Timothy Carlson • Worcester, MA
Integrated Financial Partners, Inc. • LPL Financial
Two of the centerpieces of our firm’s growth strategy are related to forging partnerships. The first approach is a professional partnership program. The management and advisors at Integrated Financial Partners (IFP) take an innovative approach to wealth management by forming strategic relationships with attorneys and accountants, building a team to meet the overall financial, tax-strategy, and legacy-planning needs of clients. This serves clients and the partners well, and allows sharing of both resources and referrals. We currently have over 100 formal partnerships throughout several geographic areas.
We also grow our firm through the ongoing recruitment and expansion of our advisor team. This has been critical so far to the growth of my practice, as I have been able to form partnerships with other advisors. It is a fact that many advisors are reaching a point in their career where they would like to start thinking about their own retirement. Some advisors are looking for a slowly phased exit from the business, where they can closely monitor the transition of their client base to a new advisor. Others are looking for a more structured and fast exit plan. Still others might want to bring a family member into their business but want a more experienced advisor to help oversee and facilitate that transition.
I have had the good fortune to serve as that advisor in a few of these transitions. For example, a father-son advisor team was brought into IFP shortly after I started. The son was concentrated in the 401(k) market, and the father addressed the individual planning needs of those 401(k) clients. The senior partner is now looking to phase out of the business and would like help with case design and some of the administrative and maintenance work of his practice. He still wants to meet with clients and maintain relationships as much as possible, but he is finding it harder to stay on top of all the tasks that a practice requires, including staying fully immersed in a variety of newer investment strategy alternatives.
This was an ideal situation for a partnership. I began working with the practice, taking on several responsibilities and starting the process of establishing client relationships. This has been a successful and pleasant transition process, not only for the advisors involved, but also for the firm’s clients. I think they find it very comfortable to continue working in a collaborative fashion moving forward, rather than having to worry about possibly ending their relationship with the firm. Overall, this has been a win-win-win situation.
Disclosure: Timothy Carlson is a registered representative with, and offers securities through, LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. Mr. Carlson is an investment advisor representative with, and offers investment advice through, Integrated Wealth Concepts, a registered investment advisor. Integrated Wealth Concepts and Integrated Financial Partners are separate entities from LPL Financial. The opinions in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations. All investing does involve risk and potential loss of principal. No strategy assures a profit or protects against loss. Tactical allocation may involve more frequent buying and selling of assets and will tend to generate higher transaction cost. Investors should consider the tax consequences of moving positions more frequently.
Photography by Bill Horsman
