We’re coming off an incredible year from mergers and acquisitions yet again. In fact, we closed out 2022 as one of our greatest ever for FP Transitions, and the same goes for Live Oak Bank. We took a moment to reconnect with James Hughes, SVP of Advisory Lending for Live Oak Bank, to break down the key areas advisors should consider before they enter the 2023 mergers and acquisitions environment.
Topics: Acquisition, M&A, Business Value, Deal Structure, Financing, Bank Financing, Buying & Selling, State of the Market, Next Generation, Valuation & Appraisal, "Buying, Selling, and Valuing Financial Practices", Sell and Stay™, Trends
In our post-covid M&A world, finding “the perfect fit” is paramount. While price plays a role in deals, it has much more to do with the merging or acquiring entity’s vision and proposed deal terms. Our team has an unmatched vantage point in this industry when it comes to buying or selling an advisory firm. After reading through tens of thousands of inbound inquiries and supporting over 2,000 M&A transactions, we’ve picked up on a few resounding themes. Here are our #FPInsights on which aspects are of vital importance to firms seeking an acquisition or merger.
Topics: Selling Your Practice, Acquisition
I rarely meet a financial advisor who doesn’t immediately mention that they want to buy a practice. It seems to be every advisor’s goal. Of course it is. And in my fifteen years in the industry, I have seen why.
One of the fastest ways for a firm to grow is to acquire another book of business. However, the process is more nuanced and competitive than most advisors seem to think. Most assume they will figure it out as they go along. If you take the unguided DIY approach, however, mistakes will be made–perhaps big ones–and you’re likely to leave money on the table. Our EMSTM
Professional members know this more than anyone, which is why they've engaged our experts to help them prepare and achieve their acquisition goals.
Like every aspect of business ownership, acquiring a book of business takes advanced consideration and preparation. These are a few steps you should be taking now, prior to developing and executing your acquisition strategy.
1. Develop Your Buyer Profile
Membership to fptransitions.com is free. We don’t believe there should be a series of hoops to jump through before you can explore the largest open market of M&A opportunities; or even to access our library of business building, acquisition, and succession resources.
Step one to taking advantage of your fptransitions.com membership is to complete your buyer profile. This series of basic questions gives the team at FP Transitions an overview of your company and team so we can best help you find acquisition opportunities that would be a good fit.
Pro tip: FP Transitions uses the information provided in your profile to search our database of 25,000+ advisors to find the right buyers for private sales, continuity partner matching, and successor searches.
The buyer profile is your opportunity to offer information that makes you stand out from your peers. The Practice Description field especially. If you offer a few concise thoughts on what makes your practice unique, you’re already setting yourself apart.
Topics: Acquisition, Business Growth, Business Value, Continuity Partner Matching
Despite the continued surge of wealth management M&A activity, one surprising fact remains: most of these market participants are engaging in a transaction for the very first time. While there are aggregators and larger RIAs that will continue to build up their business through strategic acquisitions, the majority of today’s deals spark from a mutual attraction either from aligned competencies, or complementary competencies, that allow both firms to amplify their growth and sustainability.
According to James Fisher, Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at FP Transitions, “Many practices are looking to be acquired or merge with a larger business to spur growth, to benefit from economies of scale, to offload compliance and day-to-day operations, to increase bandwidth and offerings to clients, or to assist with the retirement of one or more senior owners/partners, among other reasons.”
Regardless of experience, it takes a lot of patience, communication, time, and expertise to navigate the entire deal process. For firms going through this, on any side of the table, negotiating and documenting the transaction can often be more time consuming than anyone anticipated, creating the perfect environment for an all-to-common problem: deal fatigue.
Topics: Selling Your Practice, Acquisition, M&A, Business Value, Deal Structure, Buying & Selling, Mergers
Business growth is a never-ending, and ever-changing objective of all business owners; financial planners included. While the lingering social effects of the pandemic and the challenges of upscaling during the Great Resignation/ Reshuffle can make the task-at-hand seem insurmountable, there are still tangible ways that you can steer the course of your enterprise. Here are a few tips to help grow your financial planning business.
1. Invest in Human Capital
Most advisors have built their business from nothing into their single most valuable asset. Finding talent can be a challenge these days, especially with unemployment settling into lows not seen in over 50 years. Data from FP Transition's Valuation Database has indicated that businesses with multiple professionals accumulate assets at a higher rate than sole practitioners. As your business matures, it is imperative to invest in the next generation of talent, to keep the engine running while you begin to enjoy the reward for what you’ve built.
Topics: Acquisition, Multi-Generational Ownership, Business Growth, Tip of the Week, Revenue Strength, Enterprise Strength, Business Value, Buying & Selling, Next Generation, Talent Recruitment, Building Your Team, Client Trust, Business Operations, Trends
When it's time to sell your financial advisory practice, knowing the value of your business is just as important as finding the right buyer. But as you begin exploring your options, determining who will be the right buyer to take over your business often takes center stage. The FP Transitions® Open Market will not only locate a new owner who is a good fit for your clients and investment style, but also help you obtain the most value from the sale.
Benefits of the FP Transitions Open Market
Tapping into an open marketplace has benefits for both buyers and sellers. Buyers have access to a larger pool of acquisition opportunities with the potential to meet their strategic goals. This includes those outside of their already established network and area, allowing them to expand their reach. And sellers gain access to a large number of qualified buyers in order to find the best possible buyer for their business.
Topics: Selling Your Practice, Acquisition, Business Value, Buying & Selling
During our 2021 Mid-year Market Update, in addition to up-to-date transaction data and trends, our experts, M&A Director James Fisher, JD and CEO Brad Bueermann, explored some myths and misconceptions about the current M&A marketplace.
The problem with misinformation is that as a buyer you may find yourself discouraged from exploring acquisitions or mergers as a growth strategy or from inquiring on businesses that could be a great fit and expand your reach. As a seller, misinformation can lead you to compromising your fit criteria or from exploring a wider pool of buyers.
The following are the top five misconceptions we hear from advisors and from other market participants.
MYTH: Reported transaction data shows a complete view of the industry M&A marketplace.
No current reporting of annual M&A transactions–including ours–encompasses activity across the entire industry. Even if data is being reported based on publicly advertised transactions, many are private and not publicized as larger M&A deals tend to be. Details and terms are often kept confidential regardless, and, as the old adage goes, "the devil is in the details." So, comparing the data and transaction activity across firms participating in M&A can be tricky.
Topics: Selling Your Practice, Acquisition, Buying & Selling, State of the Market
In our more than twenty years’ experience helping businesses design and implement internal succession plans, we’ve seen that each generation—G1, G2, and G3—can, naturally, have their own distinct points of view and priorities. These differences are common and normal. By acknowledging these differences and communicating with each other, teams can adjust their expectations, align their priorities, and see their transition plans work out to the satisfaction of everybody.
But how do you align different priorities within your own ownership team? Below are three examples of how to facilitate this alignment. These examples are not of particular clients, but are taken from a conglomeration of advisor situations over the years.
Topics: Succession Planning, Acquisition, Business Growth, Next Generation
The Sell and Stay® approach to selling a financial services business was developed by the professionals at FP Transitions to fulfill the preference of many sellers to gradually exit the business by giving up their ownership obligations while continuing to service clients and earn an income. This arrangement can be customized in a hundred different ways, but often entails an owner selling the majority–or all–of their ownership to a third-party buyer and remaining as an employee of the business for a set number of years (typically 3-5) before fully exiting.
Buyers who are open to this type of transaction not only access a larger acquisition pool, but can enjoy other unique advantages as well. You, of course, enjoy all the benefits of a traditional acquisition: immediate growth, available financing options, expansion into different areas and niches, and economies of scale. In addition, the acquisition can help you tackle some other areas of your long-term growth strategy through:
Topics: Acquisition, Deal Structure, Buying & Selling, Sell and Stay™
Today’s Independent financial advisors face an endless array of challenges and opportunities. Identifying challenges before they arise is key for finding solutions and developing strategies for tackling the issues that present the greatest opportunities for improvement and growth.
The four biggest opportunities are:
Growth and profitability are inextricably linked and balancing the two within a single practice is the difference between building a one-generational practice and a multi-generational, sustainable enterprise.
Topics: Compensation, Succession Planning, Acquisition, Business Growth, Mergers, Talent Recruitment, Sustainability, Enterprise