Financial Planner or Wealth & Asset Manager? Which category of advisor is best for your client?
While Financial Planners work to craft a plan related to their client’s life, we find that the “typical” Wealth/Asset Manager doesn’t even think about designing that type of plan.
Highly credentialed and experienced planners take a comprehensive approach to taking care of their clients. Their view of wealth management aligns with what their client’s current and legacy goals are and how they prioritize what they value most.
For example, Financial Planners should be viewed as the architects responsible for designing a full-scope road map related to all aspects of their client’s personal and financial life, not just their investable assets.
A strong Full Scope Financial Planning firm should insist on working as a team member alongside their client’s legal and tax advisors. When working in unison, these collaborating team members will enjoy higher client retention rates, higher referral rates, and, often, a greater economy of scale that benefits the overall fee structure for the client. In speaking with many colleagues, we found that today’s “traditional” Asset and Wealth Managers are finding themselves under more and more fee pressure, while Financial Planners are not.
Our mission states that we insist on operating in a culture of collaboration by coordinating with a team of experts to achieve one goal: Deliver to our client a comprehensive financial and legacy plan that not only meets but exceeds our client’s aspirations. We achieve this by creating a relationship with the client that allows us to bypass any emotional barriers during the planning process. Their assets are a foundation of the things that matter in their lives, and these assets are always filled with personal feelings and passion.
We honor this invitation into our clients’ lives by seeking to provide the best possible and thoughtful financial advice with the humility of being open to their input on how we can get even better at what we do. With many new families coming through our doors, we’ve learned that we must invest in the front end by nurturing a relationship that’s likely to go on for decades and generations to come.
Our combined 75+ years of experience has enabled us to employ, when needed, a level of creativity to a plan. However, we recognize this is only valuable when it works within the restraints of what is possible and agreed upon by the rest of the client’s legal and tax advisors. Lowell Newman works with this team to provide smart and timely Financial, Legacy, and Life insurance strategies for their high-net-worth clients. So, think ahead and give us a call for a complimentary, case-specific strategy session.
About the Author
Marc L Lowell
After graduating from The University of Florida with a degree in Finance, Marc entered the financial services industry and began the two-year process of becoming both a Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant.