Business owners represent one of the largest and most overlooked opportunities in wealth management—and retirement plan advisors may already hold the keys to these relationships.
In this exclusive 401(k) Specialist Q&A, Andrew J. McFetridge, Head of Strategic Relationships and Investment Specialists at Manulife John Hancock Investments , and Kathleen Pritchard, Head of Retail Practice Management at Manulife John Hancock Investments, share how their teams are equipping advisors to better serve this lucrative client segment.
From collaborating with the Exit Planning Institute, to building their own robust suite of content, resources, and practice management tools, they explain why retirement plan advisors who step into this space can strengthen trust, expand services, and capture long-term revenue opportunities before competitors move in.
401(k) Specialist: To begin, can you explain why Manulife John Hancock Investments decided to put a focus on building content for the business owner client segment?
Head of Retail Practice Management, North America
Kathleen Pritchard: Our entry into this space came about in an interesting way. A few years ago, some of our sales leaders came to me because they were looking for a speaker for a private wealth conference for one of our clients. They knew I was on the conference committee for the Investments and Wealth Institute and thought I might have some ideas.
My recommendation was Scott Snider, who is the President of the Exit Planning Institute (EPI). As I was telling them about Scott, I suggested that we should consider building content in this space because liquidity events (when a business sells) are a significant source of assets in the private wealth space and, at the time, we were building our strategy for working more closely with private wealth advisors.
They agreed and we started conversations with Scott and the Exit Planning Institute. As a result, we agreed to collaborate on our first module, “Empowering Business Owner Conversations,” and to have some of our associates get their CEPA® designation. Today, we have almost 60 people across our distribution organization with the designation and we have more associates going through the designation program every month.
In addition, we have continued to develop a large library of content and resources in this space, outside of our initial collaboration with EPI.
401(k) Specialist: Can you tell us more about the Exit Planning Institute and the work they do?
Kathleen Pritchard: The Exit Planning Institute is the leading authority in exit planning and value acceleration in the industry. They are an education company that certifies and supports more than 8,000 Certified Exit Planning Advisors (CEPA®) as well as thousands of Financial Advisors and other professional advisors worldwide through national, regional, chapter, and virtual education.
401(k) Specialist: Andy, what are some typical obstacles that prevent business owners from creating transition plans, even when they recognize their importance?
Head of Strategic Relationships and Investment Specialists
Andrew McFetridge: Well, you are correct, they do realize it is important—according to EPI’s research, 95% of business owners agree it is. However, most of them believe it is not urgent. They are not looking to exit any time soon so they “kick the can down the road” and figure they will deal with it later when they are closer to wanting to exit their business.
Most business owners tend to work 24/7 on their business, so getting them to engage with a financial advisor on long-range planning is challenging, however, if they do engage, they have the potential to maximize their value when they are ready to transition.
401(k) Specialist: How is the professional retirement plan advisor uniquely situated to effectively build trust and position themselves as trusted partners, becoming key members of a business owner’s transition team during liquidity events?
Kathleen Pritchard: Great question. We see the professional retirement advisor as uniquely positioned to be successful in this space due to the fact that they already have strong relationships with the business owners (and often their C-Suite/leadership teams) as a result of their retirement plan business. They are already a trusted advisor! Versus another financial advisor who is trying to gain entry to the business owner.
However, to be clear, this is another line of business. The professional retirement plan advisors will need to educate themselves and their teams, decide what services they want to deliver, and align resources against it. But the potential payoff could be significant and the most difficult hurdle—gaining access to the business owner—has already been cleared.
401(k) Specialist: How can advisors effectively educate business owners on the advantages of having a transition plan and team in place?
Andrew McFetridge: Part of this is education and part of this is bringing in the right professional advisors and Centers of Influence (COIs) to work with the business owner. Financial Advisors need to expand their network of COIs to include Value Growth Advisors, M&A Advisors, Estate Attorneys and CPAs with exit planning experience, Business Brokers, Private Equity Advisors, ESOP Specialists and more. We can assist with both!
401(k) Specialist: What specific tools or resources from Manulife John Hancock Investments and the EPI can advisors use to better support business owners?
Kathleen Pritchard: We have a significant suite of content and resources that can support financial advisors in their work with business owners.
Our first module, “Empowering Business Owner Conversations” is foundational. The presentation and video introduces financial advisors to the opportunity with business owners. And it is big. There are roughly 390,000 privately held businesses in the U.S. with sales revenue of $5 million – $100 million, and 74% of business owners expect to transition in the next 10 years—creating a $14 trillion opportunity. It also introduces them to the Exit Planning Institute’s research and exit planning process, provides conversation-starters and tips on building their exit planning team of COIs. That module also has an investor-approved whitepaper (5 Things Every Business Owner Should Know About Exit Planning), an advisor guide to exit planning conversations, as well as a flyer and checklists.
Once advisors understand the tremendous potential with business owner clients, the next question is inevitably, “OK, what do I do now?” How can they position their financial advisory practice to be successful working with business owners and deliver a great client experience?
To help them, we developed an extensive module of content, “Developing Your Go-To-Market Strategy for Business Owners.” It begins by asking the important questions advisors need to answer for their practice to be successful in this space. Including:
- deciding on their exit planning process,
- determining their process for executing business valuations, and
- determining how they will deliver on helping clients create their plan for what they will do post-exit.
From there, we discuss how to develop a defined, repeatable process for each wealth management service they will be delivering (including financial planning, estate planning support, strategic philanthropy and more) and a method for communicating those processes.
We also discuss the three primary revenue opportunities prior to the liquidity event and help advisors think through how to execute on those opportunities.
As I just mentioned, one of the critical things advisors need to think through is their revenue opportunities prior to the liquidity event, which of course includes retirement plan business. However, another important revenue opportunity is charging planning fees. We have created a module called, “The Changing Fee Landscape” that leverages all of the latest industry research from Michael Kitces, Bob Veres and Purpose Consulting Group on industry fee trends and it comes with a guide to financial planning fees to help them think through alternate fee models.
And then, to tie a bow on all of it, we can help them think through their value proposition with our module, “Communicating Your Value to Business Owner Clients and Prospects.”
We also have a client seminar, “Taking Your Company from Successful to Significant,” that they can use as a way to educate their business owner clients and prospects.
And we are just getting started. We are committed to continuing to build content in this space and we want to be the firm advisors turn to for help with this potentially lucrative client segment.
401(k) Specialist: How critical is it to customize transition plans for individual business owners, and what factors should be taken into account?
Andrew McFetridge: We find that each business and business owner situation is unique. However, we believe that the process that the advisor employs in this space needs to be a defined, repeatable process so that it is scalable across their practice. That is why we have gotten so tactical and really delved into helping advisors create processes in “Developing Your Go-To Market Strategy for Business Owners.” I would also say, there is a lot to learn in this space which is why that network of COIs is going to be so critical to an advisor’s success.
401(k) Specialist: What strategies can advisors use to maintain long-term relationships with business owners after the transition process is complete?
Andrew McFetridge: Well, frankly, we see the financial advisor as the last man/woman standing! In other words, after the liquidity event, the other professional advisors (Value Growth Advisors, M&A Advisors, M&A Attorneys and CPAs etc.) have finished their job. The financial advisor will be working with the business owner and their family to manage the wealth created by the liquidity event, potentially for years to come! And for retirement plan advisors, they will hopefully be able to continue to manage the plan for the new owners going forward.
401(k) Specialist: What emerging trends do you see in the business transition advisory field, and how can advisors prepare to adapt to these changes?
Kathleen Pritchard: Well, the biggest trend we see is that more advisors are becoming educated on the tremendous opportunity that business owners represent. And, therefore, more financial advisors will be calling on the business owners that retirement plan advisors are currently working with. So, if it was me, I would want to get in front of that and own all aspects of the relationship with my business owner clients!
John Hancock and Exit Planning Institute are not affiliated.
The opinions expressed are those of the interviewees as of 09/17/2025 and are subject to change. No forecasts are guaranteed. This article is provided for informational purposes only, and is not an endorsement of any security, mutual fund, sector, or index by Manulife John Hancock, John Hancock Investment Management Distributors, LLC, John Hancock Investment Management, LLC, and their affiliates.
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Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
