Books

"I bought this book long after I had started the succession planning for my business and wish I had had it from the very beginning. I think it is must read for any financial advisor who is getting towards the end of his or her career and needs to know what to do next. David has a wonderful conversational writing style which made me feel very comfortable and I found myself putting the book down often to reflect on a poignant passage. He spends a lot of time dealing with the emotional side of leaving the business which helped me a great deal and kept me off the ledge in my planning and is very open that there are many ways to handle the process. His comments helped me solidify my thinking on not only my future upon leaving the business, but where my staff would be and how my clients would be taken care of going forward. It is truly a great read and I have kept it near my desk so that I can refer to certain sections from time to time."

"For most of us, selling a financial practice is a one time event and the Capstone to a career.. It is an extremely complex process with many pitfalls for the unwary. From evaluation to structure to transition and very much more, this book is the first part of the "due diligence" you owe yourself. Without having a comprehensive understanding of all phases of the process you are at a very serious disadvantage. Mr. Grau writes from the perspective of one who has many years of experience structuring succession plans and sales of financial practices.It is a must read for every prospective seller or buyer.

If you go into negotiation hoping for the best ... in the words of sports columnist Werner Wolf 'You Lose!' Any suggestion that you don't need to read this book you might as well consider a Red Flag."

"I am a 20 year career financial advisor, CFP and CIMA Certificant. I worked for a major wirehouse for 15 years before moving to independence to practice, unfettered, at my highest and best level. I wish I had read this book and found FP Transitions years ago. The client first approach to mergers and acquisitions within the financial advisory industry resonates with my personal North Star: do what's right for your clients, always, and all the rest will fall into place. Whether one is seriously delving into succession planning right now or envisioning the practice 10 years hence the concepts of what make a practice valuable are eye opening.

To me a successful practice puts clients first, believes in true teams, collaboration, education, service excellence, technical excellence, opportunity for all to achieve their highest potential and deep, long term planning based relationships with those we serve.