SYM-21-66 Wealth Manager

What Is a Wealth Manager?

Wealth management covers a range of financial services for high-net-worth individuals. Investment management is one important component, but other financial planning services are covered under the wealth management umbrella, as well. The goal in wealth management is to provide holistic financial planning with a focus on effectively managing assets, risk, and taxes. The wealth manager’s job is to understand their clients and offer advice that is informed by many different facets of their lives.

What Is a Wealth Manager?

Wealth managers are a subset of financial advisors. Their clientele is what sets them apart. Wealth management provides a range of services that cover many aspects of a high-net-worth individual’s financial life. At SYM Financial, we cater to those who need guidance with their financial complexity. We believe our cross-functional team has the acumen to optimize a complex portfolio, anticipate tax opportunities and challenges, and help clients coordinate financial decisions.

A typical wealth manager offers the following services:

• Investment management includes constructing portfolios of financial and other assets that aim to balance the amount of risk that is being taken to meet financial goals throughout a client’s life. Often, there are short-term, intermediate, and long-term financial goals that the client hopes to achieve, and investment planning is a tool for that.
• Financial planning is a comprehensive process of working with a client to understand their goals, then crafting a strategy to achieve them, with a focus on building a secure financial foundation, investing appropriately, minimizing taxes, and managing the risk.
• Tax services can be a challenging area for some financial advisors. A wealth manager considers the tax laws and can work with an attorney and a tax preparer to help clients potentially reduce their tax burden today while being aware of tax consequences in the future. Strategies such as Roth conversions, gifting assets, maximizing tax-advantaged retirement accounts, and tax-loss harvesting are all tools that can be used.
• Retirement planning involves understanding a client’s financial situation and aligning it with their future goals. A wealth manager must consider the likely future income and expenses of the client along with investments, risks, Social Security benefits, among other factors. Planning for the distribution stage of life is critical. Retirement planning affects young people, too. Home and property planning, tax efficiency using retirement accounts, and insurance strategy are essential across many stages of life.
• Legal planning is an important process for business owners and affluent families. The wealth manager should understand and help manage risks for their clients while consulting with attorneys.
• Philanthropic planning often becomes a higher priority later in life. A wealth manager should know the ins and outs of maximizing gifts to charities and causes. There are many accounts, products, and services such as donor-advised funds, family foundations, and the qualified charitable deduction that can have a place in a financial plan. A wealth manager helps clients determine the best methods for making the most of assets for philanthropic giving.
• Estate planning is an area many people prefer to avoid, but a wealth manager can help ensure that the client doesn’t leave this important set of tasks untouched. Leaving a legacy through children and charity is important to many clients. Minimizing tax risk is crucial to proper estate planning, particularly with so many unknowns regarding future tax policy. While a wealth manager is not an attorney and cannot provide legal advice, having one on your team can be tremendously valuable for connecting the dots between your money, the law, and your wishes.

How Does Wealth Management Work?

Wealth management is often recommended for wealthy families and individuals who require a broad array of needs. Wealth managers work with these clients to tailor portfolios to match the client’s ability to take risk and willingness to accept risk.

However, wealth management goes beyond investments. It is an advisory service that combines other financial services (many of which were listed and described earlier) that are necessary to meet the needs of high-net-worth families.Wealth managers develop plans that can position families to maintain and increase wealth based on their financial situation, goals, and comfort level with risk. A wealth management relationship can last decades and span multiple generations.

A client can expect their fiduciary wealth manager to work in their best interest and to develop knowledge of their situation and goals. While having technical expertise in financial planning is required, building a strong relationship with clients is just as necessary in wealth management.

Why Wealth Management Is Important

An experienced wealth manager can spot risks that lie ahead. Avoiding risks and achieving goals requires careful planning throughout life, which is why working with a wealth manager is so important. Many families and individuals do not have the time, the desire, or the knowledge to handle so many complex financial aspects of life, from building a foundation to distributing assets in retirement. That’s where a wealth manager can come in and deliver value.

The role of a financial advisor in wealth management is to coordinate all services and products needed to manage a client’s wealth and investments. The wealth manager can be thought of as a client’s Chief Financial Officer who does the planning according to your goals and is the go-to person as financial questions come up throughout life.

SYM Financial Advisors

SYM Financial Advisors provides high-net-worth clients with an array of services. We work with individuals, business owners, corporate executives, and medical and dental professionals. We believe in a high-touch approach and being personal. Our job is to help uncover your goals, legacies, and dreams through our expertise as fee-only independent Registered Investment Advisors.

SYM Financial has expertise in offering wealth management services to affluent individuals and families in Indiana and Michigan. Our team of advisors has been through many market cycles and understands the challenges and goals of high-net-worth families. We take great pride in caring for our clients. By working together with families and individuals (after all, the prefix “sym” means together), we synchronize your financial world,take a holistic approach to wealth management, and remain a financial partner for life.

Disclosure: The opinions expressed herein are those of SYM Financial Corporation (“SYM”) and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to sell any product. SYM reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of a professional legal or tax advisor. SYM is an independent investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about SYM including our investment strategies, fees, and objectives can be found in our ADV Part 2, which is available upon request.

from SYM Financial Advisors https://www.sym.com/sym-21-66-wealth-manager/
via SYM Financial Advisors