A revised and expanded look at how to thrive and prosper in the financial advisory business A new and revised edition of the eye-opening, no-nonsense handbook on managing and growing a financial-advisory business, Practice Made (More) Perfect is packed with industry insight and practical ideas that every leader and manager within a financial advisory practice needs to know in order to get the most out of their business. Regardless of how little time is available or how seriously challenged a firm may be, this book contains the information that can help. The principles of sound management apply to firms of all types, and the tools provided in this book are guaranteed to be applicable under practically any circumstances. Written by industry expert Mark Tibergien, one of the "25 Most Influential" people in the financial services industry A new edition of a bestselling Bloomberg title Includes fresh insight on recent topics, including how advisors responded during the latest meltdown, the implications of the aging advisory profession, the challenges of attracting and keeping both clients and staff, the role of organizational design in a growing business, recent changes in compensation planning and implementation, and key information on leadership and management in today's financial world Many financial advisers run their businesses as if acquiring more clients will solve any and all problems, but without a strategic framework, more clients just lead to more demands and less time to meet them. The truly successful firm will build strategy, structure, and processes that will ultimately translate into increased profits, cash flow, and transferable value.

When financial advisers need guidance on running their business, they turn to Mark Tibergien, the most prominent, most respected authority and hands-on consultant on the science and practice of managing financial advisory firms. Together with Moss Adams colleague and principal Rebecca Pomering, they have combined their years of research and analysis to write the definitive book on the subject. The authors first identify how to assess the business and evaluate oneself as a manager. They then present strategic-thinking issues—such as practice models, business plans, and differentiators—in a Socratic style. This is followed by a detailed overview of critical topics, from financial management and human capital to IT and marketing—encompassing the management skills, approaches, and mindsets needed for success. With management tools, worksheets, and industry statistics, Practice Made Perfect is the authoritative book from the industry's expert.

Financial planning is a young industry. The International Association of Financial Planning—one of the predecessors to the Financial Planning Association—was formed less than forty years ago. But as the profession's first tier of advisers reaches maturity, the decisions that may be part of transition planning for their firms loom large. A sale? A partner buyout? A merger? No matter what the choice, its viability hinges on one critical issue—the value of the firm. Unfortunately, many advisers--whether veteran or novice—simply don't know the worth of their practice or how to influence it. That's why How to Value, Buy, or Sell a Financial-Advisory Practice is such an important book. It takes advisers carefully through the logic and the legwork of coming to a true assessment of one of their most important personal assets—their business. Renowned for their years of experience helping advisers tackle the daunting challenges related to the valuation, sale, and purchase of advisory firms, Mark C. Tibergien and Owen Dahl offer guidance that's essential and solutions that work.

Rules for developing talent with disciplined, deliberate, intelligent practice We live in a competition loving culture. We love the performance, the big win, the ticking seconds of the clock as the game comes down to the wire. We watch games and cheer, sometimes to the point of obsession, but if we really wanted to see greatness—wanted to cheer for it, see it happen, understand what made it happen—we'd spend our time watching, obsessing on, and maybe even cheering the practices instead. This book puts practice on the front burner of all who seek to instill talent and achievement in others as well as in themselves. This is a journey to understand that practice, not games, makes champions. In this book, the authors engage the dream of better, both in fields and endeavors where participants know they should practice and also in those where many do not yet recognize the transformative power of practice. And it’s not just whether you practice. How you practice may be a true competitive advantage. Deliberately engineered and designed practice can revolutionize our most important endeavors. The clear set of rules presented in Practice Perfect will make us better in virtually every performance of life. The “how-to” rules of practice cover such topics as rethinking practice, modeling excellent practice, using feedback, creating a culture of practice, making new skills stick, and hiring for practice. Discover new ways to think about practice. Learn how to design successful practice. Apply practice across a wide range of realms, both personal and professional The authors include specific activities to jump-start practice Doug Lemov is the best-selling author of Teach Like a Champion A hands-on resource to practice, the rules within will help to create positive outliers and world-changing reservoirs of talent.

A detailed road map for wealth managers who want to build an ensemble firm or team and achieve sustained growth, profitability and high valuations Why do ten percent of wealth management firms grow faster than the rest of the industry, often despite the turbulence of the markets? The answer, according to industry consultant and researcher, P. Palaveev, is that the most successful firms are those which, create and promote a team-based service model that serves as the foundation of their enterprise. Find out how and why a team-based service model can play a decisive role in the future growth and sustained success of your wealth management firm Discover the key factors for building a successful ensemble firm and profit from the best practices top team-based firms employ Profit from the author's years of experience working with the world's top wealth management firms and the data he has compiled as a pre-eminent industry researcher Learn about the various organizational structures, partnership models and career path options and how to put them to work building an ensemble practice Get the lowdown on how the savviest traditional broker-dealer firms have formed dynamic ensemble teams within their organizations and learn of the results they've achieved

Deena B. Katz, CFP, a preeminent authority on practice management and an internationally recognized financial adviser, presents a comprehensive guide to running a professional financial planning practice. To create this book, Katz updated, revised, and combined her two acclaimed books Deena Katz on Practice Management (1999) and Deena Katz's Tools and Templates for Your Practice (2001). In this newly expanded volume, she presents the essentials on how to help a practice thrive side by side with the tools and templates needed for the everyday operation of your firm. This new volume offers guidance on practice-management issues: setting up an office systems and technology administration and staffing marketing growing as the market changes hanging on to clients for the long term succession planning when the time comes This comprehensive resource provides sample forms, worksheets, templates, letters, brochures, and collateral materials developed and refined by top wealth managers and planners. From keeping the business running well by designing dynamic collateral material, to considering plans for retirement, Deena B. Katz guides advisers through every challenge a financial planning business will face.

This book is going to challenge you and everything you think you know about succession planning. For independent advisors, succession planning is quickly becoming the cornerstone to a strategic growth strategy designed to perpetuate their business and their income streams beyond their own lifetime, while providing a multi-generational service platform that attracts and rewards younger advisors. This makes succession planning one of the most, if not the most, important practice management tools in this industry today. As an independent financial advisor, now is the time to address the question of what will happen to your practice and your clients after you “exit the building.” In most cases, the answers are right in front of you. Thankfully, Succession Planning for Financial Advisors: Building an Enduring Business has arrived to transform today’s practices into businesses designed to endure and prosper and serve generations of clients. Learn how to create a “Lifestyle Succession Plan” that can provide a lifetime of income and benefits to the founder even as he/she gradually retires on the job Unlock the power of equity management – the best planning and building tool an independent advisor owns Learn how to attract and retain the best of the next generation to help you build a great business and to support your succession plans and care for your clients and their families Determine precisely when to start a formal succession plan and related continuity plan so that your business can work for you when you need it most Understand why succession planning and selling your business are completely different strategies, but how they can complement each other when used correctly 95% of independent financial service professionals are one owner practices. To the positive, these practices are among the most valuable professional service models in America. But almost all advisors are assembling their practices using the wrong tools – tools borrowed from historically successful, but vastly different models including wirehouses, broker-dealers, and even OSJ’s and branch managers. Revenue sharing, commission splitting and other eat-what-you-kill compensation methods dominate the independent sector and virtually ensure that today’s independent practices, if left unchanged, will not survive the end of their founder’s career. It is time to change course and this book provides the map and the details to help you do just that. For independent practice owners and staff members, advisors who want to transition to independence, as well as accountants, attorneys, coaches and others involved in the financial services space, there are invaluable lessons to be learned from Succession Planning for Financial Advisors. Written by the leading succession planning expert in the financial services industry, former securities regulator, M&A specialist, and founder of the nationally recognized consulting and equity management firm, FP Transitions, David Grau Sr., JD, has created an unmatched resource that will have an enduring and resounding impact on an entire industry.

A guide for financial advisors who are ready to embrace new opportunities The Enduring Advisory Firm is a book for the forward-thinking financial advisor. Financial advisement is traditionally a hands-on field, so few in the industry feel threatened by the shifting social and technological landscape. In this book, Mark Tibergien—routinely named one of the most influential people in the financial services world—and Kim Dellarocca make a compelling case for taking a closer look at technology and other big-deal industry trends in order to move the business of financial advice into the next stage of its evolution. Combining a facts-based approach with case studies and examples from the field, The Enduring Advisory Firm will ignite your imagination by demonstrating practical strategies for attracting clients and streamlining operations. Today's smart practice managers are focusing on emerging topics like the needs and expectations of the Millennial generation, mobile and interactive technologies, and growth planning. Responding thoughtfully to these trends, with the help of this book, could propel your financial advising business toward a more successful future. In-depth discussion of trends and forces that you can harness to reshape your financial advisement business Case studies and examples showing how to navigate the most difficult business decisions Innovative ideas for process improvement, more fruitful client interactions, and sustainable growth Tips and insight for attracting Millennial clients and talent by leveraging new technologies The Enduring Advisory Firm will inspire financial advisors, managers, and executives to branch out in ways that will lead to measurable growth. With a newfound focus on the evolution of your business, you might be surprised at where change takes you. In addition to providing RIAs with guidelines to help them succeed, all of the proceeds from this book will support the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning, a national initiative to create a more diverse and financial planning profession so that every American has access to competent and ethical financial planning advice. The Center brings together CFP® professionals, firms, educators, researchers and experts to address profession-wide challenges in the areas of diversity and workforce development, and to build an academic home that offers opportunities for conducting and publishing new research that adds to the financial planning body of knowledge. Learn more at www.CenterforFinancialPlanning.org.

From the longest-serving Flight Director in NASA's history comes a revealing account of high-stakes Mission Control work and the Space Shuttle program that has redefined our relationship with the universe. A compelling look inside the Space Shuttle missions that helped lay the groundwork for the Space Age, Shuttle, Houston explores the determined personalities, technological miracles, and eleventh-hour saves that have given us human spaceflight. Relaying stories of missions (and their grueling training) in vivid detail, Paul Dye, NASA's longest-serving Flight Director, examines the split-second decisions that the directors and astronauts were forced to make in a field where mistakes are unthinkable, and where errors led to the loss of national resources -- and more importantly one's crew. Dye's stories from the heart of Mission Control explain the mysteries of flying the Shuttle -- from the powerful fiery ascent to the majesty of on-orbit operations to the high-speed and critical re-entry and landing of a hundred-ton glider. The Space Shuttles flew 135 missions. Astronauts conducted space walks, captured satellites, and docked with the Mir Space Station, bringing space into our everyday life, from GPS to satellite TV. Shuttle, Houston puts readers in his own seat at Mission Control, the hub that made humanity's leap into a new frontier possible.