Industry Veterans Launch RIA Succession Incubator
A group of industry veterans has launched Uniting Wealth Partners (UWP), a registered investment advisor succession incubator backed by the Wealth Advisor Growth Network (WAGN).
UWP is designed for a strategic sale to an institutional buyer within three to five years. Its advisors adopt a holistic client service model, encompassing financial planning, wealth management, banking, insurance, trust and estate services, and business valuation and M&A advisory.
“The mistake most advisors make when looking at succession is that they let middlemen benefit from the margin expansion created by aggregation,” UWP managing partner and WAGN founder John Phoenix. “UWP solves this issue by allowing the advisors to become the aggregator and to achieve the multiple expansion normally reserved for the middlemen and their institutional financers.”
UWP’s innovative two-step succession incubator model allows advisors to retain majority ownership of their practices while gaining majority ownership in the holding company, which provides critical operational support and resources. This structure aims to boost the size, scale, and profitability of advisory firms, increasing their appeal to institutional buyers.
UWP advisors benefit from the network’s collective resources, including advanced technology, compliance, accounting, strategic marketing, transition services, and recruitment support.
The first advisory team to join UWP, led by managing partner Scott Shepherd, manages $550 million in assets with an eight-person team.