The launch is part of a wider trend of wealth management M&A activity taking place alongside a background of inter-generational transfer. Business owners looking to exit and sell up, or transfer to heirs and non-family members, need advice and guidance.

Former financial advisor Sandra Nesbit has launched her own consultancy, Mainsail Capital Group, that works with industry figures working out how to transition and hand over their businesses. 

Nesbit has worked in the sector for more than 20 years, as a fiduciary wealth manager and registered representative for large brokerages. In 2015, under her direction, the firm started Mainsail Family Trust, a Trust Representative Office of National Advisor Trust Company. She has been a co-founder, principal and managing partner of GFS Private Wealth, where she served as a fiduciary to clients and led a fee-only wealth management RIA practice. She has been a managing director at Mercer Advisors.

The launch is part of a wider trend of wealth management M&A activity taking place alongside a background of intergenerational transfer. Family Wealth Report has regularly reported on how firms’ need for succession planning and exiting their business is driving transactions. ECHELON Partners, the investment bank, has chronicled how such activity is running hot.

“Succession and transition will be one of the most important decisions an advisor will make in their lifetime,” Nesbit said. “Unfortunately, many advisors don’t know what they don’t know – and there may only be one opportunity to get it right. Going through any business transition is similar to dating and marriage.”

Nesbit is also a director at National Advisors Trust Company and serves on the Governance Committee. She is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ as well as a Certified Estate and Trust Specialist™. Her career in the financial services industry began at IDS Company in 1992. IDS was an early adopter of financial planning and recognized its impact for clients. Nesbit took her knowledge to Merrill Lynch in 1994.