Ep 317: From Individual To Partnership: Managing The Merger Transition From Solo Practices With Jennifer Climo

Financial Advisor Success

Michael Kitces

News, Business, Entrepreneurship, Business News

4.8 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2023

⏱️ 98 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jennifer Climo is the CEO and a Senior Advisor for Milestone Financial Planning, an independent RIA based out of New Hampshire that oversees $360-million in assets under management for 225 households. Despite already having a successful solo practice, Jennifer decided to merge with another solo practitioner when an opportunity presented itself during an unusual crisis, and she took on the challenge of managing the complex business dynamics that came with this decision in order to achieve her goal of expanding and growing her practice into a larger enterprise that would continue to thrive beyond her involvement.

Listen in as Jennifer shares why she merged her solo practice with another firm due to an opportunity that presented itself during an unusual crisis, how she created a unique succession plan that included a 15%-of-profits retirement payout, and how this succession plan ultimately led to a second merger that allowed Jennifer to continue growing and scaling her business. We also discuss why Jennifer created an operating agreement when she added a partner to her firm, how she used the challenges that arose during the mergers to improve efficiencies and increase profitability, and what has surprised her the most about running a multi-million revenue practice.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/317

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with
0:06.8	financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading
0:12.1	financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success
0:17.2	and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next
0:21.9	level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. Welcome, everyone.
0:28.8	Welcome to the 317th episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast. My guest on today's
0:34.2	podcast is Jennifer Climo. Jennifer is the CEO and a senior advisor for milestone financial planning, an independent
0:40.2	RIA based in Bedford, New Hampshire, that oversees $360 million in asset center management
0:44.9	for 225 client households.
0:47.9	What's unique about Jennifer, though, is how, after more than a decade of building
0:51.4	her own successful solo practice, she intentionally decided
0:54.1	to merge her firm with another solo practitioner, when an unusual crisis opportunity,
0:58.9	presented itself, and handled the more complex business management dynamics that followed
1:03.1	so that she could fulfill her goals of scaling and growing a practice beyond herself and
1:07.7	building an enterprise that would outlive her.
1:10.7	In this episode, we talk about
1:12.2	how after the sudden passing of a successor for a close advisor friend and solo that she met
1:16.8	through a local study group of NAPVA advisors, Jennifer decided to merge their practices so she could
1:22.0	not only help her advisor friend and the client she served, but create a positive opportunity
1:26.1	for Jennifer's own practice to scale up.
1:28.8	How during the first year after the merger, Jennifer realized her new partner still needed a
1:33.3	succession plan and created a unique buyout structure that offers a 40% down payment, coupled
	...

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