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United Advisor Group
Decision tool

Retain / Gain Assessment

Clarify what you want to protect, what you may need to strengthen, and what questions should be answered before choosing your next structure.

Before choosing a platform, partnership, or transition path, it helps to get clear on two things: what you want to protect and what you may need to strengthen.

For many advisors, changing structures is part of a larger decision: how to protect the parts of the business that already matter while gaining the support, scale, ownership, and long-term structure needed for the next chapter.

Use this assessment to organize your thinking before a confidential conversation with UAG.

Your responses stay on this page unless you choose to print, save, or share them.

Four sections to consider
1

What Do I Want to Retain?

Start with the parts of your business that feel important to protect.

The brand your clients know and trust
The client relationships you worked years to earn
The business direction you chose for your firm
The investment approach that reflects your judgment
The operating identity that makes the firm yours
The long-term direction you want to protect
Greater control over the economics of what you build
2

What Do I Need to Gain?

Now look at what your firm may need more of in order to become stronger, more durable, and better supported.

Advisor ownership
Shared scale
Compliance infrastructure
Integrated technology
Clearer reporting
Custodial relationships
Strategic partnerships
Training
Idea sharing
Joint work
Firm-growth and firm-value support
Succession and continuity support
A stronger path to long-term business independence
3

What are My Non-Negotiables?

Some items may be preferences. Others may be true non-negotiables. Use this section to identify what must remain true for you to seriously consider a different structure.

Protecting client trust
Retaining the firm’s identity
Preserving the client experience
Understanding the economics clearly
Maintaining decision-making control
Having compliance questions answered
Knowing how transition timing would work
4

What Do I Need to Understand Before Deciding?

Use this section to organize the questions that should be answered before making any serious decision.

Transition process
Compliance responsibilities
Technology and reporting
Custodians
Economics
Brand and client communication
Ownership structure
Succession and continuity
Timing

This assessment is for educational and planning discussion only. It is designed to help advisors organize key considerations before evaluating a transition, partnership, or advisor-owned RIA structure. It is not a prediction, guarantee, valuation, transition recommendation, or suitability determination. Actual economics, costs, timelines, valuation, transition outcomes, and business results vary by advisor, firm, platform, custodian, client base, regulatory requirements, and other factors. Advisors should review their situation with appropriate legal, compliance, tax, and professional advisors.