| Comprehensive
Wealth Planning Comes of Age
By
Edmond Walters
Comprehensive
wealth planning is beginning to gain a following because it
allows advisors to affluent and high-net-worth individuals
to see a client’s entire financial picture holistically—across
all of the often “siloed” financial vehicles,
including insurance, savings, investments, real estate, and
trusts. The
Bigger Picture
A critical
engine powering holistic wealth planning is aggregation
technology. This technology brings together important financial
information from scattered sources into a single, accessible
source. Combined with a robust planning platform, this technology
allows holistic wealth planning advisors to have an all-inclusive
view of their clients’ holdings. More important, the
advisor can manipulate the data to create what-if scenarios,
plans, reports, and cash flow analyses over time.
Another
major benefit of this approach is the ability to perform
global asset-allocation models. Too often, each member of
a team of advisors is responsible for a different slice
of the overall financial picture. Each team member tends
to build the same asset allocation models, using the client’s
risk profile and goals. This usually means that the overall
asset allocation has not distinguished between qualified
and nonqualified money, an oversight which can have tremendous
tax implications. In addition, various members of the financial
planning team may unkowingly choose the same asset—a
popular blue-chip stock, for example—as part of the
overall investment strategy, which may lead to an unnecessary
risk exposure to a single asset.
Aggregation
and Wealth Planning
Implemented
correctly, holistic wealth planning can achieve the following
benefits:
-
Better service. An information and technology engine with
the right functionality—such as alerts and alarms—translates
into better client service.
-
Better relationships. Enhanced information and service
mean stronger, deeper relationships between planners and
their clients.
- Increased
revenues and assets under management. A top-tier holistic
wealth-planning platform will highlight clients’
specific areas of need.
-
Increased client base. Clients want control, but they
also want guidance. An approach that allows clients to
view their aggregated financial holdings is a tremendous
benefit.
Edmond
Walters is chairman and CEO of eMoney Advisor (www.emoneyadvisor.com).
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