Are your clients, regulators and family questioning you about your business continuity plans should anything happen to you? Can you say with certainty to any of these stakeholders that they shouldn’t worry because a firm plan is in place?

Forty percent of America’s investment advisors are over 60 years old and most have not established a continuity plan. Traditionally, these plans were difficult to enact because they generally involved:

• A short-term buyout of their ownership interest;
• The forfeiture of value because they are selling before they are ready  to retire;
• Expensive legal agreements;
• A timetable that favors the buyer’s interest; not the sellers needs; and
• Inflexible agreements that limit Advisors ability to amend key terms of the agreements in-light-of changing circumstances.

Winthrop Partners has devised a succession planning framework that is inexpensive, simple to implement and offers significantly more flexibility than a traditional plan.

In brief, you would enter into a succession plan with Winthrop Partners stipulating that upon a qualifying event determined by you (generally death or incurring a serious disability) Winthrop Partners essentially steps into your shoes and begins to operate your business in accordance with your established values and business practices. We provide continuity and stewardship until such time as your family takes over or elects to sell the practice. At any time before or after the qualifying event you or your heirs can terminate the agreement at no cost. Furthermore, you incur no charges prior to the qualifying event and you need not provide any personally identifiable information regarding your client base prior to the event.