{"id":529940,"date":"2026-03-11T21:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/529940\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T21:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:17:16","slug":"this-financial-planner-acquired-a-multigenerational-book-to-grow-his-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/529940\/","title":{"rendered":"This financial planner acquired a multigenerational book to grow his business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Brandon Chapman, principal and certified financial planner with SaaS Wealth Insurance in Vancouver.Supplied<\/p>\n

In Buy the Book, advisors discuss their experiences acquiring a book of business, from practice valuation to client retention.<\/p>\n

Brandon Chapman, a 35-year-old principal and certified financial planner with SaaS Wealth Insurance in Vancouver<\/p>\n

After starting out in the insurance business in 2015, Brandon Chapman branched into financial planning. He started his own firm, SaaS Wealth Insurance in 2021, and built his book of 150 clients organically, with the goal to grow his practice to around 350 clients one day. He has one associate advisor and an administrative assistant on his team.<\/p>\n

At a fund company presentation in 2019, Mr. Chapman met an independent financial planner, a 40-year veteran of the industry. The financial planner didn\u2019t have a succession plan, and his clients occasionally called him out about it. Busy mapping out client retirement projections, he needed a plan of his own.<\/p>\n

For the next three years, Mr. Chapman spent time with the seller, getting to know his processes and some of his clients. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more of a relationship-building experience,\u201d Mr. Chapman explains, with no formal plan to buy the business. <\/p>\n

The book<\/p>\n

The seller liked that Mr. Chapman also focused on financial planning and estate planning. He just needed more time to figure out his retirement date. <\/p>\n

By 2022, they discussed a more formal arrangement. The first part of the deal was Mr. Chapman agreeing to become the seller\u2019s \u201cemergency transition plan\u201d should the seller face sudden death or disability. <\/p>\n

His book was made up of 200 families, mainly a clientele of seniors who were withdrawing from registered retirement income funds (RRIFs).<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnically, that\u2019s negative revenue from the RRIF clients, but their net worth has been growing faster than their redemptions. They have good financial habits,\u201d Mr. Chapman says.<\/p>\n

Many of the clients\u2019 adult kids also were part of the book of business. Mr. Chapman liked the intergenerational possibilities and he had the chance to meet a few of the younger clients in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was some confidence to the parents that what they\u2019ve built isn\u2019t going to be squandered,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd for the kids, there\u2019s trust they\u2019re not having to work with an older guy who doesn\u2019t understand them and their situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transition<\/p>\n

From 2022 to 2024, Mr. Chapman worked with the younger clients at first, with the seller making introductions to other clients. He attended most client meetings with the seller as the lead advisor.<\/p>\n

The seller was experienced at retirement income planning for his older clients, while Mr. Chapman appreciated having the extra years to get to know each client\u2019s needs alongside the seller. <\/p>\n

Then, in 2024, the seller and Mr. Chapman handwrote letters to every client officially naming him as the successor. Soon afterward, they scheduled joint meetings. Mr. Chapman believes the seller\u2019s presence provided clients with a lot of comfort, which drove the 95 per cent retention rate.<\/p>\n

By January, 2025, Mr. Chapman became the lead advisor. He bought office space in Vancouver\u2019s Terminal City Club, offering clients an elevated experience that was in line with the seller\u2019s more traditional digs.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Chapman did make some changes to the practice, adopting lower-fee products such as exchange-traded funds and moving to more digital communication for younger clients. The firm now sends clients newsletters by e-mail, is active on social media and updates client information electronically.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany clients were happy to see the transition, as it gave them better access to information from us throughout the year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mr. Chapman hosts three client appreciation events a year for clients who value networking and building their own business profile.<\/p>\n

The price<\/p>\n

Mr. Chapman paid what the seller asked for, the industry average of 2.5 times recurring revenue for the book. He financed the lion\u2019s share of the purchase using his personal home equity line of credit. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe interest rate was quite favourable. I did get a small loan from my dealer, but that was 1.5 per cent more than the home equity,\u201d he says, adding he can deduct the interest through his personal line of credit for the purposes of earning business income.<\/p>\n

He paid the seller in two phases. \u201cHe didn\u2019t demand everything upfront and was quite flexible to support the transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advice for buyers<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t rush is the best advice, Mr. Chapman says. Buyers need time to ensure the clients fit their business. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere had to be several boxes checked for me to consider buying the book,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He also advises buyers to do their due diligence by checking the seller\u2019s compliance history. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be buying a problem,\u201d he says, noting the seller passed with flying colours. <\/p>\n

Are you a financial advisor or financial planner who recently bought a book of business? Globe Advisor would love to speak with you about your experience. Candour, especially around the finances, is appreciated, and your name and photo will be used for the column. Please e-mail dgage@globeandmail.com<\/a> and include a brief synopsis of your situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Brandon Chapman, principal and certified financial planner with SaaS Wealth Insurance in Vancouver.Supplied…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1397,45,49,48,133,5266,2922,131,132],"class_list":["post-529940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-appwebview","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-globe-advisor","tag-noastack","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}