Since the deal was closed in February, 250 buyers and sellers with listings on SuccessionPlanner.com have been transferred to FPtransitions.com, says David Goad, CEO of FPtransitions.com and one of its founders. The deal brings FPtransitions.com's total registered buyers and sellers, not all of whom have listings on the site, to about 1,250, Goad says. The Web site has about 600 buy, sell and merger listings, and about 65% are "buy" listings.
Rick Thomas, a founder and former president of Suc-cessionPlanner.com, says the deal benefits former users of his site. "FPtransitions has established itself as the industry leader in transitioning and financial-advisory practices," he says. An irony of the deal is that Goad and Thomas started Succession-Planner.com together in spring 1999. Shortly after, the partners went their separate ways, and Goad started FPtransitions.com about six months later.
FPtransitions.com was launched in fall 1999, and since then, it has received more than 1 million visits at its Web site and has facilitated 36 deals involving businesses with more than $1 billion in managed assets, Goad says. The company provides succession-planning services in partnership with Moss Adams Advisory Services and Stewart Title & Escrow.
The company also has agreements to handle succession planning for the registered representatives of 45 broker-dealers, he says. To expand its broker-dealer services, Goad adds, the company recently launched BDtransitions, which matches buyers and sellers of broker-dealer businesses. The new venture currently is working to find businesses for 22 buyers. The service is not Web-based to protect the anonymity of those listed, Goad says.
LTC Tax Deduction Considered
A new above-the-line income-tax deduction for long-term-care insurance premiums may be just what the doctor ordered to stimulate LTC sales to the aging U.S. population.
And to ensure that advisors and insurance agents are prepared for the implications, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) are planning to launch a joint Web-based information and training program by year-end.
A bill (H.R. 831), introduced by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) and Karen Thurmond (D-Fla.), would allow LTC premiums to be deducted on income-tax returns, essentially like contributions to tax-qualified retirement savings accounts. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is expected to introduce a Senate version of the bill this spring.
"Similar bills cleared both the House and Senate in 1999 and 2000," says Herb Perone, chief spokesman at the ACLI. "We see broad, bipartisan support for this legislation." Congress didn't act on the 1999 bill after it got out of committee, and former President Clinton vetoed the 2000 legislation.
With just 6 million LTC policies on the books today, ACLI says the gap would leave 64 million Americans age 65 and over without LTC protection over the next 30 years.