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Customer story How Mach 1 accelerated its growth with a segmentation strategy

Mach 1 Financial set out to deliver an exceptional experience to every client, but the operational load became unsustainable. With a segmentation strategy powered by Betterment Advisor Solutions, the firm built a scalable model for smaller accounts and unlocked a growth engine accelerating its path toward $1.2B.

Client. Views may not be representative. See G2 reviews.

Firm snapshot

About: Mach 1 Financial Group, an Arkansas-based wealth management firm, helps clients achieve financial security, stability, and independence. Their Ascent program supports smaller-account clients by providing investment management without the added demands of intensive planning.

Founded: 2005
Headquarters: Rogers, AK

Growth that outpaced operational capacity

Mach 1 grew from $250M to more than $600M in three years, and the operational strain across the firm was becoming evident.
A strong desire to serve clients of all sizes

They were reluctant to set minimums and wanted to maintain long-standing relationships with smaller-account clients. But providing full-service planning to every relationship was becoming unsustainable.
An over-stretched client services team

Daily demands were consuming the client services team’s bandwidth, making it difficult to maintain the level of attention and responsiveness they aimed to deliver.

Challenge

Mach 1 wanted every client to receive the same high standard of service, but their growing back-office workload made that increasingly difficult.

Client experience sits at the center of their philosophy and has fueled their growth for more than a decade. “We tell our team members that we want our clients to experience that Ritz-Carlton treatment,” Lee said.

As the firm set ambitious goals for 2025 and beyond, they realized their service structure needed to evolve. Reaching their $1B target meant relieving pressure on the client services and back office teams so they could focus on clients who needed deeper planning.

Until this point, every client received the same level of service regardless of account size. As Mach 1 continued to grow, that approach was no longer sustainable.

Solution

Mach 1 adopted the Liftoff-style model popularized by Ritholtz and began developing a branded offering called Ascent to streamline onboarding and account management for clients with smaller balances.

To bring this to life, they needed a tech-forward partner. They chose Betterment Advisor Solutions, the same platform Ritholtz uses for its own branded offering. Our platform delivered the seamless account opening and automated portfolio management required for this tier, while enabling Mach 1 to present the experience under the Ascent brand.

“Now that we’re one year into it, looking back, the amount of time we’ve freed up in our back office is enormous.”

Lee Mackey,
Partner

Client. Views may not be representative. See G2 reviews.

A scalable model for supporting smaller accounts

Existing and new accounts under $500k are being migrated onto the Ascent platform. This includes roughly 600–700 relationships moving to a mostly automated solution.
Operational efficiency at a new level

Shifting these accounts to an automated workflow has freed meaningful time for the back office and client services teams, allowing them to spend their time where it’s most valuable.
Positive client experiences

Client feedback has been entirely positive, and many long-standing clients commented on how much simpler the new experience feels.