Plan for the Future
Contingency and succession planning are critical to your advisory firm's success. Review the wealth of information.
All Articles
From AUM to Everything: How Independent RIAs Can Accelerate Growth Through Expanded Financial Services
From InvestmentNews
Added on April 2026 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Independent RIAs in the US are facing a turning point. Fee pressure, commoditized portfolios, and the rapid rise of robo-advisor platforms mean investment management alone is no longer a durable differentiator. At the same time, affluent households are scattering assets across banks, custodians, and digital apps, leaving advisors exposed to attrition and share‑of‑wallet erosion. For firms that want to keep growing in this environment, the real opportunity is not simply gathering more AUM – it is capturing the full financial relationship, from cash and lending to business banking and estate coordination.
New Subscriber Update - Dec 2025
From
Added on December 2025 in Plan for the Future
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7 Questions To Uncover a Client's "Why"
From Advisorpedia
Added on December 2025 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Clients seldom make decisions based on numbers alone. Instead, they follow plans that reflect their dreams and values. When you uncover a client’s underlying motivation, you turn abstract targets into goals they care about and will likely pursue. Experts in behavioral finance have found that people tend to save more when goals are tied to their ethos.
Private equity exits surge 69%, but RIAs flex staying power
From InvestmentNews
Added on August 2025 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Private equity exit values and volume are up sharply, but investments in RIAs are taking a different path: “Many PE firms are now structuring proposals that allow RIAs to roll equity into their next fund,” Hue Partners' Emily Blue told InvestmentNews.
Pursuing sustainable growth: Why RIAs wind up with a leaky bucket
From InvestmentNews
Added on January 2024 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The quest for growth in the financial advice industry is unrelenting, with independent registered investment advisors leading the charge. For years, this growth has been propelled in large part by the momentum of market gains and a thriving environment for mergers and acquisitions. However, the distinction between organic growth and market growth has never been more apparent, especially during periods of market volatility like we’ve experienced since the onset of the pandemic.
Four Business Succession Planning Techniques to Consider
From Wealth Management
Added on August 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Thoughtful succession planning can pave the way for a smooth transition and a thriving future for a company and its stakeholders. Here are a few techniques that business owners should consider.
Succession Planning for Financial Advisors: The Top 5 Most Important Success Planning Considerations
From NASDAQ
Added on July 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: With M&A activity continuing to blossom and the average age of financial advisors being well over the age of 50, succession planning for financial advisors is becoming an increasingly important subject and area of focus.
Modernize your service model, both for your next client and your succession plan
From InvestmentNerws
Added on June 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: If you’ve been in the wealth management space for more than a decade, you probably have a lot of clients who are in their late 60s and older. These clients came to you in a much different era than today. They expect a specific type of personalized service, such as face-to-face appointments and a particular beverage when they come into the office. And some likely still prefer paper statements that are traditionally mailed rather than digitally delivered.
How a Lack of Succession Planning Can Kill M&A Deals
From RIAIntel
Added on May 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Over the last four years, Hightower has completed more than 45 deals and built a team soley focused on acquisitions, including calling and researching RIAs. Oros said the firm evaluates succession plans as part of every transaction. A lack of succession planning has even killed a couple of the company’s potential deals.
Employees are a key piece of the succession puzzle
From InvestmentNews
Added on April 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Subject: Back in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, my long-time business partner and I sold our Houston-based registered investment advisor, with $450 million in assets under management, to a national integrator for a combination of cash, equity, and the fact that we were able to bring virtually all our employees along with us to the acquiring firm.
RIA Leaders Fear CPA Retirements Could Complicate Planning Efforts
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on January 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: As Mike Leverty, the founder and CEO of Leverty Financial Group in Wisconsin, recently told ThinkAdvisor, the work of serving clients in 2023 is about so much more than picking stocks and bonds. A big reason why, Leverty says, is the fact that individuals’ financial lives have themselves become so much more complicated, especially when it comes to planning for retirement.
Investment Advisers Seek Talent Amid Staff Shortage
From Plan Advisor
Added on January 2023 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Advisers are seeking to expand their employee base’s skill set and meet capacity needs. Of nearly 1,000 respondents surveyed by Schwab in the third quarter, recruiting among RIAs rose to the No. 1 strategic priority for the first time since the study was started in 2006. The demand is being driven by strong growth for financial advice and wealth management, according to Lisa Salvi, managing director of adviser services at Charles Schwab
RIA Edge Podcast: Carolyn Armitage on The Importance of Succession Planning for RIAs
From Wealth Management
Added on October 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: [Podcast] In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, Mark Bruno, managing director at Informa Wealth Management, speaks with Carolyn Armitage, head of Thrivent Advisor Network, about the importance of creating a succession plan—and ultimately, the best and worst practices for putting a formal succession plan in place.
When Top Advisors Leave Their Firms
From Wealth Management
Added on August 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: When it comes to advisor movement, the disruption and hassle of changing firms or models are real. So, the upside in a new opportunity must be significant; the move must solve for frustrations and limitations an advisor may be experiencing.
Successions Must 'Look Like Synchronized Swimming'
From Financial Advisor IQ
Added on July 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Many financial advisors put off their succession planning until it’s too late because they aren’t ready to face the end of their career, can’t decide on a plan or simply haven’t gotten around to doing it.Building a succession plan involves four steps, according to Bev Flaxington, co-founder of consulting firm The Collaborative.
Is Declining Advisor Headcount at a Tipping Point?
From RIAIntel
Added on July 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Nearly 40 percent of financial advisors plan to retire in the next 10 years, and overall advisor headcount growth is starting to decline. As a result, an opportunity could be at hand for younger advisors.
Why Half of Mercer's 500 Advisors Are Women
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on June 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Mercer Advisors is uncommon in an industry that “sorely struggles with diversity,” as CEO Dave Welling frames it. Indeed, about half of Mercer’s 500 advisors are women, he tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview.
Next-Gen Successors: You're Not as Stuck as You Think You Are
From Wealth Management
Added on May 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: For years, many advisors have been operating under the assumption that successors who inherit or buy a book from a retiring advisor are stuck until their succession obligation has been completely forgiven. That is, should these inheritors decide that their firm is no longer the right home for their growing business, they’d have no choice but to wait out the terms of the agreement and hope for the best.
A Course Correction on Nurturing Talent and Culture
From Wealth Management
Added on January 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The Great Resignation has not spared the wealth management industry, and firms would be wise to take heed of one of my grandmother's stark sayings, “You don’t miss your water until the well runs dry.”
Financial Planning in the Era of the Great Resignation
From Wealth Management
Added on January 2022 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: How important is it for financial advisors to understand the economic and societal impact of the Great Resignation? The significance of this tumultuous labor force disruption is validated by its 2021 entry in Wikipedia, and the 10 million Google hits for that phrase. Over 40 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021. Some employers are so desperate for staffing, they are advertising “Apply today, work today, get paid today.
Op-ed: A succession plan benefits advisory firms and their clients `
From CNBC
Added on December 2021 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: In a time of record mergers-and-acquisitions activity for financial advisory firms, designing and implementing a succession plan has become a critical element for success.
Our succession planning crisis
From InvestmentNews
Added on December 2021 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Not surprisingly, financial services firms and M&A consultants have launched major initiatives aimed at solving the impending succession planning crisis. To demystify the various types of plans that financial advisers should consider, let’s dig into the differences between servicing, continuity, exit and succession planning.
Time to Sell or to Grow?
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on May 2021 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: When the market is on a bull run, advisors are more likely to focus on organic growth and serve their current clients. After all, portfolios are going up, so that means revenue often is going up, too.
RIAs: New Decade, New Goals \- How Will Your Firm Define the 2020s?
From InvestmentNews
Added on October 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The RIA industry delivered an impressive performance during the 2010s. And though the pandemic has given us pause, now is the time for firms to define how they’ll seize this new decade’s opportunities.
LinkedIn Is Getting Video Stories. What Will That Mean for Advisors?
From wealthmanagement.com
Added on October 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: It’s a measure sure to divide advisors: LinkedIn is adding more video capabilities to its platform. The Microsoft-owned social media platform is adding its own version of short, ephemeral video and photo stories, as well as integrating video chat functionality from Zoom, BlueJeans and Microsoft Teams, according to a LinkedIn blogpost.
Struggling with organic growth? Go back to the basics
From InvestmentNews
Added on September 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: 2020 has opened my eyes to a startling contradiction. In talking with our coaches, who speak with dozens of advisers every week, we’ve noticed a duality unfolding in our profession: advisers who are having their best growth years and those who are floundering. There seems to be a secret formula that one group recognizes and the other has yet to stumble upon.
COVID-19 emphasizes importance of succession plans
From InvestmentNews
Added on August 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The pandemic has served as a wake-up call for the CEOs of registered investment advisers and multifamily offices. Succession planning is often viewed as a lengthy and administrative chore, but it has recently risen to the top of the agenda for many CEOs.
Business continuity planning is top compliance concern for advisory firms
From InvestmentNews
Added on July 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: As investment advisory firms cope with disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, business continuity plans have become their top compliance concern, according to a report released Friday.
Brodeski: What RIAs must do to grow post-Covid
From Citywire
Added on July 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary; Restaurants, hospitality and airlines have really struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic. Others businesses, like Amazon and Zoom, have flourished. On average, the RIA business seems somewhere between. Most firms have adapted to working from home reasonably well. And while the market had a significant decline initially, negatively affecting revenues and profits, it has recovered nicely.
How Advisors Can Help Kids in COVID-19 Times
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on June 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Although many consequences of battling the coronavirus pandemic are yet to be known, the emergence of helpers, heralded or unsung, is one positive development.
COVID-19's Impact on This Summer's Events, More
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on June 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Each year, the July issue of Investment Advisor features profiles of the top-performing asset managers and strategist via our recognition program with Envestnet.
RIAs may be heading for a 'succession planning crisis'
From InvestmentNews
Added on June 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The RIA industry is likely to face succession hurdles in the coming years as a majority of large firms reported insufficient investment in the next generation of leadership.
Why Planning-Led Advisors Are Better Positioned During a Pandemic
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on June 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: When the stock market plummeted as a result of COVID-19 and the economic uncertainty it created, financial advisors saw an uptick in the number of investment-focused clients looking for advice. After all, the Dow suffering the most severe drop since 1987 was reason enough to drive investors into a state of panic.
Hiring Gets Tougher in Never-Meet-in-Person Era
From Advisor Perspectives
Added on June 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Quentin Marshall hired three people over the past two months. He filled the roles without meeting any of them in person.
Recruiting during a pandemic requires “breaking down a lot of prejudices about how to do things,” said Marshall, head of private banking at U.K. lender Weatherbys. “Once you get over this idea you must be sharing the same oxygen molecules as them, you just get on with it.”
4 Reasons Why There May Be No Turning Back
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on May 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: As with other segments of our society and economy, COVID-19 is changing the independent advisor business. To determine how — and how much — in early March, our firm launched an ongoing survey to track behavioral changes in the industry within advisory firms in response to the pandemic.
This Is the Surprising Legacy COVID Will Leave
From IRIS
Added on May 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver left the Sea-to-Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler along with many other game’s venues which stand ten years later and will likely be a reminder decades from now of the one-in-a-lifetime experience some of us witnessed.
Pandemic makes improving financial literacy more important than ever
From InvestmentNews
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Our world has drastically changed over the last few weeks as the coronavirus disrupted the economy. That just makes the work of improving Americans’ financial awareness and financial literacy all the more important as we approach National Financial Literacy Month in April.
How to Develop a Stable of the Best CPAs in Town
From wealthmanagemet.com
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: I stumbled onto a terrific article perfect for tax season: How to Find the Best CPA or Tax Accountant Near You by Janet Berry-Johnson, published in Wirecutter. Ms. Berry-Johnson’s audience was the general public, but I think it has some great implications for financial advisors as well.
Letter to Our Readers: What to think about the unstoppable RIA movement meeting an immovable black swan
From RIABiz
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Brooke's Note: At RIABiz we are fastening our seat belts like everybody else. We wish the tragedy and disruption of the coronavirus pandemic would blow away like a San Francisco fog.
Senate coronavirus package would allow hardship early access to retirement accounts
From InvestmentNews
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: An economic stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 virus is on a fast track in the Senate and includes provisions to suspend penalties on early access to retirement accounts.
Succession Planning in a Pandemic: 6 Steps to Take Now
From ThinkAdvisor
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Less than three months ago, a mystery illness surfaced in Wuhan, China, and was quickly named COVID-19, a type of coronavirus. We know what has transpired from that point until today, with an unprecedented lockdown of populations and economies around the world.
Why Waiting to Communicate About Coronavirus to Investors Is a Mistake
From IRIS
Added on March 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: A common response from businesses during an emerging crisis is to sit tight and avoid communicating about the issue in fear of making the matter worse. At 7.21pm (ish) last night that became the wrong response, with Alan Kohler leading the ABC's finance update with the 'hit to super fund members'. Not the oil price war or largest equity market falls since the GFC.
5 ways to connect with millennials
From InvestmentNews
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Mario Cacciola, a 40-year-old associate attorney for a large international law firm, gets cold-called multiple times a week by financial advisers looking to begin a relationship with him now before he climbs the ladder and makes partner. Although many have rubbed him the wrong way, he eventually met one adviser he felt comfortable with. After working together several years, Mr. Cacciola said he appreciates these five things that could help other advisers who are looking to connect with the next generation.
How advisers can attract top talent
From InvestmentNews
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Leading an independent wealth management practice for nearly two decades has taught me many lessons, but the most important is this — the quality of your employees determines the strength of your business.
How advisers can attract top talent
From InvestmentNews
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
0 visitor like this article | Viewed 405 times | 0 comment
Summary: Leading an independent wealth management practice for nearly two decades has taught me many lessons, but the most important is this — the quality of your employees determines the strength of your business.
RIAs on hiring binge offer ownership, other perks
From InvestmentNews
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: According to the Schwab RIA Compensation Report released Wednesday, about 70% of an advisory firm’s revenue is spent on compensation and total compensation is climbing, with 75% of advisory firms in hiring mode.
As clients and advisers get younger, firms feel pressure to up their tech game
From InvestmentNews
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: According to a new report from SS&C Technologies, the younger generation of investors and financial advisers might be driving the demand for innovation in financial services, but adoption rates are increasing among both young and old.
Why RIAs Buy Growth
From wealthmanagement.com
Added on February 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: One factor driving the rapid rise of M&A in the advisory industry? It’s increasingly the only way to grow a practice into a sustainable business, argued a trio of RIA executives at the recent TDAI conference.
Voices2 ways to give up your practice
From Financial Planning
Added on January 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Rarely does life or business play out as intended. Many advisors avoid planning for succession until upheaval occurs. Those who do plan in advance are often blindsided when their next generation bolts for greener pastures. Because we cannot predict the future, my approach to succession planning is very Buddhist — plan for what you want and don’t be attached to the outcome. How does this work?
Ten Tips for Preparing for a Prospect Meeting
From wealthmangement.com
Added on January 2020 in Plan for the Future
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Summary: Getting ready for a big meeting with a potential client? Preparation matters. This is a fact that’s most evident when you’ve under-prepared for a meeting. There’s nothing worse than that feeling of regret when you didn’t do your homework, forgot your files, or had a hard time finding the meeting location.
