Voices Dangers ahead when non-advisors buy planning firms

Summary: I’ve been watching, with increasing dismay, the trend of non-financial planners taking over ownership of planning firms. We have private equity firms buying financial services firms, and financial services firms that are either going public or promising to as part of their rollup pitch to independent advisors. The distress became especially acute when Focus Financial Partners went public and raised just over $600 million from its new shareholders.