Wealth Managers: Define Your Who and What to Grow Your Business

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Many wealth managers share a common problem: they want to appeal to almost every investor. After all, why turn away sales? However, the most successful wealth managers have a counterintuitive strategy: they narrow their focus to grow their business.

Success often comes from specific expertise rather than trying to be all things to all people. Consider focusing on two or three primary categories where you have the strongest knowledge, passion, and client relationships.

This checklist will help you identify your ideal WHO and WHAT. Read on to identify your most profitable niches, align services with your highest-value clients, and position yourself as the obvious choice for specific investors. Use it to transform your practice into a specialist, commanding loyalty and referrals.

Investment Services 

Are you an expert at these basic financial planning services? Check all that apply.

  • Charitable giving. Create impactful and tax-efficient charitable contributions.
  • Education. Plan college education expenses for clients’ children and grandchildren.
  • Estate plans. Create estate plans and wealth transfer strategies for the next generation.
  • Insurance. Provide life, health, and business insurance services.
  • Retirement. Guide investors in setting realistic goals for a comfortable retirement.
  • Tax optimization. Help people minimize and mitigate taxes.

Generations

Check your preferred client profiles and personas.

  • Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964). Optimize pre-retirement and retirement growth and income, estate planning, healthcare, and insurance planning.
  • Generation X (born 1965-1980). For these mid-career professionals, balance family needs, mortgage payments, college and retirement planning, and care for elderly parents.
  • Generation Y (Millennials born 1981-1996). Assist first-time home buyers and couples building families with student loan management and early retirement planning.
  • Generation Z (born 1997-2012). Help new couples build children’s education funds, family budgeting, and family retirement savings.

Money in Motion

Your client’s objectives and goals are rarely static. Which of these categories do you serve?

  • Generational wealth transfer. Develop optimal estate, trust, and charitable plans to meet investor needs for money moving from generation to generation.
  • Inheritance (givers). Help wealthy families transfer assets to the next generation. Assist with trusts, family governance, and wealth preservation.
  • Inheritance (receivers). Assist those who receive sudden wealth, provide financial literacy, and create investment and tax strategies.
  • Second opinions. Provide a second opinion, build relationships, and deliver a unique service when investors are unhappy with their current advisor.
  • Suddenly single. Help newly single people, primarily divorcees and widows, understand finances, budgets, and legal considerations.

Investable Assets

Check the demographics you’re equipped to serve:

  • Ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. Manage complex portfolios and needs for investors with more than $10 million in investable assets.
  • High-net-worth families. Manage strategies for wealthy families with million-dollar incomes and provide unique access to private equity, hedge funds, and alternatives.
  • Mass affluent. Navigate taxes, investments, and financial planning for families and individuals with higher-than-average incomes and prospects.
  • HENRYs (High Earner, Not Rich Yet). Create strategies for young, high-income professionals to build wealth through aggressive saving and investment strategies.

Career Professionals

Do you cater to career professionals and small business owners and their needs? Check:

Business Owners

  • Business income planning. Develop business income and expense strategies,
    employee benefits, estate planning, and managing family dynamics.
  • Business succession and sales. Plan for smooth transitions, exits, and continuity.
  • Business retirement plans. Design, implement, and manage 401(k) and profit-sharing plans for small business retirement plans.
  • Business start-up plans. Oversee equity and fundraising growth strategies and long-term growth plans for business growth.

Corporate Executives 

  • Corporate executives. Educate executives on the tax and growth implications of stock options, deferred compensation, and other considerations.
  • Non-qualified deferred compensation. Structure executive benefit plans that complement qualified retirement offerings.

Healthcare Professionals

  • Dentists. Provide practice valuation, equipment financing, and succession planning.
  • Hospital-employed doctors. Manage benefits packages, retirement plans, and supplemental income strategies.
  • Physicians in private practice. Address complex cash flow needs, practice management, buy-ins/buy-outs, and malpractice insurance.
  • Specialists and surgeons. Navigate high-income and tax-efficient investment strategies, asset protection, and malpractice insurance.

Financial Professionals

  • Financial executives (CFOs, controllers). Create strategies for stock options, corporate transitions, and retirement planning.
  • Investment bankers. Handle concentrated wealth from bonuses, deferred compensation, and carried interest.
  • Portfolio managers. Address regulatory requirements, personal investment restrictions, and wealth preservation.
  • Private equity professionals. Manage alternative investment opportunities, carried interest, and tax strategies.

Legal Professionals

  • Corporate counsel. Educate employees on stock options, deferred compensation, and retirement benefits.
  • Law firm partners. Develop strategies for partnership capital contributions, distributions, and firm equity.
  • Solo practitioners. Create business continuity plans, retirement strategies, and practice valuation.
  • Specialized attorneys. Address personalized income patterns of contingency-fee attorneys or those in high-demand specialties.

Special Opportunities

Some investors don’t fit neatly into life-stage or demographic categories. Which of these boxes do you check?

  • Academics. Maximize opportunities for university grants, sabbaticals, and retirement planning for university leadership, professors, and researchers.
  • Athletes and entertainers. Customize high-income management, irregular income, growth and tax strategies, and career transition needs.
  • Career changers. Guide financial restructuring during career pivots, including income gaps and retraining costs.
  • Cultural communities. Provide services for cultural or religious groups with specific financial needs.
  • Cross-border clients. Manage international banking relationships, currencies, taxes, and compliance for expatriates, dual citizens, and non-resident aliens.
  • Faith-based investors. Develop portfolios aligned with religious values and principles.
  • Government and military personnel. Serve the needs of government employees, contractors, and military personnel.
  • Impact investors. Create strategies for investors seeking positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.
  • Real estate investors. Develop tax strategies, 1031 exchanges, and portfolio diversification for property-focused investors.
  • Special needs family members. Assist families in planning for the long-term financial care of loved ones with distinct health needs.
  • Tech executives and early employees. Provide strategies for managing stock options and concentrated stock positions for tech company founders and employees.
  • Veterans and military families. Understand and manage the investment needs of veterans and their families.

Fees

 Some managers differentiate based on how they assess fees. Which box(es) do you check?

  • Fixed-fee planning model. Deliver comprehensive financial plans for a set price without asset management.
  • Hourly consultation model. Provide financial advice with no ongoing management.
  • Hybrid model. Combine fee-only planning with optional asset management for clients who want both services.
  • Project-based fee model. Create specialized plans for specific life events—home purchase, inheritance, career change—for a one-time fee.
  • Subscription model. Offer continuous access to financial advice through regular monthly or quarterly fees.

A Final Thought: Finding Your Ideal WHO and WHat

Wealth managers who commit to a market niche may start by checking a box. However, the next step is creating a plan of action, and committing to growth. This checklist should help you identify the type of clients you want to work with, and the essential services you should provide to attract and retain affluent clients.

Now, go check it out.

Ready to grow your firm? Schedule a complimentary strategy session to discover how to attract more clients and increase revenue.