5 Reasons to Start Your Exit Plan Now
Protect the future of your firm, your clients, and your legacy with SRG’s “5 Reasons to Start Your Exit Plan Now” infographic. This quick-read visual highlights the critical risks of delaying your succession or exit strategy — from burdening your loved ones and losing business value to leaving your team and clients vulnerable. Whether you’re nearing retirement, planning a merger, or simply preparing for the unexpected, this guide reveals why timing is everything. Learn how a proactive exit plan safeguards what you’ve built and ensures a smooth transition on your terms. Download the infographic today and take the first step toward securing your firm’s future with confidence. DOWNLOAD NOW
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Value vs. Price: What Every Financial Advisor Needs to Know About Firm Valuation
Every business has a value, but that number is not the same as what it will sell for. Understanding the difference between value and price is essential to protect what you’ve built and position your firm for future success. This eBook breaks down key differences and how a professional valuation can help you plan, grow, and ultimately exit on your own terms. 1. Value is a Starting Point, Not the Finish Line 2. Understand What Drives Value and Price Value and price are shaped by different forces. This framework breaks down the standards, methods, and market factors that define value versus the real-world dynamics that determine price. Key Takeaway:A valuation follows defined standards and professional methodology to provide a defensible measure of worth. Price reflects real-world negotiation shaped by market forces and motivation. Understand both to plan with clarity and confidence. 3. Timing Matters Timing plays a key role in shaping both value and price. A valuation is a recurring tool that helps you plan proactively—identifying opportunities to strengthen your business and enhance value before you need to act. In contrast, price happens once, when your firm, finances, and personal goals are all aligned and ready for transition. Key Takeaway:Valuation is an ongoing process that helps you strengthen your business long before you sell. Timing your valuation early positions you to capture opportunities and drive a stronger final price when it matters most. 4. Methodology Valuations and purchase prices vary greatly based on the methodologies applied. A valuation relies on data, projections, and standardized assumptions, while price is shaped by negotiation, buyer motivations, and real-world deal terms. Key Takeaway:Value is built through disciplined analysis—price is determined by negotiation and market behavior. Understanding both allows you to balance data with deal dynamics and protect what your business is truly worth. 5. Shareholder Impact The difference between value and price extends beyond numbers—it affects everyone connected to the business. From the company itself to clients and employees, each stakeholder feels the impact of how a transaction is structured and executed. Key Takeaway:A well-planned transaction balances financial return with human impact. Aligning value, price, and process helps ensure your firm’s legacy endures beyond the deal. 6. What Determines Value? Every valuation starts with a purpose—understanding why it’s being done. The reason shapes how value is measured and what the result represents. Think of it like choosing the rulebook before you play the game—the IRS, courts, and buyers all use different ones. Purpose Sets the Framework: The “why” behind a valuation sets the framework for how value is calculated. Even though advisors often expect a single number, the result depends on the reason for the valuation—and that reason determines what the number really means. What Defines Each Standard of Value? Fair Market Value: Assumes a willing buyer and seller, no compulsion, both reasonably informed. Investment or Strategic Value: Reflects synergies, scale, and strategic goals of the buyer. Owner’s Value: Reflects emotional and personal expectations of the seller, influenced by conversations and marketing. Price: Reflects the final negotiated outcome between specific parties. 7. Not All Buyers Are the Same Not all buyers view value the same way because they aren’t looking at cash flows the same way. Each type of buyer brings a different perspective shaped by their goals, resources, and reasons for the purchase. 8. The Advisor Value Journey: Value, Refine, Repeat Each time you measure your firm’s value, you uncover opportunities to refine, strengthen, and evolve. By repeating this process—assessing, improving, and revaluing—your firm’s worth becomes more than a number; it becomes a reflection of ongoing progress. The more you refine, the closer your value aligns with your price when it’s time to sell. Key Takeaway:Valuation isn’t the end. It’s the feedback loop that powers growth, readiness, and ultimately, your price. Download Your eBook Today! Value vs Price: What Every Advisor Needs to Know Every advisory business has a value — but that number isn’t always the same as what it sells for. Understanding the difference between value and price is critical to protect what you’ve built and position your firm for future success. In this eBook, Ryan Grau CVA, CBA and Kristen Grau, CPA, CVA, CEPA break down: Key differences between value and price Using valuation as a strategic planning tool, not a one-time event Identifying what really drives firm worth in today’s M&A market Preparing your practice for growth, succession, or sale on your own terms DOWNLOAD EBOOK
What is Your Practice Really Worth?
Every Ameriprise advisor wonders about “the number,” but valuation goes far beyond the math. In this exclusive session for Ameriprise advisors, Kristen Grau and Ryan Grau shared how to think like a buyer, use valuation as a preparation tool, and set realistic expectations for a future sale or succession. Watch the replay to learn what drives value, what buyers really look for, and how to strengthen your firm’s position before it’s time to transition. Watch the Replay Related Resources Your Guide to Increase the Value of Your BusinessStart growing your value today → Seller Readiness E-bookDownload this guide → Due Diligence ChecklistStart With the Right Checklist → Selling Your Practice with Expert Advocacy Hear real stories from advisors who’ve been there → Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.
Merger Support
A Landmark Merger in the Ameriprise Network Learn how SRG helped make it happen → Related Resources Merger Checklist View the checklist today → Thinking About a Merger? Start Here Read SRG’s top teaming advice for advisors preparing to merge → The Fine Print Podcast: Strategies for Building Enduring Wealth Leadership lessons for building a firm that endures → Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.
Deal Support
Watch the Replay Related Resources The Succession Resource Group 2025 Advisor M&A Report Read our press release → 2025 M&A Infographic Download this infographic → Seller Readiness E-book Download this guide → Selling Your Practice with Expert Advocacy Hear real stories from advisors who’ve been there → Inside a Real-Life Succession Plan See how other advisors navigated their transition → Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.
Deal Support
Related Resources 2025 M&A Infographic Download this infographic → Seller Readiness E-book Download this guide → Due Diligence Checklist Start Your Due Diligence the Right Way → Selling Your Practice with Expert Advocacy See how other advisors navigated their transition → Inside a Inside a Real-Life Succession Plan Explore Real Advisor Journeys → Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.
Valuation
Related Resources Six Events that Require a ValuationSee if it’s time to value your firm → Your Guide to Increase the Value of Your BusinessStart growing your value today → 2025 Advisor M&A Review Check Out the Infographic→ Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.
Year-End Entity Maintenance Checklist: Position Your Business for a Stronger Year Ahead
An RIA firm owner’s roadmap to increasing your firm’s value in a sustainable way that enhance your firm’s market value now and in the long-run. Succession Resource Group shares six ways firms can carve a path towards smarter growth, identifying levers for better business decisions that retain talented employees as well as ideal profit margins.
From Siloed to Synergized: How to Merge Advisory Practices the Right Way
In this NM-focused session, SRG’s Ryan Grau (Valuations Director) and Nicole Frey (Director, Team Solutions) walk advisors through merging or consolidating practices the right way—why to merge, how to divide ownership fairly, and how to design compensation that keeps everyone whole. They compare common starting points (expense-sharing vs. fully separate practices), show how an equity-centric ensemble drives scale, continuity, and talent retention, and stress starting with a formal valuation. For Northwestern Mutual specifically, they explain assigning W-2 risk revenue to the entity, “trigger-event” risk if an agent departs, and SRG’s with-and-without valuation model to handle renewals. The replay covers pre-/post-merger cash-flow analysis, quick wins (grid bumps, cost reductions), entity choices (LLC vs S-Corp) including a two-tier LLC/S-Corp structure, governance and voting design, and ongoing entity maintenance. Watch the Replay Related Resources Entity Maintenace Program Stay Protected, Stay Compliant, Stay Confident. → Six Events that Require a Valuation Is It Time for a Valuation?→ Due Diligence ChecklistStart With the Right Checklist → Grab A Valuation We offer a variety of solutions and turnaround times to fit your needs. Join myCompass Our membership club grants you inside tips and opportunities to grow. Review our Seller Services We’re here to ensure you secure the best buyer, price and terms.