Linda Bready, president of advisory software development firm CleverCX, has launched a consulting business focused on helping advisory firms navigate mergers and acquisitions, both before and after a deal.
Bready will serve as president of the new business, CleverX Consulting, an offshoot of CleverCX. She’s held leadership and consulting roles at several technology firms, including Folio Dynamix, eMoney and Envestnet. In 2010, she sold her operations and consulting firm, B-Ready Outsourcing, to Envestnet.
She said she decided to launch the business after some CleverCX clients had questions beyond the software.
“Firms that are trying to get ready to sell are unsure of the process. They think all they have to do is engage with an investment banker and get their financials in order. That’s a great step,” Bready said. “But there’s a lot they can do to clean up their firm to make it more attractive to buyers as well.”
While many aggregators and larger RIAs have M&A and integration teams to find sellers and execute mergers, the struggles are more acute with small and mid-sized firms.
To be sure, there is no shortage of M&A consultants and investment bankers focused on wealth management, but there is opportunity. Most industry observers expect the record pace of deal activity among independent wealth management firms will continue, particularly as older advisors look for their own exit strategies and smaller firms seek the benefits of being part of a larger business.
For firm principals looking to sell, Bready said she will help them align their firm’s tech stacks and reduce bottlenecks in workflows to make the businesses more appealing to buyers. She’ll also help them understand the underlying data and cybersecurity issues and work with them on getting the word out about the deal to all stakeholders.
“The communication strategy is critical because it’s not just how you talk to your clients to tell them that this is going to happen,” she said. “The other half of that and every bit as important is the internal communication. Once it happens, you need to be clear and forthright with your people because the first thing they think is, ‘Am I going to lose my job?’”
Bready will also work with firms after the deal is closed, helping plan and manage the strategy for the integration process. That could include combining mission statements for the two firms, drafting a communications strategy and writing a continuity plan for the combined entity. She plans to focus heavily on tech integration.
“Just because your performance reporting software’s being converted, doesn’t mean you can’t start working on consolidating or changing whatever you have to do with your CRM,” she said.
“Linda is excellent at understanding the operational and technology needs of financial advisors and then architecting a comprehensive solution that is appropriate, doable, and cost-efficient,” said Vic Esclamado, partner and managing director at investment bank Republic Capital Group, in a statement. “Linda sees the big picture strategic issues, but will get into the nitty gritty details, too, which makes her perspective invaluable.”
“M&A success isn’t just the numbers. It’s money, tech, people, process and vision all coming together the way it’s supposed to,” Bready said.
Bready also leads CleverCX, the software firm founded in 2022. It includes Level, a proposal generation tool; Next, a lead nurturing software; OnTrajectory, a cash-flow-based financial planning tool; and Penny, an artificial intelligence-based financial coach.