Do you oversee assets for clients who also have wealth being managed elsewhere?

Using Mariner’s proposal-generation service, we can help you gain a clear understanding of a client’s personal situation and benefit from a coordinated approach to client communication with the goal of securing management of more of a client’s wealth. This added clarity can help you articulate the value you bring not only in managing the additional assets but also in providing comprehensive financial advice.

Case in point: Recently, we worked with an advisor through the proposal process. Their client, an ultra-high-net-worth individual (>$20 million), ultimately decided to have the advisor manage a significant portion of outside assets. This further solidified the advisor’s relationship with the client, allowing the advisor to capture a greater share of the client’s wallet and increasing the advisor’s fee from approximately $24,000 a year to an estimated $95,000 annually.  

Situation

A financial advisor reached out to the proposal-generation team regarding an opportunity with an existing client couple. He was already managing some assets for the client, but the client had additional assets outside his management, including significant assets from an inheritance. The advisor worked with our team to create a comprehensive proposal to bring over additional assets and increase the client’s fee significantly.

The client’s priorities were to have a clear understanding and coordinated approach to all their wealth. One of the clients was concerned she didn’t know where all their assets were. With a significant level of assets, they were also concerned with protecting their wealth and transferring it to the next generation. What could they do to reduce potential estate taxes? What could they do to protect their assets from potential liability events?

The Work

Our goal was to bring as much clarity as possible to the client and help the advisor clearly articulate the value he could deliver in managing these additional assets as well as in providing comprehensive financial advice. To do that, we followed a thorough, systematic process: 

1. Through our Freshservice request portal and a secure Box link, we collected and organized all the information we had available to us, including statements for the outside assets, additional real estate properties, current insurance coverage, estate planning documents and tax information.  
2. As we worked through the process, we regularly communicated with the advisor via the portal and Zoom calls, as necessary, to ensure all the information and assumptions we were using were as accurate as possible. 
3. The bulk of our work and the primary deliverable was a digital proposal we generated for the advisor. It included pages that showcased the advisor’s company, his investment approach, his financial planning focus and additional information on his team and next steps. However, the primary value and the meat of the proposal were the sections where we outlined our observations and opportunities and provided supplementary information on various planning strategies

Findings

First, we were able to organize all the client’s information and build out an asset summary to clearly show all the known assets, where they were located, the current ownership and tax status. We were then able to provide forward-looking estate tax projections to show how much they could potentially save with estate-freezing techniques. 

From there, we summarized all our key observations and provided a variety of planning opportunities. To start, we helped the client to clearly define their goals for themselves versus their legacy goals and worked to agree on a clear direction for actual financial planning projections. From a more technical standpoint, we did a deeper dive into advanced estate planning considerations, such as spousal lifetime access trusts and irrevocable life insurance trusts. Additionally, we touched on appropriate insurance coverage, including life, disability, property, casualty and umbrella insurance. In this case, the client was underinsured, especially in terms of liability coverage. We discussed tax planning opportunities, gifting strategies, cash reserve management and maximizing employer benefits. All this was done with the goal of clearly demonstrating our ability to help the client with all aspects of their finances and demonstrating our deep expertise and resources.

When working with advisors to pitch prospects, our typical approach is to provide as many valuable talking points as we can to help the advisor showcase value in their conversations with prospects. Our goal is to make it clear that we provide a fully comprehensive and tech-enabled wealth management experience and that our fee is well worth the value clients receive. Based on situational specifics, we tailor proposals and are able to provide additional material that further details specific critical areas. In this case, that included custom options strategies for concentrated holdings, direct indexing for large taxable accounts, lending solutions and a number of estate planning-focused projections and strategies.

End Result

The prospecting stage can last from days to weeks or even months, given the level of assets and complexity involved; in this case, there were numerous meetings between the advisor and the client. As our team also provides meeting support (for certain situations), two members of our team assisted with the initial meeting and helped do a deeper dive into some of the more complex estate-related strategies. With the level of detail covered in the proposal and the level of support showcased within, the advisor was able to gain a deeper level of trust and commitment from the client. They ultimately decided to have the advisor manage a significant portion of their outside assets. This further solidified the advisor’s relationship with an ultra-high-net-worth (>$20 million) client, allowed him to bring over a greater share of their wallet and increased his fee from approximately $24,000 a year to an estimated $95,000 annually.

If you’re interested in learning more or generating a proposal, submit a Freshservice ticket to Advisory Services – Proposal Generation or reach out to Mark Harris at [email protected].

This material is intended for informational and educational purposes only. No representations or warranties, either express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. Reliance upon information in this material is at the reader’s sole discretion.

Mariner Advisor Network is a brand utilized by Mariner Independent Advisor Network (“MIAN”) and Mariner Platform Solutions (“MPS”). Investment advisory services are offered through Investment Adviser Representatives registered with MIAN or MPS, each an SEC registered investment adviser. For additional information about MIAN or MPS, including fees and services, please contact MIAN /MPS or refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (www.adviserinfo.sec.gov).

For Investment Professional use only. Not for use with the public.