In the world of wealth management, success isn’t defined solely by numbers — it’s defined by the strength of relationships, the clarity of process, and the ability to truly listen to clients. Few embody this philosophy better than Gary Sinderbrand, a seasoned financial advisor, coach, and speaker who has spent more than three decades transforming how advisors think and serve.
From his early days at Merrill Lynch — where he became one of the firm’s youngest million-dollar producers — to co-creating the renowned Payne-Sinderbrand Training Program that shaped over 12,000 advisors, Gary’s career has been built on one timeless principle: put the client first.
Today, through his company BetterPath Training, Gary helps advisors and financial professionals master the art of effective wealth management — focusing not just on portfolios, but on people. His message is simple yet powerful: success in finance comes when advisors shift their mindset from selling products to solving problems.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I want to invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward scale to billions and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support. It’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Welcome to the build to billions podcast where we got successful entrepreneurs’ investors on the journey from millions to billions. And we believe the key to scaling and compounding your wealth starts every single day with the mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goal is to help you scale and compound your wealth and life, so you give more or all of it away to help. MVPs, I’m your host today, Brett Swarts, and every episode, we’re featuring some of the world’s top entrepreneurs, millionaires and billionaires, where they share their secrets and wisdom with us. So again, we can scale and compound and make a big impact. I’m excited about our next guest. He is out of Vail, Colorado, and he is on a mission to help us to practice a better wealth path. And we’re going to be talking about some neat stuff today, including the Montu mental great wealth transfer that’s going on. We’re also going to be talking about the financial advising industry. Gary brings 35 plus years of financial advisor, educator and visionary and really kind of redefining the financial advisor profession and so much more. Please welcome the show with me, Gary Sinderbrand
Gary
great Brett, thanks for having me. I appreciate the opportunity
Brett
Absolutely. If our listeners get to know you for the first time, would you give us a little bit more about your story and your current focus?
Gary
Sure, I started as a financial advisor, was actually called a financial consultant back then, even before that, an account executive at Merrill Lynch hired at the age of 24 I was younger than the people they normally hired. Had essentially no sales experience at all, and during my early years, I often thought maybe I was the only one that showed up and applied for the job, but I kept coming back, and Theydon’t tell me not to, but they didn’t exactly invite me, and I learned early on that probably persistence was one of the things they were looking for. Started at a young age, first time out of the box. Had no idea what I was doing. I was listening to the training people at Merrill Lynch who told me, get out there and sell things great. Had no clue what I was selling or who I was selling it to, went through my first setoff clients in about a year, year and a half, selling uncovered, put and call options against the collateral the treasury bills would yield back then interest rates were quite high, and I would basically come on to people saying I could turn their 15% treasury bill into a 25% treasury bill. That didn’t work out so well. So that was book number one. Almost quit at the end of my first year, but I was fortunate enough to run into someone in senior management that essentially understood that I did have a strong desire to succeed and started to expose me to training that really helped me turn things around. Over the next several years, I was always kind of at the top of my class. I went through a million dollars in production, which, back then, was substantial. In my sixth year, you split that production, that productivity, with the firm you work for, and worked my way through the crash in 87 and by 88 or 89 my business was scaling really nicely. I was able to bring clients on board, not from promising them unrealistic outcomes, but from listening to them and figuring out how I could best solve their problems. This was kind of at the front end of financial planning, at the front end of the industry, shifting from commission based business, where each time you would call a client and suggest a transaction, they always had to consider whether or not that transaction was in their best interest, your best interest, or it was in both of your best interest. I thought that was kind of a lousy way to give advice. So, I started converting my practice to a fee-based business where my goal and I told clients up front. My goal was to charge them as much as I could, and they would be a little bit surprised by that, and I explained further. The only way that happens is for your assets to grow through stewardship. And you following my guidance, you bring more assets in, and I have a fixed percentage. If the assets go down and you leave, I make less, so we’re really aligned on that. I also explained to them that I was further motivated because to build my book of business. I had never made cold calls. I didn’t believe in them.
Brett
So, if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview, and please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much. Everybody. You.
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About Gary Sinderbrand
Gary Sinderbrand is a financial advisor, speaker, and founder of BetterPath Training, with more than 35 years of experience in the wealth management industry. Beginning his career at Merrill Lynch, Gary became one of the firm’s youngest million-dollar producers and later co-developed the Payne-Sinderbrand Program, which trained over 12,000 financial advisors worldwide.
Today, Gary is recognized for his client-first philosophy, emphasizing listening, trust, and process over product. His work helps financial professionals build stronger client relationships, develop sustainable advisory practices, and bridge the generational “experience gap” in the industry.
Through keynote speaking, workshops, and coaching, Gary continues to shape the next generation of advisors committed to making wealth management more human, transparent, and effective.
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