Wealth Management & Investments

Wealth management services provide the most comprehensive level of financial planning and usually include complete investment management in addition to tax guidance, financial direction, legal support, and estate planning. The services provided by wealth management firms are geared toward wealthy clients. However, while you may not be in a place to need wealth management at this time, your future needs may require you to look into having a wealth management advisor.

What is wealth management?

Wealth management offers the most extensive and thorough investment advisory services.

A wealth advisor develops a detailed strategy that is custom-made for each client to assist them in managing their assets. Wealth managers are usually skilled in financial services geared toward extremely wealthy clients, and they also connect their clients with other experts they may need such as lawyers and accountants.

Why wealth management?

Wealth managers can help with all your financial planning needs, they’ll oversee everything from setting up donor-advised accounts for charitable contributions to handling tax ramifications.

While a financial planner may provide similar options as a wealth manager, a financial planner will often allow you to choose a service based on what you need and only charge you for that specific item. For example, if you need help with planning for retirement, a financial planner can work with you to create a retirement income plan and only charge you for that service. For anything related to protecting your assets, help with estate planning, investment, or tax advice, consider working with a professional now to preserve your resources for later.

Wealth management vs. portfolio management

Wealth management services offer a fuller and more exhaustive list of financial planning than portfolio management. Wealth and investment management provides clients with complete guidance on their financial situation, including assistance with accounting, legal advice, estate and tax planning, retirement planning, and investment management.

Portfolio management alludes to a service or person who creates an investment strategy for a client; this includes selecting investments that reduce risk while optimizing returns, but it usually does not incorporate any other financial planning services.

Wealth management alternative: online financial planning services

For those who feel that wealth management is not what they need, there are many online financial advisors who assist both wealthy and middle-income clients.

What does a wealth manager do?

A wealth management advisor is skilled in the needs of wealthy individuals who have complex financial situations. Instead of working with multiple professionals for each of your needs, you can partner with a wealth manager who will connect with other experts for you. For example, if an affluent person is recently divorced, owns several properties, and has many investments and funds to oversee, that individual could use assistance in legal direction along with property taxes and investments. In this case, a wealth management advisor could put together a financial plan that looks at each of those options; this could be done by the wealth advisor alone or with outside assistance.

The difference between a wealth manager and a financial advisor

A “financial advisor” can refer to many different types of financial professionals and does not require certification or regulation. A wealth manager is a specific type of financial advisor who specializes in issues that are common to the ultrawealthy.

Wealth managers have a much higher investment minimum than general financial advisors, and they usually provide more service options than financial advisors. Wealth management services can encompass family legacy planning, charitable giving planning, trust services, legal direction, estate planning, and sometimes even concierge health care. Be mindful that the generic job title “wealth manager” can also be used by anyone and doesn’t denote specific credentials.

How do wealth managers make money?

This is dependent on where the wealth manager is employed. At large firms, most wealth managers receive a salary along with bonuses; whereas, a wealth manager at a private firm would receive all the advisory fees (usually around 1%).

What are wealth management strategies?

There are a variety of investment strategies wealth management advisors employ to help grow their clients’ wealth. This includes anything from value investing to growth investing. Wealth managers usually have different strategies since they handle large accounts – they often provide their clients with access to more investment options than regular financial advisors, such as private equity services and hedge funds. Most wealth managers use an approach that is more comprehensive, incorporating all aspects of their client’s life (including estate and tax planning) into the financial plan.

Wealth management advisors incorporate strategies that equal each investor’s goals and risk tolerance. This means that if a client is close to retirement, a wealth manager might change the focus from risk investments to more secure investments that will allow the client to preserve their wealth. Overall, the responsibility of a wealth manager is to understand that clients with a larger net worth have more diverse needs, and that specific strategies should be implemented to suit those needs.

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To schedule a time to discuss your financial future and the possible role of investments and insurance in your financial strategy, contact us today!