It’s hard to go for a month in the registered investment advisor sector without a new report detailing the challenge of succession planning in this founder-led, client-driven industry.
According to Charles Schwab’s annual RIA benchmarking survey, just 45% of firms with under $250 million in assets under management have a written succession plan. The figures are slightly better for firms over $250 million at 65%, and are highest for Schwab’s top-performing firms, identified by a series of 15 factors, at 77%. At HB Wealth, an Atlanta-based RIA founded in 1989, the firm’s succession strategy didn’t seem so clear after its first decade.
In 2001, firm co-founder and CEO David Homrich departed to run AMB Group, an investment and wealth manager for client Arthur Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot. How did the firm manage through such disruption? According to current CEO Thomas Carroll, it was through forward-planning by the remaining co-founder, Andy Berg.