How Winthrop & Co. Is Paid: Never by the Advisor

The short answer: The firm pays Winthrop & Co., and the advisor never pays.

Why we built the firm this way

An advisor weighing a move is already carrying the costs of leaving: deferred compensation that has not vested, a loan balance that may come due, and months of work rebuilding the practice somewhere new. Asking that advisor to pay a consultant on top of all of it adds a cost at exactly the moment the advisor is most exposed.

So the firm pays Winthrop & Co., and the advisor never pays. The advisor gets the work and the analysis.

How we keep the advice on the advisor's side

Being paid by the firm raises a fair question: whose side are we on? The advisor's, and the way we work is built to keep it that way.

• We work on the advisor's side of the business decision, alongside the advisor's own attorney. The engagement is about the practice: which firms fit how the advisor serves clients, what each offer is actually worth, and how to make the move without losing relationships.
• We compare the market. We look across employee, independent and RIA models, so the shortlist is built from the practice outward.
• Staying is a real answer. Some of the most useful work we do ends with the advisor staying where they are, better informed and in a stronger position. We recommend it whenever it is right.
• The numbers are the advisor's. We explain every offer in plain terms, including the parts that are not in the headline, so the advisor decides on the whole picture.

You can read more about how we work and what the transition process involves.

Questions to ask anyone who offers to help you move

Whoever you talk to, four questions tell you most of what you need to know:

1. Who pays you?
2. Do I owe anything if I decide to stay?
3. How many firms will you compare for my practice, and will you put that comparison in writing?
4. Will you tell me to stay if that is the better answer?

Our answers are short. The firm pays Winthrop & Co., and the advisor never pays. We compare the market for your practice, in writing. And yes, we will tell you to stay when staying is right.

If you would like to talk it through, confidentially and at no cost, request an introduction.