As a wave of financial advisers prepare to sell their practices, a deeper question is emerging: What comes next?
According to AFH Wealth Management’s recent White Paper, one in three advisers are planning to sell or exploring options to sell, citing rising operational costs, regulatory fatigue, and a desire to crystallise the value they’ve built. It’s a trend that’s been gathering pace — yet behind the spreadsheets and succession plans lies a more human story.
Many of these advisers are not done with helping people. They’re just done with the regulation.
Beyond the Exit: The Human Capital Conversation
When you sell a regulated firm, the buyer’s primary focus is the regulated assets — the funds under management, the recurring fees, the client books. What often gets lost in transition is the relationship capital: those decades of trust, the intimate knowledge of each client’s life story, their ambitions, fears, and the family decisions shaped by your guidance.
The buyer inherits the portfolios.
But who inherits the people?
When the dust settles, those clients will still need someone to talk to — not about products or markets, but about life. Retirement, purpose, meaning, human capital.
And they’ll probably call you.
The Rise of the Holistic Wealth Planner
That’s where the next plot twist begins.
You don’t have to retire from financial planning — only from its regulated form.
A new chapter is emerging for advisers who want to continue their life’s work without the compliance treadmill: becoming Holistic Wealth Planners.
Holistic Wealth Planning shifts the focus from financial capital to human capital — the skills, experience, relationships, and life choices that define long-term prosperity. It’s about helping people plan their lives before their money, using coaching, mentoring, and purpose-led conversations to navigate transitions with clarity and confidence.
By adopting a staged retirement strategy, you can transition from regulated adviser to mentor, from product intermediary to life architect — staying relevant, purposeful, and still deeply valued by your clients.
The Clients Still Need You
Your loyal clients don’t just value your financial acumen — they value you.
And as they themselves enter retirement or face life’s next chapter, they’ll be looking for someone who understands the bigger picture:
- How to align purpose and income in later life.
- How to manage human capital and legacy, not just cash flow.
- How to balance giving, living, and leaving.
The buyer of your firm might not offer that.
But you can.
Your Next Chapter Awaits
At the Academy of Life Planning, we help retiring advisers design that next chapter. We train and mentor you to become a Holistic Wealth Planner — guiding others through life’s financial and personal transitions, without the regulatory burden.
You’ll learn how to:
- Develop human capital strategies for clients and yourself.
- Build a post-regulated practice around empowerment, mentoring, and life design.
- Continue earning income and purpose through your own independent brand.
Because when your clients need to talk about life beyond the balance sheet — who are they going to call?
Probably you.
Be ready to receive those calls.
Be ready to serve in a new way.
Be ready for your next plot twist.
👉 Learn how to retire from regulation, not from relevance.
Join the movement at http://www.aolp.co.uk
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Contact: steve.conley@aolp.co.uk
Website: www.aolp.info
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