“Opportunity Comes Calling" By Lisa Gray   Advisors have a tremendous opportunity looming just ahead. According to a recent Family Office Exchange survey, approximately $4.63 trillion in business equity will change hands over the next 10 years. In reality, this information comes from a survey conducted in 2004, so we’re already a couple of years into the transition. What does this mean for advisors and what does it mean for their clients? It means there is an unprecedented opportunity for advisors to strengthen existing client relationships and attract new ones through a primary venue that every family client is searching for: education. What types of education? Most thoughts immediately go to financial – succession planning, business planning - and these are certainly areas of need. However, there is much more to educating the next generations about wealth than teaching them how to read a financial statement, basic investment tenets, or business management skills. Many heirs find themselves faced with millions of dollars in assets that fall suddenly directly under their stewardship – most often with little or no preparation. Parents have traditionally assumed that heirs would simply follow the parents’ lead, continue their ‘dream,’ and somehow, by osmosis, become good stewards, making sure there would be plenty available for them, their siblings and cousins, and the generations following.   But mandating stewardship through trusts and other vehicles set up to ‘ensure’ that things are done the way Mom and Pop want them to be done simply does not work. Why not? Primarily because defining the wealth as financial assets or assets to which a monetary value can be assigned does not work! Family wealth consists of the human beings that make up the family and their human and intellectual capacities. That’s it, pure and simple. The financial wealth is a byproduct of that human and intellectual capital and becomes a tool by which more human and intellectual capital can be nourished.   As human beings, each of us is born with our own spirit. And unless we can develop our own methods of doing things by making our own mistakes, which frees us then to learn from our mentors and educators, we have little chance of leading fulfilling lives that would also make us good stewards of our parents’ dreams – the dreams that created the financial wealth in the first place. As confusing as this may sound, it all boils down to this: stewardship of any kind of wealth must be a choice, not a mandate. Once that choice is made, family advisors have the responsibility of guiding heirs in defining their roles as stewards and then to be able to fulfill those roles effectively for the preservation of the wealth over multiple generations. This is an advisor’s highest calling. _________________________________________________________________________ Lisa Gray is president/CEO of graymatter STRATEGIES LLC, a consulting firm based in Memphis, TN whose purpose is to help advisors raise the level of their relationships with their clients. She has 18 years' experience in wealth management and is the author of "The New Family Office: Innovative Strategies for Consulting to the Affluent,” http://www.euromoneybooks.com/default.asp?page=4&productID=3178    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Since our inception we have helped over 400 financial consultants make the move to independence. "I cannot express to you the joy and the increase in quality of life that I have found since leaving the wirehouse world." Shane Merritt, Branch Manager Merritt Capital Management      Tired of Searching for the Right Independent Broker-Dealer? Would you like to find your next Broker-Dealer the EASY way? Would you like access to an informed executive who can narrow your options, preserve the confidentiality of your search and save you time and hassle? With over 10 years experience placing reps with independent broker dealers, we are able to offer many unique opportunities and there is no cost to you. For example:    *Companies with deferred compensation or profit sharing    *Producer groups that provide marketing programs    *Independent Broker-dealers that offer Transition funding    *Independent Broker-dealers with 100 percent payout on VA and VUL    *Independent Broker-dealers with 95 percent pay out on investment advisory services    *Firms with proprietary research in Mutual funds, asset allocation and stocks    *Firms offering Equity participation via options or common and preferred stock    *Broker-dealers that can accommodate compliance issues    *Firms specializing in stocks and bonds    *Independent Broker–dealers that are successful with large producer groups    *A firm with 11 years experience in hedge funds that will create your own fund of funds    *Firms who are friendly to custodying assets at Schwab, Fidelity, TD Waterhouse & Fiserv    *Firms with lower ticket charges and monthly fees    *Firms with Syndicate offerings, IPOs, and market making **For a FREE "Guide to Moving Your Book", please visit: www.goingindependent.net. This Month's Registered Representative Opportunity: At this Broker-dealer, they think life should be enjoyed. The success of their relationship should be measured not only by their mutual prosperity, but also by how enjoyable it is for you all to work together. This BD combines the small-town traditions of honest hard work, common sense solutions, and courteous personal service with the large-firm opportunities of cutting edge technology, economies of scale, and comprehensive product selection. Open Architecture ...means more choices, fewer requirements. Use your own RIA or ours, choose one of their clearing firms or an outside platform, open discretionary or non-discretionary accounts, take advantage of their "a la carte pricing." Many Rep/Advisors contact this BD because they have unique needs that cause them to operate "outside the box" which many Broker/Dealers do not allow. This BD doesn't force them to fit their business models into a mold. Often, this means allowing for a choice of trading platforms, customizing a fee schedule, or creating a new program specific to that Rep/Advisor's needs. At this firm, the doors are open and the possibilities are broad. Independence Typically, when large financial institutions have acquired our competitors, parent company priorities have taken precedence over the traditional values that independent firms once represented. When a parent company views a Rep/Advisor as a "distribution channel" and makes policies based on the parent company's bottom line, then the whole idea of independence and objectivity is lost. This BD is what most independent Broker/Dealers used to be… friendly, flexible, and dedicated to service. Service Service is what you want from your Broker/Dealer. When you call this BD, you don't get a machine. The President and other key personnel are readily available to work directly with you. They are willing to work with you to set goals, both personal and professional, and to develop a business plan to help you meet those goals. When you need an answer to a question or a solution to a problem, their response time is measured in minutes and hours, not days and weeks. If you know someone who might be interested in the above opportunity or who might be ready to go Independent, please have them contact Jason Burke directly at 727-725-8876.

Here's some additional information from Turning Point, Inc..

www.BrokerBestPractices.com
www.BankBrokerBestPractices.com
www.IndependentRepBestPractices.com (*Sept 2005 REPORT AVAILABLE!)
www.FABestPractices.com (Financial Advisors)
www.InsuranceAgentBestPractices.com

By clicking on any of these links, you will be taken to a webpage where you can Preview these reports, take a short survey, and then print the entire report when you're done. It's that easy.

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