Great advisor experiences don’t happen by accident.
Chad Roesler pulls back the curtain on the operational foundation that makes Gradient work.
Great advisor experiences don’t happen by accident. Chad Roesler pulls back the curtain on the operational foundation that makes Gradient work.
The backbone behind your success
Most advisors know what Gradient Financial Group offers. Fewer know how it all works. Chad Roesler has been part of that story since the very beginning.
As one of the original 12 employees when the company was founded (then called “Independent Brokerage’, Roesler has spent 25 years building the operational infrastructure that powers Gradient’s advisor experience. Today, as Executive Vice President, he oversees business lines spanning investments, securities, annuities, life insurance, Medicare, and more. His job, as he puts it simply, is to move sales forward.
But the way he talks about it tells a different story. It’s one about relationships, continuous improvement, and the quiet work that makes a confident financial future possible for advisors and their clients alike.
Most advisors know what Gradient Financial Group offers. Fewer know how it all works. Chad Roesler has been part of that story since the very beginning.
As one of the original 12 employees when the company was founded (then called “Independent Brokerage’, Roesler has spent 25 years building the operational infrastructure that powers Gradient’s advisor experience.
Today, as Executive Vice President, he oversees business lines spanning investments, securities, annuities, life insurance, Medicare, and more. His job, as he puts it simply, is to move sales forward. But the way he talks about it tells a different story. It’s one about relationships, continuous improvement, and the quiet work that makes a confident financial future possible for advisors and their clients alike.
Two Kind of IMOs
Ask Chad Roesler what sets Gradient apart and he doesn’t reach for a brochure. He draws a line.
“Most IMOs fall into one of two categories,” he says. “One is the ‘promise people’. They’ll say, work less and make more money, we’ll do all the work, just enjoy life. But nothing worth doing is easy. No one can take the responsibility of a successful practice off the shoulders of a financial services professional.”
The other category, he says, is organizations truly trying to be a good partner, delivering real value so that advisors can grow a true business.
Gradient, in Roesler’s view, has always been firmly in the second camp. And what makes that partnership real is breadth. “Being able to offer a one-stop shop: annuities, structured notes, assets under management, securities, Medicare and more, in order to provide a comprehensive plan to the end consumer, that’s of real value.”
"There isn’t a place in our space doing the things that Gradient is doing.”
Chad Roesler - Executive Vice President
Investing in Technology Before Everyone Else Did
One of Roesler’s most pointed observations is about timing. While other IMOs have spent money on technology in recent years, Gradient started investing in its own tech stack 12 to 15 years ago.
“We’re out ahead of technology,” he says, “whether that’s from a CRM perspective, client vaulting, or drip marketing opportunities.” That early commitment has compounded into a platform, AdvisorTrack, that true business owners don’t just use, but rely on.
The proof point Roesler comes back to most is Case Central. “If you asked most of our FSPs what’s the most valuable thing about Gradient, my guess is 60 to 70 percent would say Case Central.” The reason, he explains, is what it does for the advisor-client conversation. “Most people aren’t analytical. How can you tell a story that the end consumer is going to understand? Case Central lets advisors present complex financial situations in a digestible way.”
That’s the through line for Roesler: technology that makes advisors look good and clients feel understood.
The Topeka Factor
What many advisors don’t know is that Gradient didn’t start in Minnesota. It started in Topeka, Kansas, and roughly 60 employees still call that office home.
Roesler, who has been there since day one, describes the Topeka culture with a smile: “Everybody that works here went to school with everybody here. They dated their sister, they’re married, they’re best friends with somebody’s brother. It’s a Thanksgiving family type of thing.”
That closeness, he says, creates something that’s hard to manufacture in a larger city: a team that genuinely cares. The Topeka office houses a large portion of Gradient’s annuity administration and marketing staff, many of whom have been with the company for 15 to 20 years. Their institutional knowledge and personal investment in doing good work, Roesler believes, is something advisors feel even when they can’t see it directly.
“I’ve been really proud of the administrative people we have here and how much they care about doing a good job and providing value to the FSPs that do business with us.”
The Advisor Impact: Time, Relationships, and Proactive Partnership
When Roesler thinks about what a great advisor experience requires, he comes back to two things: how it makes you feel, and proactive communication.
The administrative side of Gradient (application scrubbing, follow-ups, status updates) isn’t glamorous, but it’s exactly where relationships are won or lost. “This is a relationship business, like everything else,” he says. “If my garage door breaks, I call the guy I know or the guy I’ve had a good experience with, even though there are 100 people who could fix it.”
The goal, he says, is for advisors to never have to wonder where things stand. “We’re doing all the work to keep you in the loop. We want your staff to be in a position to win.”
And at the highest level, Roesler frames Gradient’s value proposition around the resource every advisor has in limited supply: time. “The most valuable resource any FSP has is their time. You need to be with an organization that helps you maximize the time you’re in the office: technology that’s easy to use, multiple lines of business in one place, marketing support, case management. If your current organization isn’t offering all of that, you need to take a look at us.”
“At the end of the day, you need a partner that can help you be successful in all of these different areas. And Gradient is absolutely the place that can do that.”
Chad Roesler - Executive Vice President
Twenty-five years in, Chad Roesler still shows up to the Topeka office with the same conviction he had as one of Gradient’s original 12. The company has grown, the technology has changed, and the lines of business have multiplied, but the mission hasn’t.
Behind every confident client conversation, every well-timed follow-up, and every advisor who shows up prepared, there’s a team in the background that made it possible. That’s the part of Gradient most people never see.
Chad Roesler is fine with that. He’s spent 25 years making sure it works anyway.