Advisor for Life
Practical Advice for Succeeding in the
Wealth Management Arena
by Stephen D. Gresham
The
culmination of a two year research-based
“random walk” around the financial advice
industry, Advisor for Life seeks to provide
financial advisors, investment product
managers and industry executives with
insight into the relationship between top
advisors and millionaire households.
Interviews and firsthand observations
comprise the bulk of the research, which is
supplemented by additional marketplace data
from several sources. The project’s goal was
to first identify those products and
services most valued by high-net-worth
households and then seek different
strategies for addressing those
requirements. This client-based approach to
advisory best practices provides a more
complete view of the potential for success
among a wide variety of advisors. No matter
your approach to the market, there is
something in here for you.
Consistency is the book’s major theme since,
in the process of researching and writing
Advisor for Life, it became clear that the
very best advisors:
•
Know what their clients
will pay for (Chapter One – The Value of
Advice)
•
Have developed a
compelling Investment Philosophy (Chapter
Two)
•
Utilize a defined and
effective Investment Process (Chapter Three)
•
Help clients set
realistic goals (Chapter Four)
•
Define and minimize
“risk” in both financial market and
real-life terms
(Chapter Five)
•
Understand the
importance of diversification and how to
educate clients
as well (Chapter Six)
•
Employ
alternative investments to ordinary stocks
and bonds (Chapter Seven)
•
Know how to help their
clients manage their dreams and fears (Chapter Eight)
•
Facilitate the
growth of a client’s household over time
(Chapter Nine)
•
Understand the
family dynamic and all of its challenges
(Chapter Ten)
•
Appreciate the changing
role of wealth throughout a lifetime (Chapter Eleven)
•
Know how to articulate
their Unique Value (Chapter Twelve)
•
Can quantify their
Unique Value to clients and prospective
clients (Chapter Thirteen)
•
Have built a meaningful
and consistent Client Experience (Chapter Fourteen)
•
Drive referrals with
service and attention to several points of
contact
(Chapter Fifteen)
•
Sell themselves
effectively vs. their competitors (Chapter
Sixteen)
•
Manage their practices
to maximize both current income and
long-term
value (Chapter Seventeen)
•
Maintain a
reasonable balance between education, work,
leisure and
family time (Chapter Eighteen – Taking Care of Number One)
Tools and Tactics
Sprinkled throughout Advisor for Life are
anecdotes from top advisors and tools for
improving the client experience. Many top
advisors gave generously of their time and I
am indebted to them for their insights and
their candor. The tools include
market-tested diagrams and questionnaires to
help millionaire clients better understand
the wealth management arena and help
advisors become more consistent in the
delivery of their best ideas.
If you have a moment, please consider also
the Introduction, in which I challenge us
all to consider the forces at work within
and around the advice industry and to take
on those challenges in order to provide
better, more consistent client solutions.
Our future – and that of the clients –
depends on our success.
I welcome your comments.
Thank you for taking the time to consider
Advisor for Life.
Published
by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Order: "Advisor for Life"
THE NEW MANAGED
ACCOUNT SOLUTIONS HANDBOOK
by Stephen D. Gresham
Includes the following
chapters:
Foreword by
Christopher Davis, President of the Money
Management Institute
Chapter One: The Evolution of
Managed Accounts
The managed account industry
began amidst pension reform and has grown in
response to investors’ demands for a
consistent process to manage their
investments.
Chapter Two: The Revolution
of Unified Managed Accounts
Unified managed accounts, or
UMAs, evolved as investors sought greater
diversity among their investments and
demanded a platform that could incorporate
fixed-income components, exchange-traded
funds and other instruments.
Chapter Three: The Wrap
Account Option
Mutual fund wrap accounts
enable the financial advisor to leverage the
potential of multiple mutual funds in a
single client account. Here’s how to tell
which clients are best served by managed
accounts and which are best served by wrap
accounts.
Chapter Four: Alternative
Investments
The incorporation of
alternative investments will offer clients
greater diversification with assets whose
performance is not often directly correlated
to movement of capital markets. What exactly
are they and how can you use them
effectively?
Chapter Five: The Key
Benefits of Managed Accounts and Recurring
Revenues
Managed account solutions
allow for a more efficient use of the
advisor’s time, access to a more affluent
clientele, a consistent revenue stream
leveraged by the market’s growth and a more
valuable business entity—plus clients prefer
fees over commissions.
Chapter Six: How to Tell if
Managed Account Solutions Are Right for Your
Practice
Are managed account solutions
right for your practice? Here are ways to
evaluate your potential for success.
Chapter Seven: Transforming
Your Practice into a Wealth Management
Business
Wealth managers who’ve made
the transition from erratic,
commission-driven income to consistent
fee-driven revenues explain how they handled
the transition and what other advisors can
learn from their experiences.
Chapter Eight: Developing
Your Managed Account Solutions Business
Referrals from current
clients and fellow professionals can bring
prospects to your door but you must know how
to ask for referrals, have materials on hand
to promote your practice and know how to
determine which prospects are best avoided.
Chapter Nine: Positioning
Yourself as a Solutions Provider
By cultivating mutually
beneficial relationships with service
providers, allied professionals and the
media, you can develop a steady stream of
referrals to help grow your business.
Chapter Ten: Attracting and
Retaining Clients
Five strategies for capturing
additional assets from your managed account
clients.
Chapter Eleven: Building on
Your Success
Techniques for establishing
yourself as an expert source in managed
account solutions and cultivating mutually
beneficial relationships with investment
companies and other financial services
professionals.
Chapter Twelve: The Future of
Managed Accounts
Industry leaders present
their vision of what the future holds for
the managed account solutions industry.
Resource Guide
Sample
business plans, investment policy
statements, manager evaluation formulas, and
sample seminar invitations.
Order on Amazon >>
|
