As you’ve probably heard, earlier this month NASAA adopted a model rule requiring all state-registered investment advisors to “establish, implement and maintain written procedures relating to a Business Continuity and Succession Plan”. Learn more about the rule in an article published online by InvestmentNews last week.
Want to learn more about the new NASAA rule and how it will affect you and your business? Register here for a webinar coming up this Thursday, April 30, at 11am EDT, titled “NASAA’s New Succession Plan Rules and What They Mean for You”, led by one of our strategic partners, Pinnacle Advisor Solutions.
Many advisors who say they have a succession plan may not actually have anything formal in place. With all the news surrounding business continuity and succession planning, here are some questions to consider:
With all the news surrounding business continuity and succession planning, here are some questions to consider as you create your plan:
- Do you have your business financials organized and at your fingertips?
- Which of your team members can you enlist to help you gather this information?
- Are you interested in resources from your to help you with this process?
- Will you be able to retain clients should you transition the primary relationship to another team member or advisor in the near future?
- Does your firm have a consistent message that comes across to clients from your whole team?
- In regards to your retirement-age clients, have you formed relationships with those clients’ likely heirs?
- If you’ve lost clients, do you know why, and do you have a plan in place that gives you the ability to adequately replace them?
- Is your AUM growing at a pace you feel good about?
- Are you comfortable with the fee you’re charging (i.e. will it successfully sustain your business going forward)?
And here are some ways you can consider preparing your business this year for a successful future sale or transition:
- Improve your referral strategies
- Diversify your client and/or revenue mix
- Expand into new markets
- Change your pricing strategy
- Establish more scalability through technology
- Better align your team’s compensation with improving your firm’s value
- Work on enhancing your team’s skills and quality
FocusPoint Solutions offers assistance to advisors who seek to make their businesses more profitable and efficient through the development and implementation of a customized transition plan which includes outsourcing. If you outsourced operational and administrative tasks, you could focus more on client acquisition, providing financial planning services and business planning. You would be more easily able to develop a business succession plan related to continuity planning and your personal retirement/succession planning.