I read an interesting report about ’10 Disruptive trends in wealth management’. One of the chapters was about ‘Holistic, goals-based advice’.
It talked about the fact that investment advice has become largely commoditized. Most WM firms, even the smaller RIAs, having access to basically the same products, tools, and models. It is difficult for most financial advisors to prove their services are differentiated based on their investing prowess. At the same time, consumers’ lives have become more complicated and the investment environment has grown more uncertain, creating a need for more advice, not less. For instance, as consumers try to achieve multiple goals, e.g.:
– Sustaining a certain lifestyle – Buying a second house – Paying for children’s education – Retiring with confidence and ease – Funding rising healthcare cost of aging parents
They need advice on how to fund these multiple goals over time, how to make trade-offs between them, and how to use the full strength of their personal balance sheet and manage to the right mix of assets and liabilities over time. To meet investor needs, WM firms and their advisors should shift to holistic, goals-based advice and measure performance based on achieving clients’ goals within agreed timeframes rather than beating market benchmarks. This is also a way to broaden the range of advice advisors provide, from investment to wealth management, and escape the commoditization of investment advice. Here is the link to the full Deloitte report: 10 Disruptive trends in wealth management
Tom Miele – Wealth Advisor
Tom Miele – Change Catalyst – Wealth Advisor