How wealth management companies can be prepared for turbulent times? [Farnoush Farsiar]
Generational changes. Global mobility. Technology transformation. These are only a handful of the most significant changes that are affecting family offices, which is fundamentally challenging their structure and methods as reported by Farnoush Farsiar for EU Today.
Family offices are geared towards the increasingly mobile, tech-savvy and younger generations. The economic crisis and the democratisation of trading via online platforms have brought all customers, regardless of age and interests, more interested in their own investment portfolios which means they are looking to be more informed and be more involved, and have lost the old fashioned desire for discretionary portfolios that are managed by distance.
These changes take place in a critical time of the economic and political turmoil. If a business tries to maintain its old practices, they'll be relegated by the very people they supposed to be advising. They must change their approach to become more entrepreneurial and provide a value offering for UHNWIs.
Family offices vary in terms of their size and the scope. But, they must be able to focus on efficiency and streamlining their offerings, not trying to be experts in each area. A smaller group of advisors that can swiftly introduce the latest technologies and bring on board external specialists when required can ultimately offer better service to clients. As the boundaries between private and family banking are blurring the most successful firms will have a small team of advisors who are able to quickly adopt new technologies and also bring on external experts when needed. This will enable them to provide a more valuable service to their clients.
Your success is contingent upon your ability to access traditional networks, reputation-based, and network-based sources of deal sources. You can also utilize online methods and tools to identify deals or opportunities. Wealth managers can utilize deal sourcing sites online to identify opportunities and deals. https://professionalparaplanner.co.uk/tag/advice-threat/ are much easier than banks that are large and cumbersome which are trapped in large-firm bureaucracy. Dealmakers have access to and can evaluate large numbers of deals simultaneously, which is a significant time and resource saving.
Wealthica and other dashboard services such as Wealthica are also changing how family offices communicate directly with their clients. They consolidate investment in a way that is automated from multiple sources, and bring clients into daily communication with their investment portfolios. This is an enormous improvement over the previous system of wealth managers providing only intermittent information on the state of their clients’ money.
Of course they are only that - the means by which wealth managers can improve the speed and efficiency with which they operate. The most important factor to consider when investing is the method that is used to implement them. The best approach is to blend the old and the new. That means that you can continue to look for deals in real estate, but also consider investing in areas like food security or climate science. Impact investing has certainly "arrived" within the family office industry. According to the UBS Global Family Office Report 2018 one-third of family-owned businesses are engaged in impact investing, with most expecting to expand their involvement in the near future. There are a few issues in this particular field, for instance, issues with measuring impact or performing due diligence. But, the next generation UHNWIs and HNWIs are likely to expect a family offices to be able to locate and secure these types of investments. Plato Capital is a boutique bank that provides investment advice. It draws on the expertise of its founders who have worked in large family offices, banks and in the technology industry to provide entrepreneurial investment guidance. Our clients are able to manage risk and get the most value for their investment due to our network of local experts.
All types of wealth managers can continue to thrive in turbulent times if they mix the old and modern and are willing to adjust to new demands and take risks with their own structures.