NAPFA Launches Practice Buy/Sell Web Site for Members

Portland, Ore. (July 29, 2004) -- Business Transitions LLC has formed a strategic partnership with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors to provide an online forum for the fee-only planning group's 1,100 members to buy or sell their practices exclusively to other NAPFA members.

"When it is time for one of our advisors to retire or reduce the size of their practice, their clients want another NAPFA member to take over," said Ellen Turf, chief executive of the Arlington Heights, Ill.-based association.

According to the Web site, www.napfatransitions.com, only NAPFA members are permitted to list to buy or sell a practice on the site, but limited exceptions may be made for non-NAPFA members who wish to join NAPFA as a condition of the acquisition, if they are qualified to become a NAPFA member.

David Grau, president of Business Transitions, which has handled sales and acquisitions among the group's members, noted that NAPFA members "always prefer selling to, or buying from, another NAPFA member."

NAPFA members receive free membership on the NAPFA Transitions site, discounted closing commissions, confidential listings, NAPFA Transitions-specific form contracts to complete their transactions, a private communication system between buyers and sellers, and the ability to sell partial books of business. The site is sponsored by the Fidelity Registered Investment Advisor Group.

Through a partnership with Business Transitions, NAPFA members will also have access to transition and succession planning consulting services through Practice Merger Consultants, led by NAPFA members David Drucker and Kristofor Behn.

According to Business Transitions, NAPFA is the first national organization for financial advisors to provide its members with a private-label transition planning forum. NAPFA Transitions marks the sixth transition planning platform launched by Business Transitions LLC, which also runs FP Transitions, FP Transitions/Canada, RIA Transitions, CPA Transitions and Insurance Transitions.

-- WebCPA staff

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