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RIA Edge Podcast: Cresset’s Susie Cranston on How an ‘Industrial Scale’ RIA Benefits Clients, the FirmRIA Edge Podcast: Cresset’s Susie Cranston on How an ‘Industrial Scale’ RIA Benefits Clients, the Firm
Cresset President Susie Cranston discusses the firm’s growth to $65B AUM, family office services and insights on evolving advisory models in the RIA space.
David Armstrong, Executive Director, Content and User Engagement at WealthManagement.com
May 27, 2025
In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, join host David Armstrong for an insightful conversation with Susie Cranston, president and COO of Cresset, as they explore how the firm rapidly scaled to $65 billion.
David and Susie discuss:
How Cresset grew out of a family office for the founders, and how the firm defines “family office” services.
How the firm made the decision to source and offer clients private market investments via affiliate Cresset Capital Partners.
How Cranston views the tension between growth via acquisitions and maintaining the integrity of the service model. “When you have to integrate multiple systems, when you have to be the one building those integrations, it really, really slows down your ability to grow and scale.”
How crossing the $40B mark in AUM brings benefits to the firm and the clients by opening up “industrial scale” options for tech and service: “That is a real advantage when you can cross there because then you don’t have to change out your infrastructure, you can just scale on what you have.”
Insights on evolving advisory models and the future of the RIA.
Resources:
Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast on WealthManagement.com
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Connect With Susie Cranston:
About Our Guest:
Susie Cranston is President and Chief Operating Officer of Cresset, an award-winning multi-family office and private investment firm. In this role, Susie oversees Cresset’s Wealth Advisors, Client Service, Operations, and Compliance.
Susie most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer at First Republic Bank, where she was responsible for the sales, client service, operations, strategic planning, and administrative management of the First Republic Investment Management business. After the firm’s acquisition by JP Morgan Chase, Susie served as the COO and Head of Integration.
Susie originally joined First Republic in 2013 as EVP of Private Wealth Management, moving on to build one of the most successful wealth management businesses in the industry. She started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she spent 12 years consulting in various roles of increasing seniority and focused on strategy, risk management, and transformational change for financial services companies.
Active in the San Francisco business community, Susie is a “Forever Influential” honoree and three-time recipient of the San Francisco Business Times “Most Influential Women in Business” designation and a member of C200. Susie is also a board member of the Commonwealth Club. She has authored several published articles and a book on women and leadership, “How Remarkable Women Lead.”
Susie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and an MBA in business from Stanford University.
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