Honoring the legacy: How advisors can prepare for the succession opportunity

The wealth management industry is approaching one of the largest succession transitions in history. Cerulli and Associates estimates more than 100,000 advisors will retire over the next decade, which is over 37% of the industry in the U.S. alone.¹

Meanwhile, research from Edward Jones found that only 42% of advisors surveyed have a documented succession plan in place.²

Take a moment to consider what those findings mean, for advisors who have spent decades building their practices, for teams looking to grow through acquisition, and for the most important people of all: the clients who have placed their trust in those relationships.

For potential buyers, acquiring a practice may accelerate growth on paper, but does your team have the leadership, capacity, and culture to successfully integrate another advisor’s clients and team members?

And for advisors considering retirement, how do you identify a team that will not only provide an attractive financial outcome but also preserve the relationships, values, and client experience it took decades to build? (Or as my colleague Monika put it in her recent article, how do you pass the Team-Up Test?)

Whether buying or selling, the time to prepare is now

The opportunities ahead are nothing like what our industry has seen in the past. I believe the teams that will benefit most are those that begin preparing long before a prospective transaction is on the table.

This preparation includes a key piece that is often overlooked: understanding what it means to honor the legacy of one practice while creating the future of another.

Whether you’re a buyer or seller, here are three areas to consider now so you can make the most out of this opportunity – both for your practice and for your clients.

1. Recognize the opportunity, but understand what the numbers mean

The projected retirements I mentioned previously represent 41.4% of the total advisor-managed assets in the U.S.³ Of course, not every retiring advisor owns a practice that is available for acquisition, as many firms have joined larger teams and may already have internal successors in place.

Cerulli’s June 2026 study offers a more focused view: They identified more than 26,000 projected advisor retirements in the RIA acquisition market over the next decade, with 54% of RIAs reporting that they are seeking an acquisition.⁴

This means there will be opportunity, but also competition among borrowers. To borrow a term from real estate, it will be a sellers’ market, which makes it even more important to prepare in advance to make your firm attractive.

Try this: In your next strategic planning discussion, define the characteristics of a practice that would complement your ideal client profile, capabilities of the team, and your long-term goals. And ask your team, are we pursuing acquisitions because they fit the future we are building, or simply because an opportunity becomes available?

2. For buyers, prepare the team before pursuing the practice

For potential buyers, it’s easy to get excited about the prospect of doubling your assets under management, recurring revenue, and new clients to fuel your growth engine. But what happens after the agreement is signed?

I encourage teams exploring acquisitions to evaluate their own readiness first by asking the following questions:

• Does your team currently have the capacity to serve additional families without compromising the experience your existing clients receive?
• Have you set expectations on who will lead the integration, who will own the new relationships, and how decisions will be made when the two teams approach a situation differently?
• Can the incoming advisor picture their clients and team members succeeding with the new team?

I believe these types of cultural questions deserve attention early in the process. Unfortunately, they are usually discussed last, if at all. Two practices may appear compatible financially while having very different expectations around communication, client service, and leadership. If those differences are ignored, the acquiring team could inherit a business that is much harder to integrate than the financial model suggested up front.

This is where I see an opportunity to apply the disciplines of high-performing teams and set the tone up front: Establish shared expectations, understand the complementary skills of the team, give people clarity in their roles and responsibilities, and create a process to measure how the integration is progressing.

Try this: Before pursuing a purchase, hold a team discussion about what the first 180 days following an acquisition will look like. Identify together the points of friction that could potentially cause it to fall apart and determine what additional capacity, processes, or leadership development would be needed to succeed.

3. For sellers, find someone prepared to honor your relationships

When advisors start to think about retiring and selling their practice, valuation naturally enters the conversation. In some cases, these businesses were built through 30 to 40 years of hard work, often with considerable risks and sacrifices along the way. So, when I’m having conversations with firms preparing to sell, I always make sure we discuss all the other things that matter beyond the financial outcome.

Here are the questions I typically ask:

• Which aspects of the client experience are non-negotiable and must be preserved?
• What opportunities should remain available for employees?
• How much involvement would you want during the transition, and what would allow you to step away with confidence?

The 2026 Edward Jones research I mentioned earlier found that 61% of senior advisors considered found it emotionally difficult to find someone trustworthy enough to take over their practice.

Think about that for a minute. To me, it drives home the fact that the relationships involved in these transactions have often extended across decades as well as generations.

It’s also important to remember that clients have choices. In a 2025 report on the looming advisor shortage, McKinsey reported that 32% of affluent and high-net-worth U.S. investors switch firms when their advisor retires. This finding highlights a stark reality: Even for those practices with well-documented succession plans, client relationships cannot be assumed to transfer automatically.

Rather than focus solely on business growth, I would encourage sellers to evaluate prospective buyers by taking the time to observe how they interact with their clients and team members.

• Here are some key questions to consider: Does the buyer ask thoughtful questions about the families being served?
• Are there opportunities for clients to develop familiarity with future advisors and team members?
• Does the successor have a well thought-out plan to retain and develop the people who helped create the practice’s success?

Try this: Develop a set of non-negotiable expectations for the transition, focusing on client continuity, team development, leadership involvement, and a timetable for transferring the relationships.

Bringing the legacy forward

I’ve already said this once, but it bears repeating: What we are about to experience over the next decade has never occurred in our industry. The more I discuss this momentous trend with advisors, leaders, and teams, the more I see succession planning as an opportunity for thoughtful leadership and planning on both sides of the transaction.

For buyers, this means preparing to become the kind of team an experienced advisor would trust with their clients. For sellers, it is about creating enough clarity about the future to select a successor based on more than just the purchase price. For clients, the outcome will be measured in the care they receive long after the founder leaves and finds enjoyment in the next phase of their life.

As you consider the next five to 10 years, there is one final question I would encourage you to spend some time thinking about: What are you doing today to ensure that the people, relationships, and values that make your practice successful will continue to thrive tomorrow?

¹ “RIA acquisition opportunities remain fertile as succession looms large.” Cerulli Associates, January 15, 2025.
² “The succession gap: New Edward Jones research finds most financial advisors know succession planning matters, but few are prepared.” Edward Jones, September 14, 2026.
³ “RIA acquisition opportunities remain fertile as succession looms large.” Cerulli Associates, January 15, 2025.
⁴ “RIA consolidation drives M&A activity as market nears $4 trillion.” Cerulli Associates, June 10, 2026.