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Written by: Frank V. Bonanno | StoneCastle
RIAs today see organic growth as more than just a metric, it’s a mandate. Advisory firms focused on deepening client relationships and growing assets under management, without relying solely on acquisition, are finding a powerful and often overlooked lever: cash.
Traditionally, cash has been treated as an afterthought, a placeholder or a temporary allocation awaiting a “real” investment decision. But that’s changing. Today, the risk-free rate is too compelling to ignore, and clients are paying more attention to where their cash sits. This creates a strategic opportunity, not to manage every dollar of cash, but to help clients maximize it. Especially the cash that lives outside the advisory relationship.
Rethinking Cash: The Four Pillars
To understand how cash can drive organic growth, it helps to organize it into key categories. These “Four Pillars of Organic Growth” represent where opportunity lives and how advisors can first uncover and then better align planning with what clients already have.
Held-Away Cash
This is the cash your clients keep at their bank — outside your purview and often earning far less than it could or worse, is uninsured. Most clients don’t even realize how much they hold across checking, savings, and CDs. Advisors who incorporate thoughtful cash questions into reviews and discovery conversations can uncover six- and seven-figure amounts that deserve attention. HNW individuals’ held-away cash is the low-hanging fruit of organic growth.
Affiliated Cash
Think of the non-profits, HOAs, foundations, family partnerships, small businesses, and trusts your clients are involved with. Many of these relationships hold large cash balances for operating expenses, planned distributions, taxes, or reserves. Because these assets are often distinct from a client's personal portfolio, they’re easily overlooked in the planning process and more importantly, quarterly reviews. But they represent a direct opportunity to extend your value while strengthening client relationships.
Institutional Cash
Some clients serve as board members, CFOs, or trustees for large endowments, public funds, or corporations. If you’re not asking about these roles, you may miss the chance to help them professionally and to introduce your expertise to a wider audience. Institutional cash by investment policy mandate is typically risk-averse, needs transparency, and prioritizes safety, making it an ideal fit for modern cash strategies that offer high insurance coverage and liquidity.
Impact/Mission-Based Cash
This is a growing area of focus for clients who want to align every aspect of their wealth with their values. While historically difficult to apply mission-based frameworks to cash, there are now solutions that offer competitive returns while directing deposits to underserved communities and local economies across the United States. Endowments, foundations, and your most philanthropic clients are leading the way here. For these clients, aligning cash with impact and purpose isn’t just a preference, it’s a mission.
Each pillar represents a different access point to grow assets and build trust, and all of them lead back to a core idea: Cash is not passive. It’s strategic. So, what ties them all together? The answer isn’t a different tool for each pillar — it’s a single, institutional-grade cash solution that delivers across the board; KEEP by StoneCastle. To truly unlock the opportunity in each pillar, the solution must offer something most can’t; up to $100 million in federal insurance per tax ID, is liquid, and has a competitive rate. Without that level of protection, scale, and simplicity, the cash conversation falls short — especially with sophisticated clients, larger businesses, and mission-driven clients. A one-size-fits-all solution that’s built for large balances is what makes these strategic cash conversations both possible and powerful.
“We’ve seen RIAs use KEEP to deepen relationships, open new doors, and uncover surprising opportunities all by helping clients make smarter decisions around the cash they already have. Cash isn’t just part of the client’s portfolio. It’s part of their larger story, and advisors who recognize that are growing faster, with more trust and less resistance.” - Dan Farrell, CEO of StoneCastle
The Organic Growth Connection
Organic growth isn’t just about acquiring new clients it’s about deepening relationships with the ones you already have. Cash plays a critical role here because it’s already part of every client’s financial picture. There’s no need to take on added risk or disrupt a long-term plan. It’s an opportunity to help clients make smarter, more strategic decisions about something they already hold or influence.
What’s more, cash has the potential to put organic growth on autopilot. A single conversation with a client about their nonprofit board involvement can lead to the organization adopting a better cash strategy, which then reaches fellow board members, their companies, their families, and their networks. That one touchpoint creates a ripple effect of opportunity.
By unlocking this often-overlooked asset class, you go beyond managing investments, you’re underscoring your value to clients and the people and organizations that are important to them. That is true relationship building.
Start With One Question
If you’re not sure where to begin, start with this: “Can we talk about how you’re currently managing your cash — both personally and across any other entities you’re involved with?”
It’s a simple question. But the answers can reveal opportunities not just to grow, but to serve more fully.
Where so many advisory firms are investing heavily in client experience, platform upgrades, and value-add services, don’t forget the one thing every client has: cash.
Treat it like an asset class, a planning tool, and a trust-building opportunity—and watch as organic growth starts to take care of itself.
Related: Unlocking Organic Growth Opportunities: Held-Away Cash
Frank V. Bonanno is Managing Director and Head of Marketing for StoneCastle. KEEP by StoneCastle is an institutional-grade insured cash solution currently utilized by hundreds of advisory firms, serving thousands of clients, and protecting billions of dollars of their cash. www.keepcash.com