Alan Moore, CEO of XY Planning Network, doesn’t waste any time.

In 2012, at age 25, he founded his own RIA, instituting fee-for-service for the young clientele he wished to serve. His practice model created such buzz and admiration among other young advisers that in 2014, he co-founded XY Planning Network with industry thought leader Michael Kitces to help advisers start practices to similarly serve the underserved mass market of Gen X and Gen Y clients. All Network members are fiduciaries and offer fee-for-service based on client income or cash flow. Now at 1,100 members, the organization took off so quickly that Mr. Moore sold his practice in 2015 to work for it full time.

“The industry was saying no to young advisers,” he said. “When they asked, ‘Can I work with Next-Gen clients? Can I work as a fiduciary? Can I start my own firm?’  We said yes.”

Not resting on their laurels, in 2016 Mr. Moore and Mr. Kitces started AdvicePay, a billing platform that enables fee-for-service advisers to collect fees, via methods such as credit cards, without triggering compliance issues.

An enthusiastic and natural entrepreneur, Mr. Moore credits his 11 years of being home-schooled with having a great influence on his abilities.

“It encouraged self-reliance creative thinking and problem-solving,” he said. “The curriculum was very self-guided and the lack of artificial structure gave me the freedom to learn in the way I naturally wanted to learn. It allowed me to be experiential and gave me the tools I needed [for entrepreneurship].”

— Deborah Nason