The best time to plan your succession was five years ago. The second best time is now.

Most advisors spend 30 years building a practice and 30 days thinking about what happens to it. We help you build a succession plan that protects your clients, your team, and the value you've created.

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The Challenge

The Stakes

Over the next decade, more than 100,000 financial advisors are expected to retire. According to Cerulli Associates, more than a quarter of those advisors don't have a succession plan.

What happens to the value of their practice is predictable - practices without succession plans sell at discounts, if they sell at all. What happens to their clients is uncertain.

A good succession plan does three things: it protects your clients from disruption, it ensures your team has a future, and it gives you options - whether that means a full exit, a phased transition, or something in between.

Your Options

The Succession Spectrum

Internal Succession

Identifying and developing a junior advisor or team member who can take over client relationships over time. Requires runway - typically 3 to 7 years - but often produces the best client continuity outcomes. CSG can help identify candidates and structure the economics.

Phased External Transition

Bringing in a partner or acquirer who takes on operational responsibility while you remain involved in client relationships during a defined transition period. Common with W-2 conversions and equity partnership structures.

Full Acquisition

A complete sale to an acquiring firm or individual buyer. Works well when the timeline is shorter, the succession plan has been deferred, or the advisor wants a clean exit. Premium multiples are available for well-positioned practices.

Platform-Facilitated Succession

Many of the BD and RIA platforms CSG works with have internal succession programs - practice acquisition financing, matching programs, and continuity planning. If you're already on a good platform, your best succession option may already exist there.

Readiness

What Makes a Practice Succession-Ready

Succession readiness isn't just about finding a buyer. It's about building a practice that can transfer without breaking.

High recurring revenue - Fee-based income that persists through a transition
Documented processes and systems - Practices that run on documented workflows transfer better
Strong client relationships that survive introduction - Clients who trust the practice, not just the individual
A clear story - Practices that can articulate their growth engine are easier to value
Time - The single biggest factor. Advisors who start 5 years early have choices.

Our Support

How CSG Supports the Succession Process

Practice Assessment. Evaluate revenue quality, client concentration, operational maturity, and timeline.

Option Development. Identify which succession paths make sense and understand the tradeoffs.

Candidate or Buyer Identification. Find candidates aligned with practice culture and client needs.

Coordination. Coordinate across attorneys, accountants, compliance, and platform approval.

Post-Transition Support. Stay engaged through the transition for client communication and team dynamics.

Succession planning and continuity planning are related but different.

A succession plan is for the transition you choose. A continuity plan is for the transition you don't. If something happened to you tomorrow, what would happen to your clients? Most advisors don't have a written answer to that question.

If you don't have a continuity plan in place, this is worth a conversation.

You've spent decades building something valuable. Let's make sure it stays that way.

Whether you're just starting to think about succession or already in the process, we're happy to have a confidential conversation about where you stand and what your options look like.

Start a Confidential Succession Conversation