Business broker found right buyer as adviser began writing career

For David Drucker the reason for leaving the advisory business wasn't retirement but rather a change in career direction. “I was a little tired of working with clients and shifted over to writing,” he said. How he made the transition may help other advisers contemplating a move. For 14 years, Mr. Drucker and a partner ran an advisory firm in Washington. In 1998, he decided to move to Albuquerque, N.M., so the partners split the business in half, with Mr. Drucker taking his share of the clients and some $65 million in assets. He continued working as an adviser until 2001, when he realized that his sideline work as a columnist for a number of financial trade publications was turning into a full-time occupation. These days, Mr. Drucker, 63, continues to write, editing his Technology Tools for Today newsletter, and runs the annual T3 technology conference. He also helps three holdover high-net-worth clients at his registered investment advisory firm, Sunset Financial Management Inc. When he sold his business a decade ago, Mr. Drucker worked with a business broker who searched for someone interested in purchasing not just the practice but also the customer relationship management software and the office systems Mr. Drucker had created. Out of 40 bids, four suitors emerged as serious contenders: two individuals, a trust company and a consolidator. One of the individuals, an adviser in his late 20s with $15 million under management, stood out. “I wanted someone who was running his or her own successful business,” Mr. Drucker said. “My buyer was one of those young go-getters who operated a business while he was in college, put himself through school and knew what he was doing. He had a strong game plan and was a motivated person who could make this work.” That adviser's plan was to build his business through a few acquisitions, Mr. Drucker added.