8 'Must Know' Advisor Trends

Rising valuations of advisory firms and industry challenges tied to the pandemic were in focus at the online DeVoe & Co. M&A+ Succession Summit, which took place Nov. 9 and 10.

Executives from Charles Schwab Advisor Services, Mercer Advisors, BNY Mellon’s Pershing and other firms spoke at the virtual event to weigh in on changes the industry has experienced in 2020. Some themes built on shifts in the advisory business that these experts had discussed at an October session.

“Despite a tough environment, it looks like M&A has come back,” Ben Harrison, managing director and head of Advisor Solutions at Pershing, said at Devoe & Co.’s October event.

“We saw the same kind of ‘batten down the hatches’” strategy among Pershing clients from March-May to deal with the challenging environment brought on by the pandemic, he said.

“Firms used this opportunity to take stock of what they were doing, revisit their strategic plan and really double down in areas where they believed that they had an advantage to do so and execute,” Harrison noted.

During the summer and afterward, “We’ve seen growth from firms that were set up to intentionally grow and those firms that are executing are absolutely back to normal levels and the ones that are executing extraordinarily well are outperforming,” he explained.

Move through the slideshow above to learn more about eight key takeaways from the virtual summit.

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