Hoxton Wealth: Why adviser businesses must plan for succession now

As thousands of financial planners edge towards retirement without a clear exit strategy, succession planning has become one of the profession’s most urgent, and overlooked, challenges.

In the following exclusive insight, Hoxton Wealth CEO, Chris Ball, argues that building a financial advice business capable of thriving beyond its founder is no longer optional if advisers want to protect their clients, preserve value and secure a lasting legacy.

We often talk about growth, performance, and revenue. But what we do not talk about enough is how to build something that thrives beyond your involvement — a practice that protects your clients and continues operating smoothly long after you step out of the day-to-day.

We talk a lot about growth, performance and revenue. We do not talk enough about what happens when you step away: whether your practice protects your clients and keeps running smoothly, or quietly falls apart.

A profession facing a succession crunch

Right now, our profession faces a real structural problem: tens of thousands of planners are heading towards retirement without a formal succession plan, and that presents continuity risk for them, their clients and their teams.

In the United Kingdom, research from the Financial Conduct Authority indicates that the average age of a UK financial planner is now in the early to mid-50s, with a significant proportion aged over 55. Some studies estimate that nearly one-third of planners are expected to retire within ten years.

Most planning businesses are structured around the founder. Clients connect to that founder personally, decision making lives in one person’s head and processes can be informal and undocumented. That model can work when you are present, but when it comes time to exit, sell or step back, that dependency becomes a major liability.

Why founder dependency destroys value

Planning firms that rely on one person’s relationships and processes tend to trade at lower valuations because buyers or successors see more risk. There is less predictable revenue, less documented decision-making, and greater client concentration risk. It is not a business you are looking to pass on — it is simply a collection of assets someone else must figure out how to manage.

Succession planning, when done well, mitigates that risk. It signals to buyers and internal successors that the business has continuity value as well as production value.

The sticky-note deal that never happened

A few years ago, we almost bought a financial planning business. It looked like a clean fit. There was a strong client base, good retention and healthy recurring revenue. Everything looked promising until we got into the compliance review.

We discovered that all of the fact finds had been done on sticky notes. From a compliance, risk and regulatory perspective, this was untenable, so the deal fell through.

The owner had put decades of work at risk. This was his life’s work, but because he had not been organised, structured or planned for continuity, that legacy disintegrated when it came time to transition. That is exactly why succession planning is not optional. When you start planning early, you identify these issues and fix them long before they derail value creation.

Building a business that can survive without you

If your way of operating lives only in your head, then your practice cannot outlive you — or function without you. Documented workflows, standardised risk profiling, investment playbooks, governance and a centralised CRM are what make a business institutional rather than founder dependent. Clients should trust the firm, not just the individual adviser.

Succession planning cannot be a last-minute branding exercise; it must be baked into the client experience. That means involving multiple planners in client service, shared communications with team members and joint meetings where successors are introduced early.

Continuity is the new competitive advantage

The planner demographic shift is not only a future problem; it is a challenge today. Nearly 40 per cent of planners could retire within the next decade and, with many still uncertain about how to transition, the industry is facing a continuity crisis.

At the same time, client expectations and regulatory standards around continuity planning are rising. Firms that address these expectations proactively not only protect client interests but also position themselves as more resilient and attractive — whether to clients, successors or buyers.

Lasting continuity — the ability for your practice to thrive without you — is what builds true legacy. If you want your life’s work to endure, start designing it that way today.