AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kestra Financial, Inc. (Kestra Financial) today announced the launch of Bluespring Wealth Partners (Bluespring Wealth), a new business focused exclusively on acquiring experienced registered investment adviser and wealth management firms. Bluespring Wealth will be led by Stuart Silverman, President, who brings a track record of entrepreneurial success in the financial services industry. Silverman will team with Chief Operating Officer John Vanderheyden, who joins Bluespring Wealth after serving as Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Kestra Financial and who was formerly Senior Vice President of the Project Management Office at Fidelity Investments.
Bluespring Wealth offers a comprehensive and fully customizable solution to one of the industry’s biggest challenges – succession planning – through a variety of avenues including:
- Successor identification and training. Bluespring Wealth will work with its acquired firms to identify, train, and develop future talent and successors through its intensive Successor Academy. This one-of-a-kind program is designed to provide the necessary coaching and preparation to take on the responsibility of managing a wealth management firm and ensure a smooth transition for founders, clients, and staff.
- Flexible ownership arrangements. Bluespring Wealth will execute full or partial acquisitions, working closely with the firms’ founders to customize their transition and structure the buyout so the business owner can choose the timing and their level of involvement in the business during and after the transition.
- Institutional-level support. Bluespring Wealth provides capital and industry expertise to help fully acquired or partially acquired firms grow through sub-acquisitions that fit each of its member firms’ unique culture and market.
- Earnout optimization program. Bluespring Wealth will analyze and uncover growth opportunities and potential cost savings in business areas such as technology, operations, and marketing to create efficiencies and enhance the firm’s value so a founder can maximize the value of their buyout while ensuring their legacy continues on for clients and staff.
“With a culture rich in independence and entrepreneurship, it’s only natural for Kestra Financial, Inc. to establish a separate business concentrated on streamlining advisor succession planning,” said James Poer, CEO of Kestra Financial. “Bluespring Wealth will help advisors both within and outside of our network elevate their businesses to the next level of growth.”
Having developed and sold four different businesses throughout his career, Silverman knows firsthand the challenges and triumphs that come with business ownership and the process of establishing a succession plan. He founded Fusion Advisor Network, a wealth management organization that supported over 200 independent advisors and $10 billion in assets under administration (AUA), which was acquired by Kestra Financial in 2012. Since then, he has served as Chairman Emeritus at Kestra Financial where he has shared his industry knowledge and business savvy with elite, independent advisors.
“I understand personally what it feels like to step away from a business you’ve worked your entire career to build. At Bluespring Wealth, we ensure a lasting legacy for advisors looking to exit the business through strategic partnerships,” said Silverman. “Beyond economics, our firm’s rich experience in wealth management allows us to step into an advisor’s shoes so we can craft a customized strategy for their firm’s next chapter while optimizing the value of the business for the founder. We look forward to engaging with advisors across the industry.”
For more information on Bluespring Wealth Partners, please visit www.bluespringwealth.com.
About Kestra Financial, Inc.
Kestra Financial, Inc. offers industry-leading wealth management platforms for independent advisors nationwide. With an innovative culture that celebrates independence, the company seeks to redefine the future of the advisory industry through superior service, cutting-edge technology, and preeminent resources that every advisor needs to succeed in the market now and in the years to come.
The entities of Kestra Financial, Inc. collectively oversee $92 billion in assets under administration (AUA) and support more than 2,000+ independent financial advisors across the country in delivering comprehensive securities, trust, and investment advisory services to their clients.
Kestra Financial, Inc. is the parent company of Kestra Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC; H. Beck, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC; Arden Trust Company; Blue Spring Wealth Partners, LLC; and Kestra Advisory Services, LLC; Kestra Private Wealth Services, LLC; and Kestra Institutional Services, LLC; all federally registered investment advisers.
About Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC
Through streamlined and unique succession strategies, Bluespring Wealth Partners, LLC (Bluespring Wealth) is dedicated to the acquisition and servicing of wealth management firms seeking continuity for clients and the business they have built. Bluespring Wealth was established with the express purpose of helping entrepreneurs transition their business to the next level of growth through successor identification and training, flexible ownership arrangements, institutional-level capital support, and earn-out optimization.
By focusing on partnership as the driver of success, we help business owners ensure a lasting legacy while preserving the core values on which their firms were built.
Bluespring Wealth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kestra Financial, Inc.
For more information about Bluespring Wealth, please visit www.bluespringwealth.com.
