What's on my mind

Selling up: The importance of due diligence

28th June 2023

Vicky Pearce and Roderic Rennison look at the process of selling an advice practice and highlight the importance of due diligence despite it being potentially 'intrusive, tedious and stressful'... Have you considered your exit strategy? What will happen to your firm when you decide to retire? Well-run businesses holding assets under management
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Selling up the right way

12th May 2023

Next Wealth managing director Heather Hopkin’s comments in her recent article for Money Marketing, entitled Selling up not selling out, reflect some recurring themes I experience working with advice firm owners contemplating a sale of their business. These are:

  1. The challenge they face in getting under the bonnet of an acquirer’s

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How to get the best from professional connections

17th March 2023

As a merger and acquisition consultant, one area I regularly reflect on is the way in which we are selected, alongside other professionals such as solicitors and accountants, and then how we are used as transactions proceed. Sometimes, the outcome is not what was initially envisaged or intended. What follows are
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Don’t be duped by acquirers

13th January 2023

A few weeks ago, I met a highly successful financial planning firm owner who had decided to sell his firm to an acquirer, who approached him unsolicited with what appeared to be an outstandingly attractive offer. After some months of negotiation, the deal fell apart when the buyer reduced the offer
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So you think you want to sell your firm?

20th October 2022

Getting a firm’s selling plan into shape significantly improves the likelihood of a successful outcome. I spend most of my time engaged with the owners of financial advisory firms talking about their succession plans. Over time, I have come to realise that one of the most valuable services
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Why doing your homework on acquirers matters

3rd August 2022

Getting complete and satisfactory answers to the due diligence the sellers conduct is paramount. Organisations ranging from the Harvard Business School in the US to the Institute of Directors here in the UK all tell us that most corporate transactions – that is, sales – do not deliver long-term
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Employee engagement in a Covid world

20th May 2022

The debate about working from home versus the office, whether part-time or full time, is an active one. With Jacob Rees-Mogg leaving notes on Civil Servants’ desks saying: “Sorry to have missed you”, as part of wider effort to get Civil Servants back to their offices, it is evident the debate
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Give your website the attention it deserves

2nd March 2022

Nearly all financial intermediaries have a website; it is has become the norm. However, the way in which websites are perceived by advice firms differs. Some advisers regard it as a necessary chore while others see it is as an important marketing tool that can both deliver new clients and provide
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Selling is not the only succession option

4th November 2021

Many business owners are inclined to sell their firms when looking to exit, but are they missing the numerous other options – and the impacts these can have on their financial plans? Currently, hardly a day goes by without the announcement of the sale of yet another financial advisory
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Writing & Speaking

To read the various articles and papers I've written in the recent past, please click here