ACG1: What Clients Want During Advisor Transitions with Steve Springstead

Steve Springstead spent 33 years as a wealth advisor and portfolio manager. He built a team, led his own succession, and now coaches advisors and firms through the exact transition he just lived. In this conversation with Kathleen and Yasmin, Steve shares what actually happened when he told his clients he was retiring, including two reactions that could not have been more different. He walks through what clients quietly need during a transition, the meeting sequence that builds real trust in a new advisor before the old one leaves, and the one question almost every client asked that had nothing to do with money. This episode is part of Advising Humans' Advisor Transition series, for advisors, firm leaders, and succession planners who want the next transition to feel steadier for the client, not just cleaner on paper. Who This Episode Is For Advisors planning their own retirement or succession Firm leaders managing advisor transitions, teams, and continuity Advisor development and practice management leaders building succession standards Anyone about to hand off long-term client relationships to someone else Why It's Relevant Now Succession is no longer a someday conversation for most firms. This episode gives you the client's side of that process, the side most transition plans never account for. What You'll Learn The meeting sequence Steve recommends for handing a client relationship to a new advisor, before the old advisor is gone What clients need to hear during a transition, and what they will never say out loud Why the team around the advisor often matters more to the client than the advisor leaving The one thing almost every client asked about that surprised Steve A way to think about documenting your philosophy and process so a transition does not start from zero Timestamps 0:00 — "How dare you retire": the reaction Steve didn't expect 1:00 — Welcome to Advising Humans 2:00 — Meet Steve Springstead 3:00 — The three-part lens behind Steve's own transition 5:00 — Two clients, two completely different reactions 9:00 — How Steve tried to know what clients actually wanted 10:00 — What Steve would do differently: the case for a longer runway 12:00 — "Lifetime family advice" and the four-meeting handoff model 14:00 — Transferring investment credibility before stepping back 16:00 — The unspoken question: how many clients is too many 18:00 — "Is Nadia staying?" why the team matters more than the advisor 19:00 — Document the philosophy, not just the process 20:00 — What makes a transition feel personal instead of procedural 22:00 — Steve's executive summary: what clients really want 26:00 — Closing thoughts and thank-you 27:00 — Where to find Steve, and his upcoming book About Steve Springstead Steve Springstead, MBA, spent 33 years as a wealth advisor and portfolio manager, including 20 years as an Assistant Branch Manager in the Oakville and Mississauga area. He built and led a team that qualified for President's Council and Chairman's Council year after year, then spent several years intentionally planning and leading his own succession before stepping back from client-facing work. Today Steve is President and Lead Coach at Execution Edge Coaching and Consulting, where he coaches advisors and firms across the country on future-proofing their practice, attracting and retaining next-gen clients, and using AI in an advisory business. He has spoken on succession planning for the CFA Society of Toronto and on the risks and opportunities of the Great Wealth Transfer, and he is working on his first book, What's Next Gen? Fixing the Wealth Gap One Family at a Time. Website: www.executionedge.org LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stevespringstead