A total of 265 advisors have responded to my "Best Practices 2011" survey so far. Considering that I asked 48 questions, I am extremely pleased.
The wealth of information in that survey will keep this blog going for a long time. (Previous articles from "Good's Best Practices Blog" are archived here.)
And you can still take the survey here, and compare your answers to best practices. Respondents will also receive a copy of the final report as well as my enhanced eBook—"Making Referrals Happen."
Since there are at least several hundred "best practices," we have to start somewhere. Let's start with partnerships.
Partnerships As a Best Practice
I hate to say, "I told you so," but I've been telling you partnerships are a good thing since 1989 when I wrote: "As we move into the 1990s, I firmly believe that small advisor organizations operating within the framework of larger companies will become the wave of the future. I believe that the $250,000 producer operating with one-eighth of an assistant will survive as an entry-level position only. People will come into the industry and when they have proven they can sell and deal with clients, they'll have two choices: Develop their own organization, or develop a partnership complete with support staff."
In my experience—and from this survey—I am now declaring: Multi-advisor partnerships are a best practice.
It's a Numbers Game
If success is measured by AUM, these numbers from my survey tell the tale. You are more likely to have $100 million as part of a multi-advisor team.
| $50 million AUM and less | $100 million AUM and more | |
| Single Advisor Shop | 65.30% | 28.40% |
| Two-way partnership | 13.60% | 33% |
| Three-way partnership | 2.40% | 16% |
| More than 3 partners | 6.80% | 9.90% |
| Other | 11.90% | 12.30% |
Does this mean that if you are a single advisor and do not ever want to be part of a multi-advisor team, you are road kill on the success super highway? Not at all.
