Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services today unveiled a program designed to help investment advisors envision and formalize their succession plans.

According to the 2011 Fidelity RIA Benchmarking Study, 75 percent of investment advisors who participated in the survey either didn't have succession plans for their businesses or have plans that are not ready to be implemented.

Fidelity's Realizing the Value in Your Firm program includes a series of workshops across the country that will help advisors understand their succession planning options, engage with advisors who have executed succession planning strategies and ultimately choose the succession track that is right for them, according to Fidelity.

David E. Canter, executive vice president and head of Practice Management and Consulting at Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, said the program helps advisors answer the question, "What do I really want for the next phase of my practice and my life?"

"We believe addressing this very significant element of succession planning will inspire advisors to take action and create more formalized plans," Canter said. "We built this program around the insight that succession planning conversations need to start at a higher level. Many advisors rush to determine their firm's value or find a partner, but succession planning is more about shifting one's mindset than making a transaction."

Fifty-four percent who work with an advisor say it is important that their advisor have a succession plan, according to Fidelity's research. Sixty-six percent of RIAs would prefer to have an internal successor and, among RIAs who feel an internal successor is the best route, 29 percent have selected a successor.

"When succession planning is equated with retirement, it is not always a priority because many investment advisors are passionate about their practices and don't see themselves transitioning out of the business," Canter said. "In fact, nearly half of RIAs report that they don't plan to leave the profession or retire, However, when advisors think about succession planning as a critical part of business continuity-protecting the asset they have built and the clients that they serve-it can and should move to the top of the list."

-Jim McConville