He may only have been making his point with hyperbole, but when Mark Tibergien told attendees at Pershing's annual Insite conference that older advisors were not only burning out younger colleagues in their firms but "ruining" them for the entire industry by driving them to switch professions, he struck a chord.
That specific remark was based on a study he conducted two years ago when the business was just recovering from the financial crisis. The study found that 25% of the young people in advisory firms wanted to switch employers and fully half of them wanted to switch industries.
Their reason was poor management more than overwork. Young advisors in firms top heavy with boomers feel they have few growth or professional development opportunities.
Tibergien suggested advisors ask themselves some hard questions. Here are some:
1. How old will you be in ten years? Remember 9/11 was only ten years ago.
2. What will your business look like?
3. Who will be leading it? Do you know that person?
4. Will the business's clients be built on boomers moving into a withdrawal phase or on a different generation?
5. Does your business have value?
6. If your spouse filed for divorce, what is it worth?
7. Is the value transferable?
8. Are clients providing you with referrals? What do they say about you to centers of influence?
9. Does your business have multi-generational appeal?
10. What are the headwinds facing your business? How do you respond to adversity like regulation, sourcing talent, financial market uncertainty and big online competitors?