By James Van de Voorde, Partner and Regional Director, Summitry

Like many other RIA leaders, you have worked decades serving clients and building your business. Despite a commitment to helping clients achieve their financial and retirement goals, it may be surprising to learn that most RIA leaders approaching retirement have not created their own succession plan.  According to a 2025 survey by Kestra Financial, a whopping 94% of RIA owners approaching retirement have no “fully documented” succession plan in place.

Eleven years ago this month, my business partner, Bob Osher, passed away unexpectedly.  Bob and I co-founded our firm, Vantage Wealth, in 1993 and worked closely together for 22 years.  I acquired his shares under a buy-sell agreement and started the long journey of running a solo practice, while embarking on a quest for the right person or firm to partner with.  Should something unexpected happen to me as it did to my partner, my clients would be left to fend for themselves, and my family would be forced to sell my firm at a discounted price.  To say the least, these outcomes are sub optimal.

That it has taken me 11 years to find that right fit is testament to the predicament many RIA owners face. Most of us are simply too busy to think about succession. Due to the high price of buying in, many of us do not have next-gen options internally. Most of us are frightened by the thought of relinquishing control of our firms.  If your experience is anything like mine, all these factors influence a constant state of indecision inertia.  It became easier to do nothing.

While I had countless conversations with potential partners and suitors over the years, and my inbox continued to fill with incessant solicitations from the national consolidators, I never felt compelled to make a change, despite the consequences.  After all, my clients were happy. But I knew the status quo couldn’t go on forever.

Five years ago, I made the important decision to obtain an appraisal for my business.  When I received the year-end 2024 appraisal in early 2025, the valuation was eye opening. As RIA industry consolidation accelerates, valuations have kept pace and reached levels that most of us would not have imagined when we founded our firms.  When clients come to me with heavy wealth concentration in one asset, we always discuss diversification and tax-efficient options to reduce risk.  Motivated to test the marketplace and the need to diversify, I committed to working with an M&A consultant. The cycle of indecision was finally broken.

At the outset, my priorities for finding a potential partner were clear: one that specializes in solving complex planning issues for HNW clients one that champions a similar investment philosophy, one with an unwavering commitment to building multi-generational relationships, one with geographical and custodial synergy, and one large enough to offer scale, yet small enough to serve clients in the same boutique style.

My broker set me up on a listing service where other firms could learn about my business without revealing my identity. Immediately, we had considerable interest and were approached by dozens of potential partners.  I reviewed each inquiry carefully and identified six firms that seemed like they might be a good fit. To my dismay, I did not feel aligned with any of them. Many of the suitors were headquartered out of state. Others required unnecessary disruption to client portfolios. Others simply did not offer a good cultural match.  I wasn’t finding a firm that checked all my boxes.  Perhaps I was being too picky, but I had waited 11 years already….

Just prior to engaging my M&A consultant, I had a preliminary call with a private equity-backed consolidator that advertised a different type of succession platform for RIAs, one that promised a “permanent home” without changing one’s brand.  On that initial call, it was suggested I consider tucking in with their partner firm in Northern California. Disheartened by my “dating experience” with the brokered partnership pool but still determined, I took a second call from this private equity platform. This time, having a better handle on what I wanted, I accepted their invitation for an introduction to their Northern California partner.

Bob Osher used to say that he wouldn’t make important decisions unless the direction was “abundantly clear.” Reading about the firm’s disciplined investment philosophy and commitment to meeting the multi-generational planning needs of their clients, it felt as though I had written their promotional material myself.  Follow up calls reinforced the cultural fit and all my priority boxes were soon checked. I felt abundant clarity that I had found the right partner. Represented by my broker and a newly referred attorney, the hard part had just begun.

While I had invested six months into the process up to that point, the energy, time, and focus invested in the next few months of due diligence leading to a letter of intent, and even more diligence and lawyering leading to a signed agreement, ranks among the most intense and rewarding periods of my life.  It feels serendipitously full circle that the sale of my firm to my new partner closed almost exactly one full year from my first conversations with their private equity sponsor.

Shortly after our deal closed, I was invited to participate in a partner’s call sponsored by our private equity parent. On that call, our CEO talked about how RIAs have spent decades building generationally trusted relationships and how we deserved a permanent home. He called me personally shortly after that call to congratulate me and made me feel even more confident that I had made the right decision.

It cannot be overstated how important it is to find a true partner, one that builds on the legacy we have built, one that will serve our clients and their families well beyond our working years, one that will support the career growth of the people that work so hard to serve our clients, one that will invest in our growth, one that is committed to AI and technological innovation, one that will serve as permanent home for us, our teams and our clients.

I wish I had a guidebook that could have better prepared me for my year-long adventure. I feel it is important to share some of the many lessons learned and am very happy to share them with my fellow RIA leaders who are approaching retirement or considering selling their practice.

  • Always be guided by an unwavering dedication to your clients.
  • Do not delay. Make the decision now to end the cycle of indecision.
  • Know the value of your business. If you have not already, hire a firm to perform an annual appraisal.
  • Develop your own priority boxes that must be checked.
  • Work with a reputable M&A consultant or investment banker with RIA expertise; they will earn their keep.
  • Do not be afraid to answer those solicitous calls and emails from the consolidators; you may just find what you’re looking for.
  • Hire a trusted lawyer who specializes in representing RIAs (your estate planning attorney does not count).
  • Talk to your employees openly and as often as possible. Consider incentives to make them feel invested in the financial reward.
  • The importance of sharing the same custodial relationship cannot be understated.
  • Know the difference between positive and negative client consent.
  • Call a select number of clients before signing the final sales agreement. While you will be under confidentiality agreement and cannot share specifics, these important clients will feel appreciated, and you will have gained very valuable practice in how to communicate the deal with your clients.
  • If possible, call every single client or household yourself. Each relationship will be strengthened because of it.
  • Use your custodian’s Docusign to obtain client consent and new client agreements.
  • Be prepared to follow up with your older clients and those clients who prefer regular mail.
  • Capital gains taxes are inevitable.
  • If a private equity backed partner looks like a good match, ask about the anticipated holding period before a liquidity event or sale. Find a permanent home.
  • See item number 1.

James Van de Voorde is Partner and Regional Director for Summitry, his new Bay Area RIA partner with $3.4 billion in assets under management (AUM). Summitry acquired Vantage Wealth, a Pasadena-based RIA with $721 million in AUM that provides tailored investment management and unbiased financial planning to business owners, executives and successful families.