Becoming Your Clients' Financial Quarterback Is Now Critical, State Street And Wharton Say Hot
While it seems like we just read that white paper from Cerulli, State Street and the Wharton School have come up with some more actionable insights into the situation.
For one thing, they characterize the situation as one of diminished trust in the abilities of any one advisor.
This, they say, is what drives 44% of those ultra-high-net-worth investors who work with multiple advisors to diversify their relationships like they would diversify a portfolio.
The problem, of course, is that by segregating their wealth into independent silos, none of which then talk to any of the others, these investors are actually exposing themselves to more risk than ever if those assets aren't properly correlated.
As the report's creators point out, true risk management means somebody's got to have a top-down view of all the assets.
The advisor who gets that spot is then in a position of "critical competitive advantage" and can steer the client to friendly firms or even himself or herself.
This theme is definitely in the air right now -- and there is a lot of interest in bringing it down to the mass affluent market, which rarely relies on multiple advisors as it is. Either way, it will create winners and losers.