The directors of City & Capital Acquisitions have rebranded the company in a bid to become a knowledge hub for sellers of financial advice businesses.
Victoria Hicks and Brian Hill will head up The Exit Partnership, with the newly-established company name reflecting the pair’s mission to “work hand-in-hand with business owners in the financial planning profession and demystify the M&A process”.
It also wants to help advisers, planners, and wealth managers “to exit their businesses in the most appropriate way by providing help, insight and support which sellers haven’t previously had access to, whilst enhancing the profession.”
The company will offer a knowledge hub for business owners through its new website. The hub will feature a series of 60-second videos which answer the most common questions about the process of exiting a financial planning firm.
The Exit Partnership website also includes a range of tools, designed to help business owners save money and feel more comfortable about key aspects of their sale. Among these is a valuation calculator and a regulatory due diligence questionnaire.
Offering
Both Hicks and Hill have experience of running and selling an advice business – and they will offer two M&A broker services for financial planners.
The ‘Partner Route’ sees the company acting completely on behalf of the seller, while within the ‘Broker Route’, the company is remunerated by the buyer.
Hicks, managing director of The Exit Partnership, said: “When the time comes to sell, financial planning business owners often don’t know where to begin. Brian and I have been in their shoes, having run our own advice businesses, bought and integrated businesses, and ultimately exited. This experience means we understand first-hand the hopes and fears that go along with the process.
“We’re rebranding as The Exit Partnership because that’s what we want to be for our clients: a trusted partner helping them through every step of a successful exit. Selling a business is a high-stakes journey most people will only take once, so they need to get it right. We’ll continue to share our unique insights, support, and guidance to help them to do that.”
Hill, head of strategic exits at the Exit Partnership, added: “We focus on the sellers, who deserve to have their interests regarded as paramount. When we engage with sellers, we explain very clearly our two services, how we are remunerated for both, and the pros and cons of each. We’ve set a fair charging structure without bias, and at a level accepted by all acquirers.
“A broker fee is a cost of purchase – the seller is actually always paying. Whilst there are some brokers working similarly to us, many are putting their own interests first, and not being honest about the conflicts. This results in poorly matched acquisitions, negative press for the planning profession, and a bad reputation for the good brokers helping people exit in the right way.”
