Culture Is the Strategy: Christina Adamson of Ares Wealth Management Solutions

In this episode of the Rainmaker Podcast, host Gui Costin sits down with Christina Adamson, Partner and Co-Global Chief Operating Officer of Ares Wealth Management Solutions, to unpack how a disciplined, people-first approach helped Ares grow its wealth business roughly 50x in five years across eight evergreen funds. Christina previously held roles at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and Black Creek Capital Markets before joining Ares in 2021. The conversation opens with communication, the foundation of any fundraising role. Christina explains that early alignment with the people you serve on their three-to-five-year goals, followed by a steady cadence of short touchpoints, keeps everyone on the same page. Updates should not be weather reports; they should share intelligence that helps the recipient do their job better. Gui adds that every interaction with a prospect is an audition for what working with you will feel like after they invest. Christina's unsolicited advice for salespeople is to outwork everyone, stay curious about what the prospect is trying to solve, and cut out the noise to focus on building trust. If you can't say a prospect trusts you, she says, you're in the wrong business. From there, the pair dig into culture as a competitive advantage. Christina credits CEO Mike Arougheti for setting the tone, with an emphasis on collaboration, transparency, trust, and no egos, alongside real autonomy for leadership teams. Gui adds that clear standards free people up to execute. Both acknowledge that protecting culture as a firm scales sometimes requires actively managing out people who aren't the right fit. The discussion turns tactical when Gui and Christina explore how technology supports a team of 200 people across 15 offices. Christina describes Ares' use of Teams channels to share intelligence in real time, and both stress a simple rule: if a meeting isn't logged in the CRM, it didn't happen. Gui calls missed call notes "gold bars" left on the table, and they discuss dictating a call report in the lobby, letting AI polish it, and routing it automatically to the right colleagues. Christina explains how Ares layers distribution intelligence and AI into its CRM so reps start each day knowing where to focus, while the relationship manager remains irreplaceable. Gui cautions that collecting data is only half the job; keeping it updated takes a process. Hiring gets significant airtime. Christina meets every candidate, from summer interns to managing directors, and looks first for drive, then a blend of EQ and IQ, and a desire to be part of a team. They discuss why former competitive athletes tend to thrive in sales, conditioned to handle rejection without self-pity, and why setting clear expectations in interviews lets candidates opt out early. Gui shares Dakota's monthly "W Days," where teams explain what is and isn't working, and Christina recalls her father's advice to "make it ugly." They close on leadership focus: doing only what only you can do, and investing in the "not urgent but important" work that drives transformative growth.