Succession planning

Some advisors are great at strategic planning for others, but never plot out an ideal future for themselves.

The need for advisors to tackle succession planning decisions now has garnered increasing attention and discussion in recent years. Yet, even as advisors tend to recognize the importance of taking action to prepare, many still have not gotten started.

Advisors who don't prepare their firms for demographic changes, regulatory uncertainty, and succession planning are setting themselves, and their firms, up for failuae.

When it comes to succession planning, starting early, preparing well and mentoring all help make a transition smooth.

For solo practitioners, who's got your back? Here's how one group of RIAs decided to support each other.

There's a big difference between succession-planning practice sales and other kinds of deal activity, advisors learned during a succession-planning panel Wednesday.

Succession planning, regulatory and technological issues will be the main focus for Raymond James Financial Services over the next year, according to Scott Curtis, the firm's president.

Beacon Pointe is actively looking for more advisory firms with a CPA tie-in as it plots an expansion strategy of reaching 35 to 40 offices around the country in the next 10 years, Cooper says.

When speaking with small business owners, be prepared with specialized knowledge, willingness to coordinate, and the ability to handle emotions.

When it comes to handing off your firm, make sure you communicate clearly with your next-gen advisors.

Younger planners have their own priorities. If you're investing in their professional development, consider these ideas to ensure they will stick around.

See how one high-profile financial advisor is planning for his firm's future.

More than two-thirds of advisors (68%) have no formal succession plan for their businesses and among those who do, the plans are sketchy.

Call it a generation-skipping succession plan. When 62-year old industry veteran John LaPann decided it was time to hand over the reins of Federal Street Advisors, observers may have expected his successor would emerge from the ranks of firm veterans now in their 50s, but instead the firm chose some younger leaders.

Each firm’s succession plan and transition will be unique, but whether it’s an internal transition, merging and staying involved or selling and moving on, not enough advisors are planning for it.

Firms are partnering with their advisors to help mid-market business owner clients retire.

More than eight in 10 American millionaires believe that each generation should be responsible for creating its own wealth, up from 65% who said the same thing in 2007 when the survey was last conducted.

For RIAs who want to ensure clients that their firm will endure to serve their children and grandchildren, a robust internal succession plan is critical. One way to do that is to eliminate outside ownership conflicts, argues the founder and CEO of one leading RIA firm.

In the most recent move by a large firm to help planners solve pressing succession issues, Cetera Advisor Networks is now offering its regional directors, s well as other small- to mid-sized broker dealers, the opportunity to sell their businesses to Cetera.

What advisors can still do to protect business owners' assets even though last year is gone.