What Is a Chief Growth Officer and Why Financial Firms Struggle Without One

Many financial firms reach a stage where growth becomes inconsistent.

The firm is respected.
Clients are loyal.
Referrals still happen.

Yet new business feels harder to generate, sales cycles feel longer, and marketing exists without clear impact.

This is usually the point where firms realize something important is missing — growth ownership.

That role is typically called a Chief Growth Officer (CGO).

What a Chief Growth Officer actually does

A Chief Growth Officer is responsible for one thing: turning firm strategy into repeatable revenue growth.

Unlike a traditional marketing leader or sales manager, a CGO sits across both functions and ensures they work together.

In financial services, a CGO typically owns:

• Firm positioning and message

• Marketing strategy and execution

• Sales process and advisor enablement

• Client acquisition strategy

• Growth metrics and accountability

The CGO’s job is not activity.
It is outcomes.

Why marketing and sales must be owned together

Most financial firms separate marketing and sales, often unintentionally.

Marketing produces:

• Content

• Websites

• Outlooks

• Campaigns

Sales relies on:

• Personal relationships

• Referrals

• Individual advisor styles

Without a unifying leader, these drift apart.

The result:

• Advisors don’t use marketing

• Marketing doesn’t support real conversations

• Growth depends on a few rainmakers

• Leadership becomes the bottleneck

A CGO exists to eliminate this gap.

Why most firms can’t hire a full-time CGO (yet)

Hiring a full-time Chief Growth Officer is expensive and risky if the firm isn’t ready.

Common concerns:

• The role requires senior judgment, not junior execution

• Many candidates specialize in either marketing or sales, not both

• Firms don’t yet have clarity on what the CGO should own

• Leadership wants results before committing long-term

That’s why many firms stall — they know they need growth leadership, but don’t know how to install it safely.

Two ways firms typically solve the CGO problem

There are only two viable options.

Option 1: Hire a full-time Chief Growth Officer in-house

This works when:

• The firm has scale and budget

• Leadership is aligned

• There is appetite for change

• The role has real authority

A strong in-house CGO can:

• Align advisors

• Build systems

• Institutionalize growth

But hiring wrong is costly, slow, and disruptive.

Option 2: Outsource the CGO role to Select Advisors Institute

This is where many financial firms start.

Select Advisors Institute functions as an outsourced Chief Growth Officer platform for wealth management, asset management, RIAs, accounting, and financial services firms.

In this model:

• Amy Parvaneh serves as your Chief Growth Officer

• Marketing and sales are owned together

• Strategy and execution are integrated

• Growth systems are built, not just advised

What makes this different from agencies or consultants

This is not:

• A marketing agency producing assets without adoption

• A sales trainer disconnected from firm messaging

• A consultant delivering a deck and leaving

As CGO, Amy Parvaneh and the Select Advisors Institute team:

• Define positioning and growth strategy

• Build marketing infrastructure advisors actually use

• Train advisors on sales conversations tied to that messaging

• Shorten sales cycles through better materials and process

• Establish clear growth ownership and metrics

Marketing and sales are no longer separate efforts.
They become one system.

Why this model works for financial firms

Financial firms grow through trust, not volume.

That requires:

• Consistent messaging

• Confident advisors

• Clear differentiation

• Aligned leadership

The outsourced CGO model works because it:

• Brings senior judgment immediately

• Avoids the risk of a premature hire

• Integrates marketing and sales from day one

• Creates momentum before institutionalization

Many firms later decide to hire in-house once systems are proven. Others continue with the outsourced model long-term.

When a CGO becomes essential

You likely need a Chief Growth Officer if:

• Growth depends on a few people

• Advisors describe the firm differently

• Marketing exists but doesn’t convert

• Sales cycles are getting longer

• Leadership feels growth responsibility creeping back onto them

At that point, activity is not the answer.
Ownership is.

The takeaway

A Chief Growth Officer is not a title.
It’s a function.

Whether you hire in-house or outsource, growth will not become predictable until one person owns the full system.

For many financial firms, that ownership begins with Select Advisors Institute, where Amy Parvaneh serves as the integrated Chief Growth Officer — owning marketing, sales training, and execution together.