To start with, let's define the term "Contingency Planning."

Building a successful independent financial advisory firm that can support the firm’s key stakeholders is a significant accomplishment. But building a successful firm is the first milestone, not the end of the journey. Once the firm is established and stabilized, the next milestone should be to create a sustainable enterprise. This goes beyond figuring out the service and pricing model, attracting and retaining loyal clients, solid branding, and a trustworthy reputation.

Starting your business as a financial advisor is an exciting prospect. You're setting the foundation for a successful future and commitment to growth. Whether you are creating a platform to last the duration of your career or working to formalize/upgrade your established enterprise,effective entity planning and setup will serve as the base on which you can build and hopefully as a springboard for future generations.

But there are important considerations to navigate when setting up an entity that are almost always overlooked and go beyond using your state’s website or an online filing service to establish an entity. 

Strategies to Fortify Employee Retention and Minimize Advisor Turnover

In the fast-paced and competitive realm of financial services, the role of employee retention strategies has never been more critical for registered investment advisors. Independent advisors understand that retaining a skilled and dedicated team is as essential as acquiring new clients and expanding services. This article explores the multifaceted world of employee retention, providing insights into what the most effective advisory firms are doing today.

Whether you are just starting out as a financial advisor or you are simply looking to expand your established business, buying an existing book of business could be the right move for you. Opportunities for business acquisitions are becoming ever more common, as the average age of many financial advisors edges closer to retirement.

As an incentive to motivate hard-working key employees, private employers can issue phantom stock, also known as “shadow stock,” as equity compensation. While the value of these phantom shares will rise and fall in line with the company’s stock, the employee will not gain any actual ownership over the company or minority shareholder rights.

Those employed as financial advisors will likely come to a time in their career where they would like to make a vertical move. Once this stage is reached, there are few clear paths available. Some may decide to dig their heels in and open their own financial advisory firm, scrounging up clients where they can and providing the best possible service to ensure the success of their practice.

The pandemic has not only upheaved our personal lives over the past year and a half but it is doing the same to our professional lives as well. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 4.3 million Americans (2.9% of the entire workforce) quit their jobs in August. This is another record-breaking month after the previous record-breaking months. At the end of July, there were 10.9 million open positions in the U.S. In a survey conducted by Morning Consult for Prudential in mid-September, they found that 46% of full-time employed U.S. adults were either actively looking for or considering a new job search. Why have so many workers decided to forge a new path and call it quits with their current employer? And what does it mean for small business owners?

On August 24, 2015, the SEC implemented FINRA Rule 2040. This rule is related to whether and how people who are not registered as broker-dealers can receive compensation that derives from financial transactions.

As any employee knows, there’s more to hope for at a job than just the salary. One of the biggest factors of whether or not someone will accept an offer is the benefits package. These are the things that help them feel supported in ways beyond their paychecks, and they can have a huge impact on employee experience.