At the ASHL Group, we understand the dedication and expertise that goes into building a successful financial advice business. You've nurtured client relationships, weathered market fluctuations and established yourself as a trusted guide on their financial journey. But have you considered what happens to that legacy when you're ready to take a step back?
The answer lies in a crucial but often overlooked aspect – succession planning. The unfortunate truth is that many financial advisers wait far too long to address succession planning. The path that you choose can lead to two vastly different outcomes for your clients, your employees and your business itself: client chaos or client continuity.
The peril of procrastination: Client chaos
Imagine the scenario that you have announced your retirement without a succession plan in place. Your clients are left wondering who will manage their investments? How long will it take for someone else to understand their unique needs? and perhaps most importantly, what does this mean for their money? Uncertainty breeds fear, potentially leading clients to:
Seek new advisers: If a client doesn’t feel like their adviser within a firm has given them enough notice or explanation, it could break the trust with the firm and a client may seek a new adviser. This can disrupt their financial plan and expose them to unfamiliar investment strategies, but they may feel like they have no choice.
Make rash decisions: Feeling lost, a client might make impulsive investment choices based on emotion rather than sound financial advice because they don’t know what is going to happen to their money.
Leave altogether: Disgruntled clients could take their business elsewhere, impacting your firm's revenue and reputation.
This scenario paints a picture of client chaos and the foundation that you have spent so many years building, client trust and loyalty, crumbles without a smooth transition.
The power of planning: Client continuity
Now, let's explore the other side where you have a well-defined succession plan in place prior to your announcement of leaving. You have identified a qualified successor and mentored them which means that when the time comes for you to step back, the transition is seamless:
Clients retain trust: They know that their financial adviser may change, but that their investment strategy and goals remain a priority, so that they do not feel like they need to take their business elsewhere.
Continuity of care: The new adviser, familiar with individual client needs, can seamlessly pick up where you left off.
Minimal disruption: The transition is smooth, minimising client anxiety and ensuring that they remain focused on their financial well-being.
This is the power of client continuity. You've ensured that your clients' financial journeys remain on track, even after your departure.
Now which scenario sounds better to you?
Taking the first steps to ensure client continuity
At the ASHL Group, we understand the complexities that come with succession planning, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
We are lucky to have industry leading experts working within the ASHL Group who are on hand to support you every step of the way. From choosing the right central advice proposition for you to ongoing advice to ensure that you are working in line with Consumer Duty regulations, you will benefit from having ongoing access to their expertise in order to grow your business.
But every network has experts working for them, right? That’s true, but further to the support from our esteemed colleagues, you will have member only access to our funded ASHL Academy in which you could soon be benefitting from a newly qualified financial adviser within your firm. Offering programmes from Administrator all the way to Chartered Level 6, the ASHL Academy brings together the vision and industry leading compliance standards of ASHL, together with the award-winning pedigree of NextGen Planners, to create a programme that can be tailored to the individual’s learning needs so that they can drop inefficient study methods that don’t serve them. This is backed up with a comprehensive set of on demand study materials.
When the time comes that you decide to take a step back, the support doesn’t stop there. Because we work with a range of firms, we often have principals looking to buy. If you are the right fit then we can support in this buyout. If that doesn’t feel quite right, then this is where the ASHL Group’s national model Lync Wealth Management comes into play. Lync Wealth are committed to delivering growth for your business, opportunities for your team and setting up the perfect conditions to optimise your business’s value.
From working closely with all of our firms and understanding their future plans, we create the correct partnerships together within the ASHL Group. Through our national model, we provide a route of acquisition that allows a consistent and protected client journey. Through our practice buyout programme, an acquired business integrates with Lync Wealth over an agreed period, with the integration and handover mapped ahead.
That sounds like client continuity to us…
The Choice is Yours
Succession planning isn't just about you; it's about the future of your clients, your employees and your legacy.
To us, the choice is clear. By proactively addressing succession planning, you can secure a bright future for your business and ensure the well-being of those who have placed their trust in you. Don't leave your professional legacy to chance. Take the first step towards client continuity today by getting in touch and finding out more about the many benefits of being a member of Lyncombe Consultants, the industry-leading pre-built advice network from the ASHL Group Of Companies.
