Succession planning

When Atlanta-based Ronald Blue & Co., one of the country's largest RIAs, was building its internal succession plan, the company’s CEO hit upon a necessary precondition. “You have to have a mission that’s compelling enough to make sure that your clients are taken care of after you are gone,” says Russ Crosson, the company’s president and CEO. “The firm is bigger than any one individual.”

Advisors have been racing to finish what some say is an unprecedented transfer of wealth.

Financial advisors often handle getting their clients’ affairs in order in case they die, but when it comes to succession planning for their own practices, that is often another matter entirely.

The program, announced Wednesday, will provide financing for junior partners seeking equity in a firm. It's currently in a pilot phase for registered investment advisory firms with more than $400 million in assets under management and at least three existing senior principals.

Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors announced the addition of its third advisor partner, $130 million AUM RIA Wealth Management Network of Newport Beach, Calif. today. This marks the third deal in the last year and a half for national advisory partnership firm BPWA.

The academic landscape for financial planning is shifting rapidly. Here's where to find the next generation of advisors.

Raymond James has expanded its practice acquisitions and succession planning department this year as it looks to open up more transition options for advisor force.

The advisory industry has been fretting about the impending tsunami of retiring advisors in the coming years for some time. As a result, firms are assembling succession programs as a way to ease the transition of client assets from older advisors to the much younger set.

A surprisingly simple business model could deliver financial advice to a much broader segment of the American population.

"As breakaway brokers continue to seek the benefits of the independent RIA model and a large number of RIAs near retirement, we're seeing unprecedented opportunities to create mutually beneficial relationships between advisors," said Ben Welch, Ameritrade's director of advisor business development. "RIAConnect meets the increasing demand for a more effective way to connect firms and helps support advisor growth potential."

In an effort to give smaller RIAs access to a broader array of services, Ron Carson has launched Carson Institutional Advisory. The new platform includes a succession planning strategy as an added attraction.

As the advisory universe ages, it's inevitable that more advisors will retire, become disabled, or die. Just as inevitable, there will be more sales of interests in advisory practices or entire practices. But just how valuable will those practices be, with most clients drawing down rather than building up the assets that advisors manage?

A strong leadership plan will not only help you identify the right successors, it is also the centerpiece of any successful transition.

It's not always easy to work with highly successful business owners, but the effort can be rewarding.

The ranks of the under-30 generation of planners are swelling - and they're ready to make an impact.

Fidelity has introduced the “Realizing the Value in Your Firm” program, which includes a series of workshops being conducted nationally to help advisors understand succession planning options.

At the NAPFA National conference, a panel of advisors of varying ages, discussed how they have succeeded with the tricky task of planning and executing a succession.

The founder of Veritable, the country’s third-largest RIA, says his firm’s new partnership with wealth management giant Affiliated Managers Group is part of a broader effort to build a business that can last for generations.

Succession planning is on a lot of advisors' minds right now. But it's not only owners who need to prepare for succession — employees also need to get ready. Financial Planning talked to Deena Katz, chairwoman of Evensky & Katz and associate professor of personal financial planning at Texas Tech, about her thoughts on this topic.

To be well prepared for succession, owners of financial planning practices should make sure employees are able to advance their careers within the firms. Firm owners should also learn how to manage Generation Y workers, because they’re going to be key to keeping practices alive.