How Does the Transition Team Support Financial Advisors Moving to Consolidated Planning?

Deciding to switch firms as a financial advisor is a big decision and learning how your new firm will help you transition your clients, or not, is a big piece of the puzzle. From your licensing to notifying your clients, and repapering accounts, you may have questions and not know what to expect.

What you do know is that the idea of moving your clients to another firm sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But what if there was a dedicated resource available to help take most of the work off your plate?

Here at Consolidated Planning, we recognize that as a financial advisor your focus should be on your clients and our team-based approach allows you to do just that. From your first day through retirement, our teams directly support you so that you can spend more time in front of your clients and prospects to build a thriving practice.

The fear of transitioning your book of business shouldn’t be something that is holding you back. In what follows, we’ll help you understand how our Transition Team can help you, what that process and timeline looks like, and the benefits of utilizing this resource all to decide if you’re ready to take the leap in transitioning your book of business.

 

What Is the Transition Team at Consolidated Planning?

The transition and onboarding support at Consolidated Planning is made available through Park Avenue Securities (PAS). PAS works with Consolidated Planning to ensure a successful transition for both you and your clients.

Since each financial advisor may operate differently and have varying books of business, the transition team offers a customized transition plan, covering all the necessary bases to hit the ground running as a new advisor at Consolidated Planning.

In tandem with your onboarding team at Consolidated Planning, the transition team will be your main point of contact for all things transitional, and then some. From the time you accept an offer with us through your first 90-120 days – anything you need to do for onboarding will be addressed, handled, and carried out by the transition team.

 

How Does the Transition Team Function For Your Book of Clients?

The transition to Consolidated Planning from your current firm is broken down into five phases, discovery, transition, live date, technology and training and repapering and acclimation.

 

DISCOVERY PHASE

4-6 weeks before your live date

•  Gather High-Level Information about your practice via a Candidate Profile
•  License and Background Review
•  Transition Action Plan Created — Your dedicated Transition Lead will create and manage a comprehensive transition plan created to help you plan and prepare for a smooth transition
•  Comprehensive Book of Business Analysis — We conduct a deep analysis of your current investment solutions and product platforms to assess asset transferability and product mapping
•  Submit Electronic U4 and Online Onboarding Application
•  Submit Outside Business Activity

 

 

TRANSITION PHASE

2-3 weeks before your live date

•  Client Account Re-Papering and Communication Planning — Your assigned Transition Lead will partner with you to develop a customized account re-papering plan to engage your clients and re-establish their accounts
•  Identify Marketing Requirements
•  Workspace Planning and Technology Setup — Your workspace and technology connectivity will be prepared and ready for you on day one
•  Conduct Learning Needs Assessment
•  Live Date Planning

 

LIVE DATE

Day of Resignation

The Transition Support Team will be fully dedicated to managing all aspects of your resignation. We partner with our internal stakeholders to perform all deliverables in a timely and efficient method.

•  Coordinating with the internal license team to promptly process your U4 and license transfer
•  Executing client repapering and Communication Plan
•  Submitting Sponsor Appointment Forms For processing (if applicable)
•  Sending a Firm Welcome Announcement

 

TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING

Week 1 post-live date

•  Confirm All System Access Approvals
•  Account Management Portals Setup
•  Complete All Pre-Requisite Compliance Training
•  Complete Investment Advisory Brochure Part 2B (if applicable)
•  Execute On Designed Training Plan
•  Growing your Business as an Experienced Entrepreneur

 

RE-PAPERING AND ACCLIMATION

Week 2 to week 12 post-live date

•  Establish New Accounts, Process Transfers and Broker Dealer Changes (if applicable) — The transition team, in conjunction with your agency, will facilitate the account opening and transfer of all your accounts
•  Business Development — We understand that growth is a key aspect of your business. We will align you with our Business Development Team to build your knowledge of our investment solutions – enabling you as an entrepreneur to enhance the service you provide for your clients and grow your business
•  Assess Need for Additional Learning and Development

The expected timeline from day 1 of discovery through completion is between 90-120 days. While the goal is within 90 days, this is dependent upon the size and scope of your practice.

 

3 Benefits of The Transition Team

 

 #1 CENTRAL POINT OF CONTACT

How many times have you found yourself in a new position where everyone tells you that they are here to help, but no one seems to step up when you actually need it? Yes, we’ve been there too.

With a lot of moving parts, you may find the ease of having a central point of contact rather than knocking on every door to check boxes off your list. Speaking of checking off lists, the transition team will make sure everything is checked off and you’re ready to go.

To ensure that your transition to a new firm is smooth but also done promptly, having that one person to guide you through completion will be a huge proponent of getting back to business as usual with your clients.

 

#2 THE HEAVY LIFT OF MOVING ASSETS

The transition team will have analyzed your clients’ current assets during the Discovery phase. During this analysis they will help you determine which client account assets can move over and which can’t as easily.

Once you have resigned from your prior firm, it’s time to move the assets. The moving of client assets is a huge undertaking, and it should be handled as such. For the accounts that don’t directly align with the offerings at PAS, this includes determining what available solutions will deliver similar results to your clients as new accounts are established.

This part of the process requires project management skills from the transition team to efficiently handle the process for you and your clients. After all, you are billing against your clients’ assets and to do so, they must be moved over to your new firm.

 

#3 ORGANIZATION

The ability to maintain a sense of organization as you transition your clients makes all the difference. Not only will there be less disruption as you conduct business, but your clients will have the confidence to continue moving forward with you.

The transition team partners with internal stakeholders to ensure all deliverables are completed in a timely and efficient manner, including your licensing and re-papering, for example.

 

#1 LICENSING

Anytime you leave a firm and join a new one, you will have to move your licensing(s) over. As a financial advisor, you may be registered with FINRA as a registered representative and/or with the state or SEC as an Investment Advisor Representative. Tasks that involve FINRA and the SEC or state can take some time to complete.

A new Form U4 will be filed by your new firm. Depending on the location of your clients, you may have to update your state registrations as well.

The transition team will coordinate with the internal licensing team to promptly process your U4 and license transfer so that you are fully registered with PAS on your live date.

 

 

#2 RE-PAPERING

Your assigned transition lead will partner with you to develop a customized account re-papering plan to engage your clients and re-establish their accounts. Re-papering involves moving client accounts from one custodian to another and any required investment changes.

Not every transitioning advisor is eligible for full repapering support from the transition team. There are varying support levels are subject to underwriting your book of business.

 

How Does the Transition Team Make It Easier to Switch to Consolidated Planning?

 

The transition team is simply an extension of Consolidated Planning. Throughout this process, you will continue to work in unison with the onboarding team as well as the transition team. The transition team removes the burden of some of the most time-intensive onboarding tasks that allows our specialized team within Consolidated Planning to provide better support to you.

Integration into your workflow is of utmost importance in the success of your career. Just as you will utilize The New Business Hub for processing paperwork and The Advisor Performance Group for case strategy and preparation, the transition team through Park Ave Securities will go to work for you.

If you are ready to make the switch and feel that the transition team at Consolidated Planning can help, get you there, quicker, and more seamlessly, we want you to reach out to our recruiters. 

 

 

2023-149425 Exp. 1/2025