Practice Made (More) Perfect: Transforming a Financial Advisory Practice Into a Business

One of the great ironies of the advisory business is that many of its practitioners—even those who do an excellent job of planning for their clients—do not take the time to strategize, analyze, and plan for their own personal and business success. In Practice Made (More) Perfect: Transforming a Financial Advisory Practice into a Business (Wiley; August 2011; $75.00; 978-1-118-01931-3: Hardcover; Available in all ebook formats), Mark C. Tibergien, Chief Executive Officer for Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, and Rebecca Pomering, CEO of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors, provides leaders of financial-planning, investment-management, wealth-management, and other advisory firms with the techniques that make business managers most effective.

They focus on the critical management disciplines needed to master regardless of the size or profile of their business, including

• Strategy: the framework for a firm, which informs all business decisions. Each business has a different set of issues to consider but at a minimum, practitioners must have a clear idea of what business they’re in and how this informs who they hire, what technology they use, how they market and what defines success.
• Financial management: managing the bottom line. The dynamics of a financial-advisory firm require active management and a solid understanding of what to monitor and act on to translate revenues into profits, cash flow, and transferable value.
• Human capital: achieving effectiveness. The authors present selection techniques, leadership concepts, and reward systems that help reinforce business strategy.
• Operations: managing risk, processes, and protocols. Managing operations effectively hinges on how well you tie together the tools and processes that have already been introduced by industry vendors, broker-dealers and custodians.
• Succession planning: how to plan your exit.  Building a business to last, not to sell, will guide owners on how to transition client and management responsibility as well as how to develop and expand the partnership.

This updated version includes new insights 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, and recent changes in compensation planning and implementation.

Whether operating as a solo practitioner or an ensemble firm, whether the business is commission-based or fee only, Practice Made (More) Perfect is the definitive guide to launching and growing an advisory business.