For instance, you could be acquiring client books yourself and want to grow by hiring service-driven advisers to look after these clients.
Another key strategy involves attracting younger advisers with a client following and the opportunity to be part of the MBO.
But beware, this needs to be done early, and such an opportunity should only be formalised after you have been working together for a few years and implicit trust and capabilities are solid.
Any hire is crucial to get right, but in this hire you are looking to have someone who has that long term leadership capability (and desire), so we would recommend using psychometric profiling to assess the overall skills and competencies that would be developed over the years.
This approach works well as the adviser has developed their skills within the business and will be working to the business's standards and ethics.
They will understand the operations, the clients and be fully intertwined in the business's purpose, identity and values, and be able to exemplify these throughout the business.
It goes without saying that in this scenario you have to make sure that contracts are tight and the new recruits are going to see themselves as part of the business's long term vision.
If things do not work out, this is not personal, you can assess where in the process it went wrong and address it.
Make sure that you are using set recruitment strategies to avoid any confirmation bias in your hires.
Have a set process that you follow, such as value-based interviewing, to attract the right people to your business.
A hiring strategy implemented five to 10 years prior to retiring can ensure a smooth transition and continued growth during the succession process.
This strategy can also allow an adviser to earn equity in the business prior to value crystallisation at sale, improving terms with lenders and potentially negating any capital input from personal finances.
Another route to succession planning and recruitment, particularly for one or two-adviser businesses (either DA or AR), is to join a network five to 10 years before retirement.
This route enables you to work in an infrastructure with the same systems and investment solutions, making your business more valuable due to the uniform structure with peers and a record of income production over a sustained period of time.
By joining a network you will meet like-minded individuals who have a similar ethos and geographical location and would be interested in buying your business.
The benefits are that integration is simple due to having the same systems processes and investment solutions, and that the network often provides the financing, so providing some financial security for the buyer and seller.
