Building the distribution engine for the next chapter of growth.
How one of the largest independent DAF administrators in the U.S. — with $200B in assets — partnered with Jacobs & Company to redesign its operating model, segment 100,000+ advisors, and architect a modernized sales and marketing technology stack.
A growing engine.
An opaque outcome.
In 2024, the firm — one of the largest independent donor-advised fund administrators in the U.S. — was completing a record year. New gifts approached half a billion dollars while advisor interactions scaled rapidly across more than 90 distribution firms.
But inside the activity data, a counterintuitive picture emerged. The relationship between effort and outcome became increasingly opaque — not because the team lacked execution capability, but because the distribution engine had outgrown the operating model surrounding it.
Leadership wasn't asking what was wrong. They were asking a sharper question: how do we build the distribution infrastructure to match our ambition?
“Distribution wasn't underperforming. It was under-architected.”
A growing engine. An opaque outcome.
In 2024, the firm — one of the largest independent donor-advised fund administrators in the U.S. — was completing a record year. New gifts approached half a billion dollars. A sales team was executing thousands of advisor interactions across more than 90 distribution firms.
But inside the activity data, a counterintuitive picture emerged. The relationship between effort and outcome was opaque — not because the team wasn't working hard, but because the distribution engine had outgrown the operating model around it.
Leadership wasn't asking what's wrong. They were asking a sharper question: how do we build the distribution infrastructure to match our ambition?
"Distribution wasn't underperforming. It was under-architected."
A four-step engagement, completed in roughly 12 weeks.
Each step produced an artifact the client's leadership could act on. Together, they formed a complete blueprint for how a modern DAF distribution engine should operate.
Sales enablement assessment
10-capability framework, scored against current state and near-future ambition.
Advisor segmentation & engagement model
100,000+ advisors across 90+ firms tiered by potential and engagement.
Distribution operating model
Hub-and-spoke governance, quarterly cadence, decision rights.
Phased implementation roadmap
12 initiatives sequenced by importance, complexity, and value.
By early 2025, the firm had a 12-initiative roadmap, a governance model, an advisor segmentation across more than 100,000 financial advisors, and a clear sequence for executing through the following year.
Where the engine was leaking.
The assessment was structured around a 10-capability framework spanning four categories: strategic positioning, sales and marketing effectiveness, advanced analytics and targeting, and technology and engagement. Each capability was scored against a current state and a near-future goal, then triangulated with quantitative analysis of two years of Salesforce activity, the firm's internal financial management system, and third-party advisor intelligence.
The diagnostic surfaced five interconnected issues. The most important reframe wasn't any one finding. It was the recognition that the team was strong, the pieces existed, and what was missing was the operating model that would turn activity into compounding outcomes.
- 01Absence of a structured, scalable distribution model
- 02Weak targeting and resource allocation
- 03Inconsistent advisor engagement across channels
- 04Fragmented data and technology infrastructure
- 05A culture not yet wired for sales urgency at scale
100,000+ advisors, mapped to opportunity.
Working from third-party advisor intelligence, the firm's internal financial management system, and Salesforce, we built a consolidated dataset spanning the top 90 distribution firms — RIAs, broker-dealers, and dually-registered firms.
- —HNW client counts
- —HNW assets under management
- —Charitable organization presence
- —Advisor density
- —Composite firm-level signals
Layered with an omni-channel engagement model defining how national accounts, field sales, traditional marketing, and digital marketing resource each cell of the matrix.
Hub-and-spoke governance, built for scale.
Who decides what — and how do sales, marketing, analytics, and technology stay aligned as the engine scales?
Align
Strategy alignment across leadership.
Develop
Plan refinement across workstreams.
Evaluate
Continuous KPI review and reset.
The model defines how firm-level account plans connect to field-level advisor plans, how marketing campaigns get sequenced against the advisor decision journey, and how analytics feeds strategy refinement rather than living downstream of it. It also clarifies the boundary between awareness-building, sales pipeline pursuit, and ongoing client service — three distinct motions the firm had previously executed without clear handoffs.
How an AI-native firm modernizes a distribution stack.
Jacobs & Company has operated as an AI-native firm since 2019. That heritage shaped how the technology and data workstreams of this engagement were scoped — in three specific ways.
Data integration before automation
AI on fragmented data produces fragmented insight.
The firm's sales, marketing, and financial data lived across Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, the internal financial management system, and several third-party sources. Before recommending any AI or automation initiative, the roadmap prioritized enriching advisor data and integrating these sources into a unified analytics layer.
Salesforce as the operating system, not just the CRM
The connective tissue of the operating model.
We treated Salesforce and Marketing Cloud as the place where pipeline stages, advisor journeys, engagement triggers, and post-interaction data live in one coherent system. The conversation shifted from 'configure the CRM' to 'design the system the operating model runs on.'
AI as a layer on top, not a feature bolted in
Sequenced after the foundation, not before it.
The roadmap's "Infuse AI" initiative was scoped to simplify list creation, call planning, content generation, and data management — the everyday friction points where AI compounds productivity for sales and marketing teams.
"AI-native doesn't mean leading with AI. It means knowing where AI belongs in the stack — and what has to be true beneath it for AI to actually create leverage."
12 initiatives. 3 phases. 1 sequence.
Each initiative was scored on importance, complexity, and value. The scoring drove a phased sequence — foundational data and Salesforce work first, BI and engagement extensions second, culture and incentive design last.
Foundation
Data architecture. Salesforce reconfiguration. UI/UX enhancements.
Extension
BI dashboards. Engagement model rollout.
Activation
Culture, process excellence, incentive design.
From blueprint to execution.
The roadmap moved from blueprint to execution. The firm proceeded with the Salesforce reconfiguration, and Jacobs & Company has since delivered additional capabilities on top of the modernized foundation — including a next-best-action capability now embedded in the sales team's daily workflow.
- ✓12-initiative phased roadmap
- ✓Advisor segmentation across 100,000+ advisors
- ✓Modernized Salesforce + Marketing Cloud architecture
- ✓Hub-and-spoke governance with quarterly cadence
- ✓Omni-channel engagement model mapped to segmentation
- ✓Foundation for AI-enabled next-best-action capability
"We don't say more about that work here. The point of this case study is the architecture. What it enables is the client's story to tell."
The firms compounding fastest aren't the largest. They're the ones designed to compound.
The firms competing most effectively in wealth and asset management distribution today are the ones whose operating model, segmentation discipline, and technology foundation are designed so every advisor interaction, marketing campaign, and data point makes the next one smarter.
Building that engine is a full-stack problem. It spans strategy, segmentation, operating model design, technology architecture, and execution. Most consulting partners can do one or two of those layers well. Few can do all of them in a single, coordinated engagement.
That's the work Jacobs & Company is built for.
For the executives reading this.
How long did the engagement take?
Roughly 12 weeks end-to-end, structured as four sequential workstreams — sales enablement assessment, advisor segmentation, operating model design, and a phased implementation roadmap. Each workstream produced a leadership-ready artifact, not a slide.
What makes Jacobs & Company's AI-native approach different?
We've operated as an AI-native firm since 2019. That means we treat AI as a layer that sits on top of integrated data and well-designed operating systems — not as a feature bolted into a broken process. AI on fragmented data produces fragmented insight, so we sequence the foundation first.
Who is this case study most relevant for?
Heads of distribution, sales enablement, marketing, and operations at asset and wealth management firms that are growing fast but feel their operating model and technology stack haven't kept pace. If activity is up but outcomes are opaque, this is the work.
What does Jacobs & Company specialize in?
GTM strategy and execution for asset and wealth management leaders. Operating model design, advisor and firm segmentation, technology architecture (Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, BI), and AI-enabled execution — delivered as a single coordinated engagement rather than fragmented workstreams.
Considering a similar engagement?
Tell us where you are and where you're going. We'll tell you candidly whether — and how — we can help.
No pitch decks. No pressure. A senior team member, focused conversation.