By Louis Diamond – While mergers and acquisitions are typically associated with existing RIAs and independents, the fact of the matter is that anytime an advisor is offered a recruitment package from a brokerage firm, that firm is in essence “buying” a business and conducting its own due diligence process to assess value—so understanding that value is imperative.
By Mindy Diamond – The prodigious momentum towards independence has created a whole new generation of entrepreneurs who are attracted to more than just the freedom and flexibility of the space. They’re eschewing short-term payouts of brokerage recruitment deals for the long-term potential of building an enterprise with maximum value that will be appealing to buyers in the future.
By Louis Diamond – We often hear principals of independent firms speak of their desire to increase assets under management, and how they feel that doing so will help ensure their relevancy and solidify their position in the marketplace. While this singular notion may have been a focus in years past, increased competition has caused a shift in goals for many quality firms, a shift towards increasing overall enterprise value by paying attention to the things that most impact it (as discussed in my last post).
By Louis Diamond – The recent spate of mergers and acquisitions has led many principals of independent advisory firms to consider their own futures.
“If we stay along our current course, will we be well positioned not only for growth, but also for increased enterprise value, making us more attractive to buyers of businesses like ours?”
By Mindy Diamond – Who are the independent firms that have the greatest enterprise value—the ultimate worth of one’s life work? They are the ones that have solved for predictability of revenue, profitability, growth, streamlined operations, have a solid return on assets, achieved scale, and probably most important, solved for succession by broadening equity ownership beyond the original founder(s).
