Based on a survey conducted by the FPA, 73% of all advisors lack a formal succession plan. This lack of planning, combined with the graying of the industry and declining advisor headcount, presents a tremendous opportunity for skilled, knowledgeable, and hungry advisors to rapidly grow their business through acquisition. Despite the aging industry and lack of proactive exit planning, finding a seller is still challenging.

After years of working with successful and unsuccessful buyers, we'll share the best practices and most effective strategies for growing inorganically through this comprehensive, educational four-part series to inform, educate, and prepare interested buyers to find and close (more) deals.

Learn more about what we cover in each part in the descriptions below.

Fill out the form to watch any of the four part series!

Recording
Available

Part 1: Preparing and Sourcing

Buying a practice is the fastest way to grow your business, and despite the average advisor being in their mid-50s and few having an exit plan, less than 1 in 50 buyers will successfully find and close a deal. With the right amount of preparation and planning, it is possible to find more opportunities for a merger or acquisition and selectively close the right deals. This session focuses on the foundational elements consistently found with serial acquirers:

• Understanding the competitive landscape – the most current data and trends of advisor M&A
• Preparing your practice for rapid growth – operational best practices
• How to stand out from the crowd in a competitive M&A market, tips & tricks to become part of the “final four”
• Fundamentals of value and valuation – how to create a business a seller wants to sell or merge with

Recording
Available

Part 2: How to Find a Seller and Get Them to “Yes”

After preparing yourself and your business for acquisition, finding deals, and getting a seller to commit to you is the next stage on the journey to go from dreamer to consolidator. Here we focus on specific and practical steps to find sellers and how to get them to “yes”:

• Sourcing sellers – where to find sellers and how to create an effective “go-to-market” strategy for success
• You’ve found a seller interested in talking, now what:
  
  • Planning for the first meeting – what to say and what not to say
  • Getting to the second, third and fourth meetings
• Best practices to get to a Letter of Intent

Recording
Available

Part 3: The Deal – How to Create a Win-Win

Finding someone to purchase or merge into your practice is a time-consuming a challenging process, but with the right plan and commitment, it is possible to consistently go from being one of 85 interested buyers to one of the final four. Here our focus is how to effectively negotiate the deal so you go from being 1 of 5 considered, to THE one:

• Understanding the type of seller you are dealing with
• How are deals currently being structured? What is working and what isn’t?
• Key tax considerations to negotiate
• How to win the deal – creative deal structuring alternatives
• Financing the deal
• How to win without overpaying, and when to overpay

The session concludes with a focus on the process, getting from signed Letter of Intent to Closing and funding.

Recording

Available

Part 4: Keeping What You Bought – Transition Planning Success

You’ve closed the deal, now what?! Growth by merger or acquisition is an effective strategy to add tens or hundreds of millions in new AUM overnight, but being successful means keeping the clients and assets. The final session in the series focuses on the transition plans used by successful buyers, both pre-close and post-close.

• When to start discussing the plan
• Common roles and compensation plans for sellers post-sale
• How and when to tell the staff (for both buyer AND seller)
• Sample client communication plan and pitfalls to avoid
  
  • Client segmentation
  • Communication plan and sample letters/scripts

The final session in the series concludes with a focus on how to create referral opportunities to find the next deal.

Presenters