A first-month referral plan for wealth advisors

What should a wealth advisor do in the first month as a referral partner?

Spend week one on rules, week two on screening, week three on a compliant first conversation and week four on one introduction. The sequence matters because a wealth advisor's biggest constraint is not finding a company; it is confirming that the firm's compliance team allows a referral arrangement at all. Do that first and the rest is ordinary client service.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own firm's compliance team, counsel or regulator before acting.

Why wealth teams are well placed

Wealth advisors who serve business owners sit in meetings that other partners do not: annual reviews, liquidity planning sessions, and conversations about concentration in a closely held company. You already know which clients own operating companies, how long they have been in business and who runs them. The introduction is one more option to put on the table, not a product.

Week-by-week plan

Week 1: clear it with compliance before anything else

Registered representatives should ask their compliance team how outside referral arrangements are handled. FINRA reported that the SEC approved new FINRA Rule 3290 on September 15, 2026, replacing the outside business activity and private securities transaction rules, so your firm's supervisory procedures may be changing. FINRA's Rule 2040 addresses paying compensation to unregistered persons; read what it says about the person receiving compensation. Registered investment adviser representatives should check the firm's code of ethics and fiduciary disclosure obligations. Independent advisors outside a broker-dealer should confirm with their own counsel.

Bring compliance these items:

• A one-paragraph description of the program: you introduce a company, SourceX handles the rest, and the reward is a share of SourceX's fee after it is paid
• A statement that you never see, export or describe a client's confidential records
• Whether the introduction is to a client, a prospect or a center of influence
• How any compensation would be disclosed to the client
• Whether a securities-related or advisory-fee conflict exists

If compliance says no, stop. Nothing on this page overrides your firm's answer.

Week 2: screen your book with the 4-signal test

For each owner client, answer four questions:

1. Is it a US operating company with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded)?
2. Does it have several years of documented operations and records across many systems?
3. Does the company own its records and have rights to license them?
4. Can you reach an authorized sponsor, usually the owner or CFO, in the normal course of the relationship?

The company fit checker gives a preliminary, non-binding read without requiring contact details. Aim for a list of two to five names, not fifty.

Week 3: plan how to raise it

The best openings come from planning the owner is already doing. Use the first line of a review agenda: liquidity options for the business. The what is a liquidity event page is a handy explainer to share. If succession is the topic, what happens to a business when the owner dies is a useful companion, and non-dilutive capital for established companies frames the funding landscape.

Week 4: make one introduction

1. Register as a partner.
2. Get the owner's agreement to an introduction. Never submit a company without it.
3. Use your referral link or the referral form with basic fit information only.
4. SourceX qualifies the company, which then completes a data inventory and agrees price and terms before buyers review.
5. Stay out of the data. Your role is the introduction and ordinary client service.

How rewards work, and what to disclose

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. The reward is payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee, and no reward is guaranteed. It is never deducted from what the company receives. Tax reporting of any reward is for your tax adviser; the IRS publishes instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC.

Tell the client about the arrangement before you make the introduction, in writing if your firm requires it.

Which moments in the client calendar work best?

Keep each conversation to one question. You are mentioning an option, not recommending a company decision, and the owner's own advisors should weigh in on structure and tax.

Common first-month mistakes

Where to find allies

Advisors who see owners at other moments can be sources and co-introducers. See referral opportunities for business brokers, business appraisers and valuation analysts and M&A advisors' first-month plan. If a client's sale collapsed, when a business sale falls through is a practical read.

When to skip it

Skip it when compliance declines, when the client is not a US company with the right size and history, when the records belong to the client's customers, or when the owner prefers not to discuss it. Do not let a referral shape advice you would otherwise give.

Next step

Ask compliance this week. If the answer is yes, register as a partner and screen your first client; owners can also apply directly at sourcex.si/apply.