Franchising a financial planning business—it's not McDonalds, but it's an idea with legs, at least according to Briggs Matsko, a Lincoln Financial Advisors-affiliated planner.
Matsko, the developer of the EASE retirement planning process and co-founder of Retirement Security Centers, claims five of the other top Lincoln advisors have already signaled their intent to purchase one should the plan come to fruition.
It stems from the overwhelming success he claims to be experiencing with Retirement Security Centers, a firm founded to focus on what he sees as an underserved mass-affluent market.
"Franchising the Retirement Security Centers would be similar to The Mutual Fund Store concept," Matsko, a CFP and CRPC, explained at FPA Experience 2013 in Orlando last week. "RSC's unique value proposition is that they are process-driven, not product-centric. We're also looking at changing the model by using salaried-based advisors."
The stores would be populated with three to five advisors and would have centralized call and service centers.
"We would handle the prospecting, so they can focus exclusively on the client. We would also allow for equity stakes in the firm, similar to a law firm."
Matsko's RSC Sacramento office manages $1.4 billion in assets, with Matsko and Jeff Maas, his partner, managing $1 billion of that amount. Matsko said he relies heavily on Lincoln's proprietary interactive software to achieve scale, software that is in its third generation currently developed by Fiserv.
"Process is our quiver, and our software is a major arrow in the quiver; it's interactive, customized and provides for a more collaborative client experience."
The process to which he refers heavily involves the aforementioned now 10-year old EASE platform, which stands for envision, analysis, solutions and evaluation. He describes the platform further:
