Securities America Creates First Online Practice Transition Center For Advisors

LA VISTA, Neb. (November 2, 2011) Financial advisors are dedicated to helping clients plan their financial futures, but sometimes need help putting plans in place to ensure the smooth transitions of their own practices. Securities America recently introduced its Practice Transition Center, a first-of-its-kind library of videos and tools that help advisors understand and implement the process of buying or selling a practice.
For advisors who want to expand their practice through acquisition or simply put a contingency plan in place in case the unexpected happens, the Practice Transition Center offers an overview of succession planning and details on valuation, due diligence, deal structuring and client transition. This information, coupled with consulting support from Securities America practice management team, enables advisors to achieve their business growth objectives.
The support received from Securities America has been a tremendous asset in my acquisition of other financial practices, said Rene Cordell of Cordell Wealth Management in Wichita, Kan. In my experience purchasing six other Securities America practices, the acquisition and transition process has been very well planned and executed. Most importantly, for clients it has been a non-event.
Securities America advisor & CEO of FLC Capital Management in Palm Desert, Calif., Max Briggs knows all too well the need for contingency planning. When his business partner passed away unexpectedly from cancer at a young age, the buy/sell agreement they had put in place ensured the continuity of the practice and provided for the partners family. But when Briggs was attacked by a shark while fishing in the Bahamas just months after his partners passing, he did not yet have a continuity plan, never imagining that the unexpected could occur again. Briggs survived the attack and immediately took the necessary steps to implement another continuity plan. He described his experience in an interview with Securities America on Advisorpod.com.
While delineating a succession plan is a critical first step, guidelines for executing the plan are equally important, said Roger Verboon, senior practice management consultant at Securities America. For example, weve seen excellent plans fail because of delays in the client transition phase. By using the tools available in the Practice Transition Center, advisors can facilitate a smooth transition for their practice, whether it is triggered by choice or due to an unexpected event.
The content of the Practice Transition Center materials has been collected over time, in response to questions and requests for information from an increasing number of advisors. Being able to direct advisors to comprehensive self-learning tools gathered in one central location allows more time to help advisors deal with the specifics of more complex situations.
In many cases, strategic acquisitions allow our advisor offices to double in size overnight, said Verboon, but it doesn't happen without the planning, coaching and resources Securities America provides, through the Practice Transition Center and our dedicated practice management team. We currently have four deals underway for to acquire practices outside our broker-dealer, with a combined total of almost $400 million in assets under management. With the addition of the Practice Transition Center, we expect that volume to increase as other advisors seek growth through purchasing other practices.