On Wednesday I spoke on the CFA Institute’s panel “The Future of Private Wealth Management,” which is part of the CFA Institute’s “Navigating Wealth & Private Markets” series. At Manager Analysis we have been helping wealthy families navigate offerings of private banks, wealth advisers, and Outsourced Chief Investment Officer firms, all of which are now competing against each other in the HNW markets. We are also seeing sophisticated family offices becoming more discriminating in assessing the quality of investment ideas that their advisers bring.
Helena Eaton, CFA from Bedrock Advisers, Peter Went CFA of the CFA Institute, and I spoke on this panel about the rapidly evolving landscape of private wealth management globally. The rise of new sources of wealth from crypto and venture create new dynamics between these new clients and their private wealth managers, who should exercise adaptability and recognize that this “new money” may have entrepreneurial desires that deviate from more traditional portfolio construction. AI tools will materially improve wealth advisers’ internal processes and better prepare advisers for client meetings. Increasing availability of asset allocation and quantitative models, and alternative investment platforms, to smaller wealth advisers narrows the gap in investment capabilities between smaller and larger firms. Challenging private equity market conditions help private wealth managers distinguish themselves for their diligence and skill in selecting investments.
Despite these many changes, the private wealth adviser’s primary goal is unchanged: developing long-term relationships with clients. Having a comprehensive understanding of their goals and desires, and then aligning the client’s portfolio with those goals and desires remains the central role for successful private wealth managers.
Navigating wealth & private markets series — The future of private wealth management