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Jad Dieterle, Executive Director and Branch Manager of UBS Financial Services, Inc.'s Portland, ME branch, and Hal Dursema, Executive Director and Assistant Market Head of the New York State Northern New England Market have successfully managed the UBS Financial Advisors in the Portland area together for over 10 years. In these roles, both have spent considerable time meeting with entrepreneurs, attorneys and CPAs in order to stay abreast of what is happening across the landscape. Approximately three years ago it occurred to Dieterle and Dursema that a theme was emerging in these conversations. Many entrepreneurs they encountered were baby boomers who expressed a desire to retire from their businesses in the near future, yet few had made any plans around how to properly transition their enterprise to the next generation of owners. In an effort to better educate themselves to more robustly serve the needs of the entrepreneur clients and prospects of their Financial Advisors, Dursema and Dieterle researched options to learn more about the process of busi- ness transition planning. Ultimately, they chose the Exit Planning Institute's Certified Exit Planning Advisors certification as their educational avenue. The certification combines three-months of pre-work with an intensive training class to help financial professionals coach and guide entrepre- neurs through the process of planning for and selling a business. "Our goal is to help coordinate the activi- ties of our financial advisors and their client's CPA, attor- ney, or investment banker," says Dieterle. "Ideally, we can help bring all of these people together in order to assist the business owner through the business tran- sition process." "After so many conversations with small business owners we believe there may be a significant number of Baby Boomers planning to exit their businesses over the next 10 years,and we want to be involved in assisting clients with that process as much as possible." says Dursema. "These entrepreneurs have been very successful building their businesses, however when it comes to selling or transitioning leadership to family or employees - that is a very different stage of the business lifecycle". The exit planning process focuses on three phases. First, the owner should develop a financial plan that includes cash flow analysis, estate and wealth transfer planning, as well as contingency planning. After the personal wealth is analyzed, Dieterle and Dursema can coordinate with the business owner's other trusted advisors to help create a business plan that seeks to protect and grow the enterprise value of the business while at the same time developing a succession plan for the management team. Finally, a personal plan is created to help the business owner focus on the next chapter of their life when they are no longer running their business Dursema and Dieterle agree that to execute these three legs of the transition plan, the business owner should ideally begin preparing three to five years prior to their planned retirement. While it is assumed that business owners may realize the importance of an exit strategy, many of those approached by Dursema and Dieterle do not have an up-to-date plan. "A complete plan should include contingency plans with wealth transfer and estate planning strategies, as well as plans for the transfer of ownership interests," explains Dursema. Together Dursema and Dieterle feel the education they have gained by completing the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation can assist entrepreneurs in the planning process for this transition, to concentrate on running the business in order to maximize its enterprise value. As of this writing, according to the Exit Planning Institute's list of certificate recipients, Dursema, Dieterle and UBS Financial Advisor Steven Tenney of Family Wealth Management Partners, also in the Portland branch, are the only three financial professionals in Maine that currently hold the CEPA designation. Dieterle feels the value provided to the business owner by working with a qualified team is critical and he and Dursema both feel they have positioned themselves to assist their Financial Advisors and their clients and prospects in navigating the path from active business owner to active retiree. UBS Financial Services Inc. One City Center, 7th Floor, Portland, ME 04101 866-791-5512 ubs.com/branch/portlandmh Steven Tenney is a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services Inc. a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC in 1 City Center, 7th floor, Portland, ME 04101. The information contained in this article is not a solicitation to purchase or sell investments. Any information presented is general in nature and not intended to provide individually tailored investment advice. Investing involves risks and there is always the potential of losing money when you invest. The views expressed herein are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of UBS Financial Services Inc. Neither UBS Financial Services Inc. nor its employees (including its Financial Advisors) provide tax or legal advice. You should consult with your legal counsel and/or your accountant or tax professional regarding the legal or tax implications of a particular suggestion, strategy or investment, including any estate planning strategies, before you invest or implement. In providing wealth management services to clients, we offer both investment advisory and brokerage services which are separate and distinct and differ in material ways. For information, including the different laws and contracts that govern, visit ubs.com/workingwithus. Exit Planning Institute Awards Three Maine Advisors Prestigious Designation Hal E. Dursema, Executive Director and assistant market head at UBS, left, and Joseph A. "Jad" Dieterle, III, UBS Executive Director and branch manager, at the Portland office. When it comes to selling or transitioning leadership to family or employees — that is a very different stage of the business lifecycle. — Hal E. Dursema A DV E R T I S E M E N T

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