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Overcoming Advisor Fears of Transition
We all have fears. From a primal need, fear exists to keep us safe. However, fear, like most things in life, has another side. When it’s not keeping us safe, fear often keeps us stagnant. Fear is the root of many of life’s regrets and poor decisions. However, when we confront our fears head-on, it can lead us to achieve greater success and happiness. Why? Because often our fears are exaggerated well beyond the experience. Study after study has shown this to be true in regards to advisor transition too.
What advisors fear about a transition, is often not a significant issue of the transition, in-reality.
Fidelity released a study in April 2018, “What’s Driving Advisors to Move in the New Landscape?” and found the top concerns advisors had before making a move paled in comparison to their actual transition experience.
| TOP 5 TRANSITION FEARS | Advisors Feared Prior to Moving | Advisors Actual Significant Issues Reported |
| Fear of the unknown, not knowing what I am getting into | 60% | 2% |
| Amount of time needed to spend on the transition instead of managing practice | 60% | 25% |
| Transition cost concerns/risks | 45% | 7% |
| Dealing with compliance and regulation | 43% | 20% |
| Not knowing whether my clients would follow me | 36% | 2% |
If advisors’ fears of transition are more significant than true advisor pain (or suffering) during transition experiences, how can advisors overcome transition fear? Psychologists have long studied ways to overcome fear. A primary way to eliminate fear is to face it head on with a plan.
If you are a parent, you are likely very familiar with helping your children to face their fears. When we let our children succumb to their fears, it does not eliminate the fear; it just delays them having to face it. The longer we wait to face our fears, the stronger they grow. There are many adults who, because of fear, never learned how to ride a bike or swim as children.
If you have desired to make a transition, yet are afraid, we encourage you to overcome your fears with the assistance of an experienced transition planner.
Transition experts are those who have helped hundreds of advisors move from captive agents to Independent Broker-Dealers (IBD), or from corporate IBD to Hybrid RIA, or from Hybrid RIA to Pure RIA. With their depth of experience, comes the ability to help you navigate each stage of the transition and any obstacles with ease. Transition planning experts guide and help advisors in these areas:
- Paperwork
- Advisor Licensing
- Branding
- Legal and Compliance
- Client Communications
- Transferring Investments
- Technology and Operations
- Physical Office Setup
- Re-Papering of Accounts
92% of advisors who have faced their fears of transition are happy with their decision and 25% report an increase in AUM within 5 years.
The data supports the reality. Advisors who transition their business are happier and satisfied with their decision to move. If you are straddling the fence with fear on one-side and better overall experience for you and your clients on the other, we encourage you to hop over. Fight your fears and win!
Hear from other advisors about their transition experiences and how Financial Advocates helped them to make a move!
