For advisors / Succession & equity

Succession & equity

Sell the whole practice — or just the 401(k) book.

We acquire retirement-plan practices outright, and we make micro-acquisitions of the handful of 401(k) plans sitting inside a wealth book — so a few plans stop diluting the value of everything else you've built.

01 | The dilution problem

Three 401(k) plans shouldn't discount your whole book.

Most wealth advisors we meet hold two to six plans they inherited from a client relationship. The plans are a small share of revenue and an outsized share of risk, effort, and buyer scrutiny.

Lower multiple

Acquirers price a mixed book cautiously. Plan revenue rarely earns the multiple your wealth relationships do — and the uncertainty spreads.

Fiduciary exposure

3(21) scope, fund lineups, fee benchmarking, and committee minutes — diligence questions that take real time to answer well.

Operational drag

Notices, testing season, enrollment meetings, and provider calls consume the weeks you'd rather spend on wealth clients.

Client risk

The plan sponsor is often also a wealth client. A thin plan service model puts the household relationship in play too.

02 | Two paths

Sell all of it, or only the part that doesn't fit.

Deal shape

401(k) book micro-acquisition

What transfers The 401(k) advisory agreements only — plan-level 3(21) or 3(38) scope, the service calendar, committee support, and provider relationships.

What stays yours Every wealth household, including the owners and executives of the plans we take on. We do not solicit your wealth clients, and that is written into the agreement.

Consideration A negotiated multiple of plan revenue, typically paid part at close and part over a 12–24 month retention period.

Your ongoing role Optional. Some advisors introduce us and step out; others stay named as a local relationship contact and receive ongoing referral compensation.

Client experience A joint call with each sponsor, a written scope comparison, and a transition memo. Recordkeeper and TPA usually stay in place.

Timeline 30–60 days from book review to signed sponsor agreements for a small plan book.

03 | What a carve-out protects

Price the plans separately, and the wealth book stands on its own.

Move the sliders to your own numbers. Illustrative only — real terms come out of a book review.

Wealth-management revenue $780K

401(k) plan revenue $220K

Applies a ~2.6× multiple to recurring wealth-management revenue and ~1.4× to 401(k) plan-advisory revenue, versus a ~2.1× blended multiple when a mixed book is sold whole. Not an offer or a valuation.

Sold as one mixed book $2.10M

Carve out the plans first $2.34M

Difference +$236K Additional consideration from pricing the wealth relationships without a plan book attached to them.

Methodology. This is a directional illustration, not a valuation, appraisal, or offer. It applies simple revenue multiples to trailing recurring revenue: ~2.6× for wealth-management (fee-on-AUM) revenue and ~1.4× for 401(k) plan-advisory revenue when priced separately, versus a ~2.1× blended multiple when the two are sold together as one book. These multiples are illustrative reference points drawn from published advisory-M&A ranges — RIA/wealth books commonly transact around 2–3× recurring revenue, while retirement-plan advisory books typically carry a lower revenue multiple (sources: Sica Fletcher 2024 RIA Valuation Multiples report; DeVoe & Company and Echelon Partners RIA M&A deal reports; Advisor Legacy, Aug. 2025). Actual transactions are priced on quality of revenue, margins, client age and retention, growth, and deal terms — not a flat multiple — so a real outcome can differ materially. Nothing here is tax, legal, or financial advice.

04 | How a transaction runs

Six steps, sixty to ninety days.

Confidential callMutual NDA, then a 30-minute conversation about what you hold, why now, and what you want to keep.

Book reviewWe look at plan count, assets, revenue, fee structures, and concentration — no client contact required.

Indicative rangeA written value range with the structures that fit, plus the assumptions behind each one.

Term sheetConsideration, payment schedule, retention terms, non-solicit of your wealth clients, and your ongoing role.

Sponsor transitionJoint calls, new advisory agreements, and a documented scope comparison for each plan committee.

True-upRetention measured at the agreed checkpoints and the remaining consideration paid.

05 | Diligence

What we ask for

Plan list: sponsor, assets, participant count, recordkeeper and TPA

Your advisory revenue by plan, and how it is billed

Fiduciary scope in place — 3(21), 3(38), or non-fiduciary

Most recent fee benchmarking and investment policy statement

Any open compliance items, corrections, or sponsor complaints

Which sponsors are also wealth clients of yours

What you keep

Your wealth households — contractual non-solicit, no exceptions

Your brand, your ADV, your independence

Referral compensation on the plans you send us afterward

The option to co-brand plan communications where the sponsor is your client

TrailGuide access for participants who fall below your minimums

Every conversation starts under mutual NDA. Nothing is disclosed to a provider, recordkeeper, or client until you decide to proceed.

06 | Equity, not exit

Not selling? Take the other side of the table.

Direct Affiliates share in ownership and in the plans we acquire together. If you'd rather buy retirement-plan revenue than shed it, the same book reviews that source our micro-acquisitions can source yours.

Shared ownership Direct Affiliates hold equity in the platform they build on, not just a payout schedule.

Acquire, don’t just inherit Our book reviews surface plan books for sale. Affiliates get first look at what fits their region.

A succession plan of your own The advisors who buy today are also naming who buys them out later — documented from day one.

Tell us how many plans you're carrying.

Two plans or twenty, a full practice or a single relationship you'd rather not renew — one call under NDA tells you what it's worth and what the transition would look like.