Gladstone Associates, LLC Hosts First Annual Conference For Wealth Management Firms And Money Managers

PHILADELPHIA, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gladstone Associates, LLC, a leading business and transaction advisory firm focused on serving middle market enterprises in the financial services sector, hosted its first annual industry conference, "Unlocking Value Within Your Enterprise," on May 16, 2012 at The Cira Centre in Philadelphia.

The event attracted successful wealth management and money management firms collectively representing over $20 billion in assets. The conference focused on delivering education, training, and tools to attendees, principally oriented around unlocking and maximizing the value of their businesses, and included a number of both formal and informal networking events.

Paul T. Lally, III, President of Gladstone Associates, said, "Unlocking and transferring equity value is one of the key issues facing the financial services industry, particularly among middle market enterprises. After several years of limited growth for the industry, we firmly believe that current market dynamics make this an exceptionally opportune time for well-positioned firms to transform their businesses by building transferable equity value. Our ongoing mission as a company is to demonstrate how this can be accomplished, but only by managing opportunities and challenges across multiple levels, encompassing operations, financial structures, regulatory change preparedness, succession planning, and brand building."

Industry leaders provided a broad spectrum of presentations on key issues and growth opportunities, including:

• Opportunities and Threats for the Independent Advisor, by the event's keynote speaker, Joseph R. Russo, Chair of the Financial Services Institute (FSI), the leading industry association for independent broker-dealers and independent financial advisors. Mr. Russo provided his perspectives on regulatory and legislative issues the financial services industry is currently facing due to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and its impact on financial advisory businesses across all business models available today.
• Mergers and Acquisitions in Today's Wealth Management Industry, by Gladstone President, Paul T. Lally, III, encompassing issues such as key drivers motivating firms to deploy an acquisition strategy today, and how the financial services industry "collapsing up" will affect valuation and deal structure.
• Hiring to Win, by Dan Kreuter, CEO of DAK Associates, a national executive search firm focused on the financial services space, which shared best practices for helping financial advisory firms recruit key employees.
• Drivers and Pitfalls of Succession Planning, by Gladstone's "Of Counsel," attorney Robert S. Lipsey, as well as Paul T. Lally, III and Managing Director, Michael D. Bilotta, provided advice and answered audience questions on best practices in how to approach succession planning for wealth management firms.
• The Value of Branding, comprised of a panel discussion on how middle market financial services companies can best build brands and reputations that augment long-term enterprise value, encompassing perspectives from veteran business journalist, Evan Cooper, Deputy Editor of Investment News, the leading financial services industry media outlet.

Conference attendee, Mark Penske, Chairman of United Advisors, a privately owned financial services company that provides middle/back-office support services to fee-based advisors, commented, "From regulatory changes to market upheavals, the past several years have been eventful, to say the least, for the financial services industry. Gladstone's first annual conference has been of enormous assistance in putting everything that impacts our industry into the proper perspective, and providing us with expert guidance in how to best position our business for the future."

Commenting on the event, conference attendee Martin Leclerc, founder of Barrack Yard Advisers, an investment adviser based in Bryn Mawr, PA, said: "The Gladstone Conference lived up to all my expectations, providing valuable perspectives on the current state of the RIA marketplace, as well as valuable insights from presenters and fellow attendees on how to take the value of my business to the next value."

Gladstone has scheduled next year's conference for April 24th, 2013.

About Gladstone Associates, LLC

Gladstone Associates (www.GladstoneTA.com) is a national transaction and business advisory firm providing buy-side advisory, sell-side advisory, business transition planning, and strategic advisory services exclusively to fee-based advisors, money managers, registered investment advisors (RIAs) and independent broker dealers.

Gladstone Associates Media Contacts
Joseph Kuo / Chris Clemens 
Haven Tower Group LLC
(206) 420 3851 or (206) 420 1525
jkuo@haventower.com or cclemens@haventower.com

SOURCE Gladstone Associates, LLC