TRANSITION TALK

For many financial advisors, it has become commonplace to receive unsolicited offers in the mail. The offers to buy practices usually promise a competitive valuation and purchase price, great terms and future opportunities, and are backed by private equity, bank financing, or other cash reserves. More than anything, these letters bring hope, choices, and affirmation that an advisor has built something valuable and transferable.

Some of these letters arrive from well-known firms but many are from smaller, previously unknown suitors whose marketing strategy is to grow rapidly through practice acquisition. The advisors we talk to on a daily basis tell us about these letters dismissively at first, but they also say they keep the letters for future reference–just in case. Hope and choices are good things, even if they’re not needed today.

It is always flattering to be recognized, wanted, and valued, even if your name comes from a purchased mailing list. The more important point may be that these letters get many independent advisors, like you, thinking and wondering about the future. Questions arise: What is my value? What options do I have? Is this the best offer, or maybe the only offer, I’ll ever get? Can I sell my practice and keep working, given that I’m not ready to fully retire right now?

Acquisition strategies are varied and diverse; how an advisor or a firm pursues acquisitions will depend on their business model and philosophy. While the approach to acquisition should be personalized, it is a mistake to do it alone. In addition to the successful transactions presented in this report, FP Transitions works with many advisors who have endured failed sales or stalled deals.

The story of a failed transaction often begins with one or both parties hesitating to hire a mediator, the perception being that their deal is “simple,” and that buyer and seller can save money if they do it themselves. The information we gather from these clients about their failed sales gives our consultants broader perspective on what works and what doesn’t in an evolving marketplace. When we combine this information with the data gathered from successful deals, it is clear that investing in a mediator improves results for both buyers and sellers in terms of success rate, speed, and value.

One misconception advisors often share with us is the belief that one-on-one negotiations are easier and brokers will just get in the way of a personal connection between buyer and seller. This perception is understandable, as it is essential that buyer and seller have a mutual affinity and have aligned interests in order to transfer and retain client relationships after the deal is done. However, mutual affinity is not sufficient to get buyer and seller over basic negotiating factors, such as valuation, deal structuring, and tax allocation of the purchase price. These are complex topics where a mediator can provide expertise and perspective to both sides and advance the deal forward.

Financial services is such a regulated industry, with the added complexity of requiring a long transition, that it is common for a sale to get bogged down in “paperwork.” So, while each party does need representation, there also needs to be a knowledgeable and neutral mediator who can be responsible for keeping everyone on track, offer solutions, and has data to show why one side’s objection is or is not valid.

Whether you are buying or selling, it is important to understand what is being bought and sold and what expectations both the buyer and seller have of each other. Absent these details, it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine if an offer is fair. After all, “fair” is a relative term. The question of fairness would be easy to answer if all deals were done the same way, but the reality is they are not. Nonetheless, there are still common attributes to most deals that can shed light and aid in understanding the underlying terms. This in turn helps both buyer and seller assess the reasonability of an offer. 

WHAT IS BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD?

The sale of many, if not most, financial service businesses are completed as asset sales as opposed to stock sales, where all ownership rights are transferred to a third party. In an asset-based sale, both buyer and seller receive more favorable tax treatment when compared to a stock sale. Since financial services businesses are primarily relationship-based, providing mostly intangible services, what is being sold in an asset sale is rights to a future benefit stream—namely, revenues. However, given the intangible nature of the assets, there is no certainty that a buyer will receive the same amount of revenue from the clients as the seller did. This is why the ability to leverage the seller’s goodwill (the primary asset being bought and sold) to establish proper deal terms that create a shared risk, shared reward scenario become important.