Succession planning

Senior executives with leadership experience and strong sales skills in high demand as current advisors look to retire.

To do so, the country’s largest independent broker dealer expects to have a portal up and running, probably under the name AdvisorHarmony, as early as next year that will allow advisors to sift through potential partners on their own.

Few things are more frustrating than encountering advisors who consistently provide sound counsel to their clients -- but forget to practice what they preach for their own business and personal plans. Here are the areas advisors most commonly need to start heeding their own advice.

A spike in the proportion of RIA-to-RIA deals in the first half of this year may signify that the advisory field is starting to come into its own.

Fewer RIAs this year are in the mood to sell thanks to stable growth in the markets.

Cambridge founder CEO Eric Schwartz is making big plans to preserve the firm's independence and viability for the long term - by giving away control now.

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.