TRANSITION TALK

Building a business that will continue to grow – even as you begin to work less – requires an efficient infrastructure and the right people. Creating such an infrastructure takes time and constant adjustment.

If you offer competitive wages and benefits you’ll not only attract, but hold on to talented professionals. Additionally, you should consider the strategy being used increasingly by many of your peers: equity compensation. Equity is providing an almost unfair edge for retaining and attracting top talent in the financial services industry.

Equity rewards key staff members for their dedication by granting them a stake in the business’ success and growth as a part of their compensation package.

We've been telling you that the recent release of Succession Planning for Financial Advisors: Building an Enduring Business by David Grau Sr., JD, is going to challenge everything advisors think they know about succession in the financial services industry.

But of course you know that succession is a passion of ours here at FP Transitions, and it's true that David is our president and founder. So, don't just take our word for it. The book's Amazon page is quickly filling up with comments from financial advisors like you about the invalubility of David's insight and clarification of one of our industry's most pressing issues: 

Sell to a third party, or a junior partner? There are pros and cons to each, but either one beats a dead-stick landing.

The publishable manuscript for , was submitted to Wiley & Sons on March 17th, 2014 – all 78,118 words of it – 76 days past due. It was released in June 2014, and I couldn’t have been happier or prouder. It is, in my humble opinion, a very good book, one that I and the entire FP Transitions Team can be proud of, and one this industry will benefit from.

After the honest critique from my partner, Brad, regarding the first manuscript, and all I learned writing it. The second book came a lot easier, and faster. It was written in just over 60 days once Brad and I tended to the all-important task of proper organization. We had a good plan the second time around, and it was well executed. It wasn’t so much that I knew what to say, it was more that I had learned what wasn’t all that interesting and what wasn’t really necessary in the telling of an interesting and informative story. I still shake my head at all the good material left on the cutting room floor. It was hard to let that all go, but sharp and decisive editors helped a lot.

I wrote a book! Actually, I wrote two books, but only one was publishable. I’d like to tell you about the one that didn’t get published - the one I learned the most from.

Yesterday, FP Transitions president and founder David Grau Sr., JD appeared as a guest on benzinga.com and #Premarket Prep to discuss his new book Succession Planning for Financial Advisors: Building an Enduring Business and the succession planning process.

“Succession planning isn’t just about figuring out who’s going to take over when you’re gone,” says David Grau Sr., President and Founder of FP Transitions. “It’s about building a business that will support your long-term vision, and which will continue to serve clients even when you’re not around as much.”

Advisor.ca article "Succession Planning Can Boost Business" with insight and research from SEI and FP Transitions. Read the full article here.

Professional goals should extend beyond just earning a living during an advisors peak working years, learn how to perpetuate your income into the future. 

“Isn't it ironic? Most independent financial advisers have no exit strategy and let their firms die through attrition.”

"To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, independent advisors who rely on revenue sharing versus equity for compensating junior advisors are aware of price but not value.  If your goal as an independent advisor is to build a valuable and enduring business, then the focus should be on compensation structures that underpin the creation of a team of advisors working together in support of a single enterprise."