Video Library

Transaction data and trends from 2021 Q1 and Q2 paired with insights on marketplace realities. We'll delve into the concept of acquisition potential. Over the past few years, our extensive valuation and transaction databases show that advisory businesses can be successful in acquiring at higher levels than they think. However, most buyers tend to keep their sights limited and fail to realize that if they work to improve a few key areas they could reach higher. Aired July 13, 2021
Compensation | External Sale | Business Growth | Deal Structure & Documentation
Explore deal details from several recently facilitated third-party sales, including traditional sales vs, Sell and Stay® transactions for various practice types (RIA, IAR, and RR). Discover commonalities in these sales as well as unique factors that impact deal terms. Realizing your ideal exit is all about planning and how you structure the deal.
External Sale | Deal Structure & Documentation | Acquisition

Tapping into an open marketplace has benefits for both buyers and sellers. Buyers have access to a larger pool of acquisition opportunities with the potential to meet their strategic goals. This includes those outside of their already established network and area, allowing them to expand their reach. Likewise, sellers gain access to a large number of qualified buyers in order to find the best possible buyer for their business.
Acquisition | External Sale | About FP Transitions![Qualities of a Successful Buyer [Video]](https://www.fptransitions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Buyer%20Benefits%20Sell%20and%20Stay%20JULY%202020/SSbuyerbenefits_resourcethumb.jpg?width=85&name=SSbuyerbenefits_resourcethumb.jpg)
In 2020 and 2021 FP Transitions transaction trends have shown an uptick in acquisition opportunities as well as an increase in qualified buyers in the marketplace. In this Roundtable Talk, recorded on the heels of our 2021 Mid-Year Market Update webinar, M&A Director James Fisher and SVP Craig Strauser discuss successful buyers. What common qualities do they all share, and how do they make them more likely to be successful in their pursuit of acquisitions.
Acquisition | Business Growth | About FP Transitions/2020MidYearReview_resource.jpg?width=85&name=2020MidYearReview_resource.jpg)
We all know that 2020 was a truly unique year on all fronts. The financial services M&A marketplace was no exception. The effects of 2020 have carried over into 2021 and have impacted transactions in some unexpected ways–and have potentially changed deal term norms from here on out. M&A Director James Fisher, JD and SVP of Client Experience, Craig Strauser focus on some key insights from our 2021 Mid-Year Market Update.
Acquisition | External Sale | Business Growth | About FP Transitions
Compensation systems in the industry are as varied as the businesses that use them. Balanced compensation tools help to maximize profitability, reward your team, and attract talented professionals.This webinar explores common compensation challenges and the varied solution sets to address them, including the incorporation of team-based compensation systems as well as synthetic and straight equity solutions. Aired June 30, 2021
Compensation | Internal Succession | Next-Gen Talent | Business Growth
The entity structure of your business can impact the way it's run, how ownership is succeeded, and how the enterprise is taxed. Choosing the right entity for your business allows for efficiencies in capacity, expenses, and ultimately, growth. This webinar explores how entity: works with taxation elections to achieve your business goals, is critical for protecting yourself, the business, and your team, and supports onboarding the next generation of advisory professionals. Aired June 9, 2021
Entity & Business Structure | Business Growth | Tax & Regulatory Issues
Building a diverse and complementary team creates business sustainability. Developing a strategy for recruiting, retaining, and rewarding top talent comes from understanding what areas of your business you want to enhance. Create a team that will elevate your business and leverage the compensation tools you have to keep it all growing. Aired May 19, 2021
Compensation | Internal Succession | Next Gen Talent | Entity & Business Structure
The concepts of succession and sustainability are inextricably linked–by creating one you find the other. Both are achieved by cultivating strong business foundations. This webinar explores structure vs. size in terms of value impact, defining core pillars of strength, using sustainability to uphold client trust, and focusing your efforts to elevate your business. Aired April 28, 2021
Business Growth | Entity & Business Structure | Internal Succession | Compensation
There are many factors that contribute to the revenue growth of your business, including: service capacity, number of clients and AUM, client demographics, fees, and, of course, the market itself. Understanding where your efforts have the most impact is key to maximizing growth. This presentation explores key revenue drivers through the lens of one practice's five-year journey. Aired March 2, 2021
Assessing where your business is now, creating specific goals for where you want to be, and implementing a strategic plan to get there is the best recipe for enhancing your enterprise. Be sure to leverage the right tools to discover key insights, define your short- and long-term business priorities, and set appropriate KPIs specific to your business size and priorities. Aired February 16, 2021
Understanding available compensation strategies and how they work together can help you can build and retain the right team for business longevity and growth. It's critical to balance role-based wages, performance-based bonuses, and equity-based profit distributions for all members of them–including owners–to encourage performance and create profit. What you pay someone is not as important as how you pay them. Aired February 2, 2021
Compensation | Internal Succession | Business Growth | Entity & Business Structure
A look back at a unique year of volatility and resilience for the industry and how it affected practice values, deal terms, and buyer/seller matches. This session highlights business and ownership attributes made for the most successful buyers in 2020, how to avoid the most common "deal killers," and where to start in evaluating your business potential and determining where to focus your business enhancement efforts. Aired January 19, 2021
External Sale | Acquisition | Deal Structure & Documentation | Business Growth
Look beyond any one owner’s career and focus on the creation of long-term, sustainable independence for the business as a whole. Discover core business foundations needed to support internal succession and long-term sustainability. Where will you focus your efforts to make the greatest impact on the growth and profitability of your business? Aired November 19, 2020
Business Growth | Compensation | Internal Succession | Entity & Business Structure
M&A marketplace activity for 2020, including how projections made in April stack up to the actual data and what we expect to see as we wrap up this unique year. Additionally, explore preparing for your ideal exit, maximizing the success of your deal, tapping into the open market advantage, and identifying the right buyer or seller for your transaction. Aired November 5, 2020
External Sale | Acquisition | Deal Structure & Documentation
As businesses evolve from single-advisor, single-book practices to more sophisticated, multi-advisor enterprises, proper structure is important in order to associate value, growth, and profitability with the business as whole–rather than with an individual producer. In this webcast, we explore common organization structures in the financial services industry, and how building improper structures can degrade value and impede growth.
Business Growth | Entity & Business Structure | Compensation
A strategically cultivated and nurtured team can align business goals, spark exponential growth, and solidify client confidence. This presentation explores important considerations for building your recruitment strategy, dates and resources for executing your search, and common recruitment and retention tools for bringing on new professionals. Aired October 22, 2020
![Virtual Meeting Tips [Video]](https://www.fptransitions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Virtual%20Meetings%20Navigating%20the%20Tools/virtual-meetings%20videos_resource%20thumb.jpg?width=85&name=virtual-meetings%20videos_resource%20thumb.jpg)
Virtual Meetings : Looking Your Best [Video]
Practical video guides for navigating the basics of virtual meeting software, connecting with your colleagues and clients, and how to look great doing it. These videos Includes tips on managing audio and video settings, screen sharing, setting up your space, lighting, and, of course, the importance of practice, practice, practice.

A sustainable business is financially strong, has a long-term plan for continued growth, and is structured to last beyond the career of any one owner. Sustainability is about more than just the succession of ownership, it's about creating a business of trusted advisors that will carry on, continue to grow, and, most importantly, be there for clients when they need it most.
Internal Succession | Compensation | Business Growth | Next-Gen Talent

The financial obligation of purchasing ownership in the business can enhance an already strong sense of duty to the organization and can pull the bigger picture into focus. As an owner you're no longer responsible for just the projects on your own desk, but for the performance and success of the business as a whole.
Next-Gen Talent | Internal Succession | Compensation | Business Growth

In today’s marketplace, many sellers are looking for a flexible offramp that allows them to realize value while continuing to work and earn income. Buyers are concerned about effectively servicing acquired clients and finding talent. The Sell and Stay® model is a powerful strategy to align the interests of both buyers and sellers. Originally aired May 5, 2020.

Synthetic equity can enhance your ability to recruit, reward, and retain talented advisors and support staff, and offers key economic benefits of ownership, without actual stock changing hands. It is an innovative set of tools that should be considered by every independent financial professional–especially in challenging times. Originally aired April 28, 2020.
Compensation | Internal Succession | Next-Gen Talent | Business Growth

As industry leaders in designing and facilitating internal succession plans for financial advisory firms, the leadership team at FP Transitions has its own talented, multigenerational ownership team in place. Our next-generation leaders have unique strengths and perspectives that keep our business constantly innovating and growing.
Next-Gen Talent | Internal Succession

In a competitive marketplace, developing and executing a clear recruitment and retention strategy to build the right team may be the most important investment you make to grow your business. Through the 3Rs–recruit, reward, and retain–you can successfully build a next-gen team that will help transform your business into a sustainable enterprise.

Balancing growth and profitability comes down to compensation structure and the equity pathways created. The profits generated through properly structured equity pathways are a catalyst for growth and the means to accomplish long-term strategic objectives including recruiting new talent, internal succession, and acquisition.

The next-generation ownership of FP Transitions discuss their own experiences in taking the mantle to shape the team and future of the business. They explore hiring for cultural fit and potential value, the definition of “ownership mentality,” and how they might identify potential G3 leaders in the generation beyond their own.

We explore the internal succession and describes how both the succession process and business growth can benefit from multigenerational experiences and knowledge from all owners. Additionally, we look at other factors that help the succession planning process, including helping next generation advisors understand the benefits and responsibilities of ownership.

CEO Brad Bueermann explains how non-advocacy support for the transitions of financial practices is to the benefit of all parties. Buyer and seller with a close working relationship as they transition–for the welfare of the clients and for the transference of value of the practice.

Many advisors begin the planning process too late, and their practice begins to lose value drastically as they begin to slow down. In this FP Webcast, President and Founder David Grau Sr., JD addresses how to execute a proper succession plan, from thinking realistically about your time to harnessing second-generation talent.

Marcus Hagood and Kelsey Herman, JD, discuss the details of funding your continuity plan, including where the money comes from, setting everything up in advance to avoid erroneous chaos, insurance options for death vs. disability, and common deal structuring for sale in the event of unexpected death or disability.

Your business is more than just an income source. What are the differences between revenue strength and enterprise strength? How does each make an important contribution to the value of your business? Pay attention to ALL factors that drive current and future value to avoid closing off exit planning options down the road.

with Colleen Jordan Hallinan, Qii Consulting
In this first in a series of special Roundtable Talks, Colleen talks about her own journey to life after advising, and how finding the right people to take over the business made all the difference.

Elite Client Consultant Kem Taylor, CBEC, and President David Grau Sr., JD, discuss the many paths succession plans can take as well as offer several examples of how business owners are navigating their plan adjustments including accelerating the plan, adjusting the next-generation ownership team, and falling back to “Plan B”—selling the business externally.

Unexpected circumstances forced Floyd to quickly reduce his work hours at his firm, Cornerstone Wealth, from 45 to 20 hrs. a week. Too young to retire, Floyd incorporated existing staff into the ownership structure to ensure his business not only survived, but thrived. In this client success story the team discusses the transition and their new ownership mentality.

Inevitability. Responsibility. Commitment.
You owe it to your clients to build something concrete that will last through the time of their needs, not just the span of your career. This video shows you why you should create a strategy that will support a multi-generational business. It's the middle ground between selling your business, or letting it die.

with guest David Birnbaum, JD of Bates Group
Join Marcus and special guest David Birnbaum, JD, of Bates Group as they discuss the impact of compliance on business value, as well as the importance of internal compliance audits to stay ahead of any regulatory issues and correction periods that come with them.
Tax & Regulatory Issues | Valuation & Benchmarking | Acquisition

Experts Rod Boutin, JD and Ericka Langone, JD explore preparation beyond determining value. They highlight the importance of reconciling the expectations and goals of all parties, the considerations that may warrant an assigned premium share value, and the benefits of a holistic approach to the entire merger process.

EMS Exclusive Roundtable Talk
FPT transactions experts Rod Boutin, JD and Ericka Langone, JD discuss common areas of governance and control that many owners (existing and future) have concerns about during any (re)structuring or additions to the ownership of a financial services business.
Deal Structure & Documentation | Entity & Business Structure

Our Rod Boutin, J.D. and Ericka Langone, J.D. discuss the uniqueness of each merger transaction using three real life examples from the FP Transitions portfolio. The examples range from a complex 3-way, multi-owner consolidation, to a more common combining of efficiencies and resources, to a planned merger as continuity for two small businesses.

EMS Exclusive Resource
FPT Experts Ericka Langone, JD and Eric Fettig discuss the benefits of proper entity, including liability protections, governance for business leadership and operations, structure and value for future ownership, and tax treatments that make sense for your specific enterprise.
Entity & Business Structure | Next Gen | Tax & Regulatory Issues

with guest Colleen Jordan Hallinan, Qii Consulting
In this second Roundtable Talk with Colleen Jordan Hallinan of Qii Consulting, she shares ways to identify different personality types and work styles. Harnessing each individual's unique strengths creates a team that promotes the success of the business as a whole.

with guest David Birnbaum, JD of Bates Group
In this second of our Roundtable Talks series with Bates Group, David Birnbaum, JD, talks about the importance of getting to know a business and its people in order to effectively help them keep up with compliance.

In this webcast President and Founder David Grau Sr., JD and VP Eric Leeper, CFA explore some recent industry issues. They cover current M&A database findings, the concept of attrition and what it means for your business' long term value, and how working towards a concrete plan will help you fare the headwinds–or avoid them all together.

EMS Exclusive Resource
FP Transitions' valuation experts, Ryan Grau, CVA, CBA and Warren Burkholder, ASA, MCBA, CBI, go in-depth into the differences between valuation and appraisal, the importance of having a certified valuation analyst, and how the purpose of valuation informs the methodology for the most accurate value.
Business Growth | Valuation & Benchmarking | Roundtable Talks

with guest David Birnbaum, JD of Bates Group
Monitoring compliance and keeping up with regulations is important for the operation of any financial services business. In this first of our special series with Bates Group, Join Marcus Hagood and special guest David Birnbaum, JD to discuss how compliance impacts an acquisition and the impact of current events on compliance and the industry.

Michael Lutz understood that acquisition was a viable and smart path for growing his business. He wasn’t just looking to gobble up as many practices as he could, however. He also understood that if he chose his targets strategically, he could not only grow his business, but he could ensure its legacy by pairing acquisition with succession as a vehicle to recruit and retain Generation Two talent to his firm.

EMS Exclusive Resource
In this Roundtable Talk our experts Ryan Grau, CVA, CVB and Warren Burkholder, ASA, MCBA, CBI, discuss the complexities of valuation for the purpose of divorce, as well as other common valuation purposes.

In this Roundtable Talk, FPT experts Ericka Langone, JD, and Eric Fettig discuss the details of setting up (or restructuring) your entity to suit your business' unique situation, including: documentation, filing timelines, and key players in the process. They highlight the importance of proper entity elections to support your overall short-term and long-term business goals.

EMS Exclusive Resource
In this exclusive Roundtable Talk, FPT experts discuss this regulated flow of revenue from a Broker Dealer as well as how to properly sweep it into the entity. They cover appropriate documentation between advisor and entity as well as avoiding common troublesome situations when it comes to BD revenue.

Choosing a successor who is a part of your family doesn’t mean the process becomes 10 times easier. It requires the same careful planning to ensure ownership of the business ends up in the right hands. Tom and Paul Morrone have always been a close father / son unit, but that didn’t mean that Paul would automatically take over one day. Tom insisted that Paul earn his ownership.

Greg Hoffman found the best match for his business when he added Ross Lawrence to his team. Ross shared Greg’s commitment to the community and the people of Nevada, MO. Three years later they embarked on their succession planning journey with FP Transitions. Valuation in hand and succession options laid out, Ross and Greg chose the accelerated path with the help of bank financing.

EMS Exclusive Resource
In this unscripted video FP Transitions' Douglas Kreft and Marcus Hagood focus on the impact and evolution of the financial services industry given various regulatory developments over the past year.
Tax & Regulatory Issues | Continuity Planning | Roundtable Talks

with guest Colleen Jordan Hallinan, Qii Consulting
In the last of our Roundtable Talks with Colleen, she shares the philosophies and process for her "after advising" enterprise: helping other advisors build stronger teams for greater success. She walks through some of the assessments and strategies that serve the core of her methodology.

In this Roundtable Talk, featuring two of our transactions experts, General Counsel, Rod Boutin, J.D. and Assistant General Counsel, Ericka Langone, J.D., we illustrate the uniqueness of each merger transaction using three

With an average 50:1 buyer to seller ratio, advisors are looking for a leg up on the rest of the buyer pool. But you can’t find your “edge” until you’ve taken care of the basics. The tips below provide steps EVERY buyer need to take to be successful in the acquisition marketplace.
#1 - Maintain a Current Valuation
#2 - Have an Active Continuity Plan
#3 - Complete Your Buyer Profile
#4 - Avoid Napkin Negotiations
#5 - Be Professional
#6 - Know Your Value Proposition
#7 - Outbidding is Not the Answer
#8 - Know the Tax Consequences
#9 - Be Honest
#10 - Understand Your Financing Options

Meet the people of FP Transitions–people passionate about your growth. We care about what we do, and we care about our clients. All of us feel lucky to work for a company like FP, but more importantly we feel lucky to be a part of the success of your businesses. Let us tell you just how much we enjoy working with all of you every day.

EMS Exclusive Resource
Marcus Hagood and Douglas Kreft, focus on the opportunities robo advisors present for financial advisors to emphasize their value proposition and expand their client bases. With investment management technology at investors’ fingertips, are we seeing a precursor of a larger threat to advisor services in coming years?

We have no problem getting into the holiday spirit around here. Here are some past endeavors to spread that cheer to our colleagues, clients, and friends.