Centurion Partners has launched a service to bring the buyers and sellers of financial planning businesses together.
The launch of the service, Centurion Market Makers, followed a survey conducted by Centurion Partners in June indicating that many business owners were unsure of the options available to sell their company.
Many owners thought only their dealer could find an appropriate buyer. Failing that, they would turn to their family or business connections to buy their company.
Wayne Marsh, a director of Centurion, said: “By aggregating the buyers (large financial institutions and financial advice practices), we are delivering an opportunity for practices to sell by accessing a range of buyers efficiently. Given the transaction cost is met by the buyer, this is a particularly attractive service,” Marsh said.
Marsh added that business owners wanted someone to handle the entire sale process of their business from beginning to end, including finding buyers, and taxation and legal advice.
The survey, conducted among 37 business owners, also showed that an increasing number of financial planning businesses owners look for cultural fit over the best price when they sell their company to a new owner.
Many business owners considered other factors such as cultural fit — that the buyer will continue to provide a similar standard of service and advice — to be as important as or even more important than selling the business for the best price available.
“We call it the ‘golf club’ test,” said Chris Wrightson, also a director of Centurion.
“It is the ability to see your former clients at the golf club and know they are being looked after in a manner you and they expected.”
“Many believe sales negotiations stall because of price and terms. In my experience, however, the intangible ‘cultural fit’ is the main reason,” Wrightson added.
