Results for "succession planning"
Displaying 338 results
AIG prepares succession plan
November 7, 2010
American International Group Inc. is at a point in its recovery where the insurer's next chief executive will be able to focus on running day-to-day operations rather than crisis management, observers said. The issue arose Oct. 25 when AIG disclosed...
Incite: Don't put off succession planning
September 26, 2010
In conducting the research for our recent white paper, my partners and I were surprised to discover just how few owners of wealth management firms have done any meaningful succession planning for their businesses. In our view, the behavior is...
What makes your firm so special?
August 22, 2010
Pop quiz: Who are you? What do you do? And why is it important? In other words, why does your firm matter? The first two questions are relatively easy. You should be able to give confident, concise answers in simple terms and break down any...
Financial advisers sculpt rare opportunities from clients' collectibles
August 8, 2010
Your wealthy 85-year-old client has spent his life assembling a multimillion-dollar collection of rare objets d'art. He's also got a wine cellar full of Chateau Mouton Rothschild and a set of rare pool cues. He wants your help deciding what...
Merrill Lynch adviser, seduced by Burgundy, concocts Grand Cru
July 20, 2010
Ray Walker was happily employed as a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch & Co. in San Francisco until a gulp of wine coerced him into leaving for France to buy $140,000 worth of grapes with a dream to rival powerhouse Burgundy domaines such as...
Succession planning: Why your solution could be in the next cubicle
July 18, 2010
The soft market for advisory businesses is revealing an old verity: A founder's best successor is often a junior adviser who has been elevated to partner. “For the past couple of years, advisers were on the sidelines in terms of partnerships...
Finding your advisory firm's next you
July 18, 2010
Youth is sweet. For the advisory business, it's also a challenge. While many advisory firms are considering new ways to recruit, retain and reward the younger members of their staffs, managers must go further. They should make an extra effort...
Tips when selling to a junior partner
June 6, 2010
Many financial advisers assume that selling their practices to trusted junior advisers inevitably results in a smooth and easy transaction. Think again. Like any complex transaction, selling your life's work — even to someone you know well...
A delicate situation: Acquiring practices of the deceased
March 14, 2010
Is it appropriate to try to acquire the clients of a fellow financial adviser who died without a successor? It is a tough call: You don't want to come off as an ambulance chaser. And even if you choose to pursue such an opportunity, success...
Opinion Online: Give up on succession planning
March 10, 2010
Yes, the headline is a bit over the top to get your attention. But you'd have to admit that for all the talk about succession planning in the financial advice business, there are few actual plans in place and few reliable models for training...
Cambridge to take stakes in 23 advisory firm 'partners'
January 10, 2010
Cambridge Investment Research Inc. will team up with 23 advisory firms in a new venture called Continuity Partners Group that will focus on succession planning and acquisition financing. Cambridge, a broker-dealer with 1,600 financial advisers...
Most advisers concerned about succession plans, survey reveals
October 5, 2009
Although financial advisers think that succession planning is important, many also believe that they aren't getting enough help preparing for that transition, according to a new survey conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates Inc. for John...
When internal transitions go wrong
September 27, 2009
For good reason, most financial advisers prefer internal to external transitions when planning their business' succession. Internal transitions allow for greater client and staff continuity, give the departing owner an opportunity to play a...
Fidelity watchers ponder succession at the family firm
August 23, 2009
Although Fidelity executives last week quelled rumors about the potential departure of president Rodger Lawson, observers noted that the larger question about the firm is who will take over when chairman and chief executive Edward C. “Ned”...
Planning for family, employee succession
June 7, 2009
Although succession planning involves many decisions and alternatives, there is one outcome that is always an either/or option: Ownership of the practice will pass either to a family member or to an outsider. Let's discuss both possibilities,...
Keeping it all in the family can be tricky business
May 3, 2009
Running a successful family financial advisory business is much tougher than the smiling portraits posted on many firms' websites would lead a client or prospect to believe. Although thousands of registered representatives and financial advisers...
Family feud drives home need for succession plans
April 12, 2009
When Chris Wanken's dad, a branch manager affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services Inc., fired him last March, it ignited a smoldering family dispute that experts say might have been avoided with better planning. The Wankens' story is...
Fiduciary strikes ownership transition deal
January 9, 2008
Brouwer & Janachowski Inc. has become the fourth financial advisory firm in less than a year to strike a deal with Fiduciary Network LLC to set in motion a gradual ownership transition process. The Tiburon, Calif.-based financial advisory firm,...
