focused future for financial advice. Penney’s recognition as CEO of the Year is an acknowledgment of this profound impact, celebrating a leader whose vision is empowering a new generation of financial stewards.