What advisors need to know about working with wealth inheritors

Leverage client discovery and the planning process to identify, understand, and prioritize the client’s goals

Showcase expertise through effective and scalable client education methods

Inheritors are actively seeking advice across a variety of sources. They want to understand the decisions that they need to make.

The extent to which inheritors actively seek education underscores their desire to be informed decision-makers.

Create a client engagement model that lets inheritors pick their level of involvement 

Inheritors’ preference to be hands-on, informed decision makers will shape the trajectory of client engagement models. Advisors will need to develop models that allow inheritors to be involved in the process at a level that suits their interests and time constraints. Technology plays a huge role in creating these flexible, multi-channel forms of engagement.

Identify opportunities along the client experience journey to promote breadth and depth of services

Inheritors want a fuller relationship with their advisors. These results suggest the value of a relationship-driven approach compared with wealth builders, who tend to take a more transactional view. Inheritors are looking for holistic, well-rounded relationships with advisors with whom they can build a true partnership.

Establish primacy by approaching the relationship as the orchestrator of the client’s overall wealth planning 

Advisors need to position themselves as the orchestrator over the advisor team. Overseeing the client’s overall wealth planning and coordinating the efforts of other specialists puts the advisor in position to manage the lion’s share of the assets and become indispensable.

Get to know the children of current clients starting with social interactions and building towards financial education 

The benefit of connecting with your clients’ children before they reach young adulthood is clear. But that shouldn’t discourage advisors from reaching out to potential heirs later in life. Even if the introduction doesn’t happen until young adulthood or later, there is still a likelihood that the inheritor will continue working with the family advisor.

Once a wealth inheritor is secured as a client, actively ask for their help in identifying and connecting with prospects

With a strong relationship, inheritors are highly likely to become evangelists for their advisors. Connecting with future inheritors can be done gradually through regular touchpoints and events designed to involve clients’ children and grandchildren. This slow and steady approach builds trust and familiarity that will pay dividends.