The words “wealth management” are often bandied about in the financial press regarding ways to grow and protect your money, but what does the term actually mean?
Is it merely just managing wealth, and how do you know if you have enough for someone to manage? Why shouldn’t you just go straight to an investment banker? Well, the answer is a little more subtle than you may think.
Wealth management is different when approached from different viewpoints. That is to say for the affluent, wealth management is the discipline and actions that are implemented to protect and increase their financial position. A client places their trust in an adviser who is charged with reviewing their current situation and devising a better way to manage it that will, over time, lead to a better outcome than where they stand now.
From the standpoint of an adviser, such as Nadero, wealth management is viewed differently. It’s the ability to evaluate and assess a client’s financial position. After reviewing the situation, they construct a plan using tools from a wide range of available solutions that work together to improve the finances of the client. After this, they consult with the client to implement their recommendations and advice. Therefore, the entire process, from the adviser’s perspective, is a consultative one which centers on the individual client.
The purpose is to better understand the client that they’re working with and identify the matters that the client considers to be of most importance. Once the adviser has a full understanding of what motivates the client, and their needs and objectives, they can then start to make educated plans and recommendations. This phase could mean that the services of outside experts and their financial products are used to complete the package.
If one had to come up with an all-encompassing definition for wealth management, at Nadero, it would be:
The total consultative progression of understanding and matching the needs of affluent clients and taking that knowledge and creating strategic plans, coordinating with the appropriate experts, and using the right products to increase, protect, and diversify wealth.
Even though there is some common ground between investment banking and wealth management, they are not the same. Investment banking fills a particular niche in the financial sector, primarily tasked with creating capital for corporate entities. As with investment banking, Nadero also manages investments to increase wealth. Wealth management, though, performs this service for individuals and families while investment banking services business.
Therefore, if you’re an affluent individual or family, wealth management is the route you should follow.