Succession planning
Hicks believed there was an appetite from advisers for succession planning and she hoped to see more of it in the exit space.
She said it was difficult for advisers to work on succession of their business because you needed to not only find people with all the right leadership and advisory qualities but also needed to begin letting go of their business before they had sold it.
“When you sell your advice firm on the open market, it’s gone but when you actually commit to building an internal succession team, you've got to start letting go while you're still there," said Hicks.
“You've got to let your successors make mistakes. You've got to let them earn their stripes. That is how you're going to have the comfort that they're the right people.
“There are so many amazing privately owned businesses that are just doing the best work for clients. And then we've got this amazing young talent coming through as well, and it's recognising you probably can't do everything, but if you do have that ambition and you find people who can help, you can train people to become leaders and owners."
Heather Christie, head of UK adviser sales at Blackrock, agreed with Hicks and thought that having a succession planning strategy internally can mirror the client acquisition strategy externally.
“It’s really key for nurturing that next generation of talent, both within the firm, but then also at the client level," she said.
“Gen Z really values a lot of feedback, stretch assignments, and the opportunity to have visibility. That's really important for nurturing that next generation of talent internally and also externally.
“These folks are going to inherit a lot of wealth in the next number of years, they're also already earning more than their millennial counterparts at the same age."
The comments came as part of a panel discussion at The Verve Group’s Evolution 2024 conference on Monday (September 9).
alina.khan@ft.com
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