Founder Retirement/Ownership Transition at Single Manager HF

Consider a single manager HF- not theoretical, this is roughly the situation at the fund I work:

  • boutique firm $500m-5b FUM, fundamental equities
  • founder is the CIO and historically the face of the firm for clients
  • half dozen to a dozen analysts underneath, two to four longstanding but all decisions ultimately the CIOs'
  • founder owns the (vast) majority of the firm, is very wealthy & getting older, looking to get away from the day-to-day
  • firm trying to raise the profile of other senior investors among clients

Lots of issues here.

How does the founder maximize the value of the business on ownership transition? What would a good ownership transition look like, and what is a fair price given client-redemption risk? What if the firm is ridiculously profitable and ownership transition to key employees (deferred consideration over time, perhaps) could never result in a good price for the founder? How should the employee compensation & bonus pool methodology change post founder departure? Could the founder & his family trust retain ownership and the business remain successful?

Curious for any thoughts or experiences on how transitions work. Assume that handing the clients back their money and converting to a family office is an option, but the least preferred option. Thank you.

 

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