Continuity Plan - Case Study

Book of Business Details:
Broker/Dealer - Lincoln Financial Advisors (LFA)
Agent Age – 67
AUM - $35 Million
# of Clients – 540
Lines of Business – Life Insurance (Lincoln Life and Direct Life), Annuities (Jackson and Lincoln), Mutual Funds Direct, and Brokerage
Electronic CRM – No. Agent was on the “One Card” System.
Assistant – No. Sole Practitioner
Relationship – We had known the Advisor for many years.
Time Frame:
Approached – September 2014
Continuity Plan Placed – October 2014
Agreement Placed – Never got to a full agreement
Transaction – November 2014
Payout Period – 2 Years
Summary:
We had a relationship with this advisor for many years. He knew our practice and how we treated our clients. He had several health issues and had even suffered a heart attack the year prior. We approached him in September to offer him a “safety net” so that, in case his health went south, we would be able to pay him and his wife. We put the plan in place in Mid-October of 2014. He called us on October 31st of 2014 to inform us he had lost his license. Due to his health, he was not able to complete his training for his Series 6 maintenance. The book would be transferred to us on the following Monday.
Thankfully, we had put the Continuity Plan in place, as it allowed us to have Lincoln assign his clients to us, and we were able to compensate him. We put together a letter that week and mailed it out to his entire book of business, introducing ourselves and announcing his retirement. We spent the next several weeks sitting with him and learning about his clients, and were able to set up about 20 meetings or so for him to transition them to us. Because the Continuity Plan was in place, we were able to communicate to the advisor’s clients and colleagues that he had chosen to retire. This created a smoother transition for the clients and allowed the advisor to move into retirement with grace.