Kovack Financial Network launches private succession platform for advisors

Kovack Financial Network has opened a private, invitation-only platform designed to help its roughly 400 advisors plan practice transitions, acquisitions, and partnerships without leaving the firm's network. The Fort Lauderdale-based independent broker-dealer built the tool, called the KFN Succession Center, in partnership with FindBob, a retention enablement company that works with insurance and financial services firms.

The platform opened to Kovack advisors on August 10 and was introduced through a live demonstration hosted by the firm's practice management team on August 18. Additional advisors will be added across the network in the coming weeks.

The launch lands squarely inside a growing problem of next-gen succession for advisors. As flagged by DeVoe & Company's RIA research, 38% of advisors believed the next generation could afford a buyout as recently as 2021. That confidence has plummetted since then; according to the latest polling in DeVoe's 2025 RIA Deal Room report, 36% of RIA leaders say their successors cannot afford to buy them out, and 42% simply do not know.

Read more: RIA consolidators say they want big firms — but keep buying small ones

How a closed network changes the succession conversation

The KFN Succession Center sets itself apart from a general matchmaking marketplace based on exclusivity. Every participant is already a Kovack-affiliated financial professional, so advisors browsing the platform are working from shared compliance standards and a shared understanding of how the firm operates before a conversation even starts.

"Our advisors have spent years building meaningful practices, and they deserve a trusted, private place to think about what comes next," said Brian Kovack, chief executive officer of Kovack Financial Network. "The KFN Succession Center reflects our commitment to standing beside our advisors – not just as they serve their clients, but as they plan the future of their own businesses."

Chris Yarosh, Kovack's vice president of practice management and due diligence, framed the platform as a response to how these conversations have traditionally happened.

"For years, advisors thinking about succession, acquisition, or partnership had those conversations quietly and one at a time," Yarosh said. "The KFN Succession Center brings those advisors together on common ground, so the right people can find one another – privately, and at the pace each advisor sets."

Read more: Why RIA succession planning is different for women advisors

What the platform offers advisors

The Succession Center bundles several tools rather than functioning as a single matching engine. Advisors can browse discreetly and choose whether, when, and with whom to connect, with nothing leaving the closed network.

A matching function connects advisors looking to acquire a book of business, bring on a partner, or transition out, based on stated preferences and practice attributes. An education component, The Owner's Playbook, delivers expert-led sessions on ownership, growth, and transition planning. Sharing controls remain advisor-driven by default, and Kovack's practice management team stays available to help structure conversations once they become concrete opportunities.

Roland Chan, founder and chief executive officer of FindBob, said the partnership builds on Kovack's existing advisor relationships. "Kovack has always led with the advisor relationship, and that is exactly what makes a platform like this work," Chan said. "We are proud to collaborate with the Kovack team to give their advisors a private, trusted place to plan the future of their practices."

FindBob's partnership with Kovack comes shortly after The AmeriFlex Group rolled out an AI-driven prospecting tool built in part with Anthropic's Claude. The tool profiles hundreds of advisor practices to flag succession candidates for its team before outreach begins.

Nearly 40% of the more than 18,000 independent advisory firms nationwide are expected to see their owners retire over the next decade, according to research by Cerulli, and at least a third of those firms currently operate without a formal succession plan.

Stephen Caruso, associate director at Cerulli, has attributed some of the delay to advisor psychology rather than a lack of options: successful owners often see little reason to step back, which pushes planning further down the road.

“So many advisors are focused on the business and they’re not planning for their own retirement,” Caruso told InvestmentNews previously. “If they’ve been very successful, they see no reason to hang up spurs, so they are delaying succession planning.”