In our previous piece, we looked at the top five factors that spur advisors to explore independence, according to the results of a recent survey we conducted. Today, we’ll be delving into a handful of additional findings from the same survey which struck a chord with our team and helped shine additional light on some of the most pressing issues that can push an advisor to commit to going independent.
First, we note that advisors tend to get more serious about independence when the time comes to focus on the future. As discussed in our last piece, the most cited reason was the advisor’s desire to start his or her own IA, driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. But almost as frequently cited were factors including “planning for a partner retiring” and “considerations around succession planning.” Basically, they ask the question, “What comes next?” as advisors reach natural inflection points in their careers and in the lifecycles of their current practices.
The arrival at such a crossroads is a natural moment to begin giving serious thought to what the advisor wants from the rest of his or her own career, and the paths available for them to take. Independence is but one of many options, but clearly it is one that has grown in appeal as the means by which to achieve independence have evolved over the past several years.
Perhaps even more eye-opening, in our view, was the fact that five of the top 20 most cited reasons for considering independence revolved around issues related to client service and/or support, including:
- “Failure to provide services to clients,”
- “Declining client service,” and
- “Poor services and support for clients.”
Clearly, the advisors we surveyed care deeply about their clients and the client experience, something we have found to be a common characteristic of all the best advisors we’ve encountered during the course of our collective years in this space. With independence comes the flexibility to help ensure that clients aren’t put into “one size fits all” approaches, pushed products that might not be a fit for their needs or goals, or left feeling ignored or underappreciated when simple questions go unanswered or requests go unfilled. That client-centric approach also ties in closely with another of the most cited factors for considering independence: a desire to maintain control over a book of business, which is possible and, obviously, preferable to so many.
Once an advisor makes the decision to seek independence, ASN is here to provide the expertise, the support, and the roadmap to ensure the transition process is a smooth one. Our team partners with advisors to handle the “hows” so that they never lose sight of their “whys.”