40 Under Forty Alumnus of the Year: Marty Bicknell

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026

The wealth-management sector has some fundamental ways to measure success—and at a certain point in a founder’s career, those metrics can start to tell the story for him. For Marty Bicknell, the numbers attached to Mariner Wealth Management would certainly qualify: a firm launched in 2006 that has grown from a startup advisory practice into a national platform spanning major markets, employing thousands and overseeing more than $600 billion in client assets, its expansion accelerated by acquisitions and private-equity backing in a rapidly consolidating industry.

But Bicknell doesn’t describe success through any of those lenses.

“My personal purpose—and Mariner’s purpose—is to positively impact the lives of many,” he says. 

That framing shifts the conversation away from scale for its own sake and toward something less easily quantified. In Bicknell’s telling, wealth management—done right, done broadly—extends beyond portfolio construction into something closer to sustained service: helping clients make decisions that shape families, businesses and communities over time. Multiplied across a national client base, that work carries an impact that begins to resemble civic contribution as much as financial advisory.

For his leadership of the firm, for its spectacular growth, for what it has done to promote the well-being of clients and of the city it calls home, Marty Bicknell is our 40 Under Forty Alumnus of the Year. He joins an All-Star cast of leaders who have made good on the promise of their early careers and turned their organizations into pillars of the regional economy.

Bicknell’s service-first perspective was rooted in the firm’s organizing principles. “Mariner was founded on the principle of client first, associate second, shareholder last,” Bicknell says. Nearly two decades later, that hierarchy still governs how decisions are made, even as the firm has scaled. “At Mariner, those decisions happen close to the client—elbow to elbow, adviser to client.” 

Maintaining that proximity has become more complex as Mariner’s footprint has expanded—but not, in his view, more negotiable. “As we’ve grown, I’ve had to become more intentional about what not to change,” he says, pointing to a culture “rooted in a client-first mentality.” Preserving that culture is not simply a leadership exercise, he adds: “It’s the responsibility of every associate to uphold and protect what makes Mariner special.” 

Growth, then, is a means, not an end. “Growth will always matter to us, but not for growth’s sake,” Bicknell says. It must be “purposeful,” creating opportunities “for our people to expand, to lead, and to build something meaningful of their own.” 

That sense of purpose extends beyond the firm itself. Kansas City, long known for its strength in banking and asset servicing, has quietly emerged as a hub for wealth-management talent, with Mariner among the firms helping to define that identity. Bicknell sees the connection in human terms: “People build culture. People build organizations. And people build communities.” 

As the firm’s reach has gone national, that local foundation remains central. “Kansas City has an exceptional concentration of talent and character, and I’m proud that Mariner is part of that ecosystem.” The implication is that Mariner’s growth is not just a company story, but part of a broader regional evolution—one that continues to position KC as a center of excellence in wealth management.

Bicknell’s own civic engagement reflects a similar philosophy. Through the Bicknell Family Foundation, he supports organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters Kansas City, Children’s Mercy and The University of Kansas Health System. 

As Mariner has scaled, so has his view of how that impact can grow. “I’ve also become more focused on encouraging and enabling our associates to engage in their communities,” he says. When that commitment extends across the firm, “the impact can be even greater.”

For all that has been built, Bicknell resists the idea that the firm is anywhere near its endpoint. “I truly believe we’re still in the early innings of that journey,” he says. 

In an industry that defines success by what has been accumulated, that perspective offers a different measure. Not simply how large the firm has become, but how intentionally it continues to grow—and how broadly it defines the value of the work it does.

Alumni of the Year

2016: Gordon Lansford, JE Dunn Construction

2017: Anne St. Peter, Global Prairie

2018: Greg Maday, SpecChem/Sporting KC

2019: Neal Sharma, Dentsu DTC

2020: Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning

2021: Kevin Barth, Commerce Bank

2022: Debbie Wilkerson, GKCCF

2023: Mike Maddox, CrossFirst Bank

2024: Jeff Simon, Husch Blackwell

2025: Ramin Cherafat, McCownGordon