Succession planning

Planners thinking of retirement often seek young partners to share the business. But such pairings can be tricky to pull off.

Here are some of the most common mistakes advisors make in running their practices -- and how you can avoid them, according to one practice management expert and former advisor.

Beset by a graying workforce, an aging clientele and a shortage of young talent, the wealth management industry is at long last changing course.

A graying workforce. A homogenous culture. New technologies. With its future at stake, the wealth management industry is finally confronting its many challenges.

As they prepare for retirement, senior advisors can help young planners become competent and confident financial advisors.

Having a long-term horizon for the sale of a business puts the owner in a better position to optimize tax strategies. It's also an opportunity for advisors angling for the investment business a sale will produce.

United Capital has started providing regular liquidity to advisors with some first stock sales proceeds exceeding $500,000.

A "sunset program" for soon-to-retire advisors is already underway at some banks. But there is still much to be done, industry executives say.

More emphasis on incentive pay, bonus pools and flexibility as firms scramble to lure and keep talent.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is putting the spotlight on advisor training with its appointment of Racquel Oden as head of new advisor development.

With the advisor population aging and looking to retire, more wealth management firms are stepping up their efforts to recruit and train a new generation of advisors.

Cambridge's Amy Webber says promotion is next step in complex internal succession plan.

Without viable succession plans, wealth managers are at risk of slowly drifting off into oblivion -- willing partners in their own firms' demise. It's negligent behavior, and anything but benign.

A clash over future growth plans at Lenox Wealth Management led to the departure of the firm's 34-year-old president and COO Jay Hummel.

Almost half of the advisors in a new FPA study say they don't have a retirement plan; even more fail on business and succession plans.

Expansion-minded Savant Capital Management has bolstered its presence in the vibrant Chicago metropolitan market, acquiring Paragon Advisors, a $150 million firm in Naperville, Ill.

Joining a branch can provide the benefit of a built-in continuity or succession plan, in addition to the many economies of scale afforded by sharing overhead and resources.

In case you missed them, here are the five most popular, well-read and shared stories of November from On Wall Street.

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