Succession planning

CFP Board and TD Ameritrade make the case for a new center to attract and develop a 21st century workforce.

Advisors can assist their aging clients having a hard time keeping a family-run business in the family.

“It’s the most important thing you can do for your business, the single greatest value driver,” said Rick Schwartz, managing director for business consulting at Schwab Advisory Services.

“Owners of advisory firms don’t realize there’s a new school approach to succession planning,” – David Grau Jr., president and CEO of Succession Resource Group.

"If I said I had worked for AT&T for 33 years, anybody would ask me, 'Well, when are you going to retire?' But our industry is unique. It's not like a utility company, where after 30 or 35 years, you're done," says Larry Palmer, an advisor at Morgan Stanley.

A new book by advisors for advisors sheds light on transition issues facing firm principals and their successors.

How one firm helps advisors map out a plan 10 years before retirement.

Advisor Hugh Johnson has a simple focus: provide near-market performance with less volatility and risk.

“Why should a really good smaller firm that’s growing have a lower multiple than a big firm that’s crappy?” asks Peter Raimondi, president of Boston Private Wealth.

The primary buyers of advisory firms are RIAs, banks and roll-up companies.