A business continuity plan answers a simple, uncomfortable question: what happens to clients if the office, the systems, or a key person suddenly becomes unavailable? Regulators expect advisers to have thought it through in advance, because a fiduciary cannot simply go dark on the people relying on it.
A business continuity plan typically addresses data backup and recovery, alternate work locations and communications, access to critical systems, and how the firm keeps serving clients through a disruption. It should identify the truly critical functions, the ones that cannot pause, and how each is sustained when normal operations are not available.
For small advisers, the sharpest business-continuity risk is often a single person: what happens to clients if the principal is incapacitated or dies. Regulators have signaled that succession and key-person planning belong inside continuity planning, so the plan should name who steps in and how clients are protected and transitioned. This is where continuity meets the human reality of a small firm.
A continuity plan that has never been tested tends to fail when it is needed. The expectation is a plan that is reviewed, updated as the firm changes, and realistic about what the firm could actually execute under stress.
Plan for the disruption before it plans for you.
Greenridge L&C Advisors is a compliance consultancy, not a law firm. This is general information, not legal advice.