‘Succession Planning’ at Lester Brunt

^{By Martin Brunt}

In a family setting ‘Succession Planning’ is often about the transfer of control, access or responsibility over assets from one generation to the next. The most common time this happens of course is upon our own demise when the assets we accumulated are passed to our beneficiaries.

However increasingly we are being asked to talk to individuals and families about how wealth or control might be passed to the next generation before the donor dies because in this way it is still possible for the current generation to advise and guide the next generation.

Unsurprisingly the very same principals regarding succession planning apply to businesses as well as individuals. One of the few questions I did not really have a satisfactory answer to was when asked ‘what will happen when you are no longer here to advise me or my family?’ It was addressing the question that led Michael and I to form Lester Brunt back in 2013.

The relationships that we build with clients and their families are very important to us and, the advice we provide can cover a very long period of time.

Therefore to give you the confidence and continuity that you deserve we went about building a more substantial and sustainable business.

We are now some 50 people strong and have advisers ranging from their mid 20’s to their mid 60’s, we also have two ladies in our adviser team which has just been fantastic. We can now say, with some justification and confidence, that there will be someone from Lester Brunt who will be available to provide the advice and support required whenever this should be.

Whilst to date Michael and I have been the only point of contact for a number of clients this is now starting to change. Whilst we both will continue to see those individuals and families we have seen, we will now be taking the opportunity, where appropriate, to introduce our ultimate successor. We are doing this now in order that the transition can be undertaken at a gradual pace and so that we can ensure that these new relationships have time to establish themselves well before we might retire to our green pasture!

We will continue to run seminars, webinars and other events in respect of Generation to Generation planning in the future. If you would like to attend such as event please let us know and we will contact you when the next event is arranged. Similarly if you would like more information or would prefer to speak to someone on this topic, please let us know.