Referral partnerships for wealth advisors who serve business owners

Why wealth advisors are well placed to make these introductions

Wealth advisors who serve business owners see the company long before the liquidity event. You review the owner's balance sheet every year, you know how much of their net worth sits in one private business, and you are often the first to hear that they are tired, thinking about a sale or worried a buyer won't meet their number.

That makes you a natural center of influence for a records license. A company with 50+ full-time employees at peak and years of operational records may be able to license those records to AI labs and data buyers for a one-time payment while the owner keeps the business. For an owner who wants some cash outside the company before a sale, or instead of one, it is a new option to place next to the pre-liquidity planning you already do.

Other advisors on the client's team may also be partners, such as the owner's business broker or exit planning advisor. Credit goes to the first valid referrer whose introduction leads to a verified company application, so agree up front who will make the introduction.

Which owner clients in your book fit

Look at the operating company, not the client's investable assets.

Owners of agencies and outsourcers need a closer look, because their records often belong to their own clients; the page for agency owners explains why.

The 3C owner screen

Three questions decide whether an introduction is worth making.

• Company: is it a US company with 50+ full-time employees at peak and several years of operating history?
• Content: does it keep its own records across many systems, and can someone still export them?
• Consent: will the owner, or an authorized executive, sponsor a license and agree to be introduced?

If all three are yes, the company fit checker offers a first, non-binding screen without asking for contact details, and who qualifies lists the full baseline.

Clear compliance before your first introduction

Referral compensation from a third party can create a conflict of interest, so clear it in advance, not after.

1. Tell your firm. Describe the program to your chief compliance officer and get written approval before you register. If you are also a registered representative, note that the SEC approved FINRA's new Rule 3290 on outside activities on September 15, 2026, replacing Rules 3270 and 3280, and that the existing rules apply until FINRA announces an effective date (FINRA update).
2. Ask about conflict disclosure. Ask compliance whether the arrangement must be disclosed to clients, for example in your firm's Form ADV brochure or advisory agreement, and in what words.
3. Check your professional standards. If you hold a designation such as CFP, review how its standards treat compensation disclosure and conflicts.
4. Disclose when you recommend publicly. If you mention SourceX in a newsletter, webinar or social post while earning referral rewards, FTC staff guidance says the connection should be disclosed clearly and close to the recommendation (FTC Endorsement Guides FAQ).
5. Get the client's permission before sharing their name or any detail about their company.
6. Have tax paperwork ready. US partners are asked for a Form W-9 so payments can be reported (IRS, About Form W-9); ask your own tax adviser how referral income should be treated.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own compliance team, counsel or professional body before acting.

When to raise it in the client calendar

If a sale has just collapsed, the guide on what to do after a business sale falls through covers that conversation.

How the introduction works

You make the introduction and step back; you never handle the company's records.

1. Register as a partner and get your referral link.
2. With the client's permission, share the link, which opens the company application with your referral code attached, or enter the company's details in the referral form yourself.
3. SourceX confirms size, history, data breadth and rights with the owner or an authorized executive.
4. The company lists its systems and years of history in a data inventory.
5. The owner accepts one all-in price and the terms, or declines. Nothing is binding before signature.
6. Buyers review. Once the company is ready for buyers, responses typically arrive within about two weeks. After signing, delivery follows the redaction rules set before any work began, and the company receives a one-time payment.

What to say to an owner client

Build the disclosure into the script so it is never an afterthought.

How rewards work for a wealth advisor

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. Payment comes only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; introductions, meetings and signed agreements do not by themselves trigger a payment, and rewards are not guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee, so it never reduces what your client's company receives. Your firm decides whether you may accept it and how it must be disclosed.

When not to bother

• The company never reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).
• Its records are mostly patient files, claims data or consumer personal data.
• The company is in a sale process and a buyer holds exclusivity.
• Old systems were switched off without exports.
• The owner wants recurring income; a license pays once.
• Your firm has not approved the arrangement.

Next step

Run your ten largest business-owner relationships through the 3C screen and note which clear all three questions. Once compliance has signed off, register as a partner and make the first introduction, or share your referral link so the owner can apply at sourcex.si/apply.