Who is a Wealth Manager and Why Everyone Needs One?

All of us know about the old age: Health is wealth. Sure, it is. But just health isn’t wealth. The assets that you own are also your wealth.

These assets could be in the form of cash, land, property, gold, shares, and even bonds. You can create wealth by buying these assets and holding onto them. As their value appreciates, your wealth grows. You don’t necessarily have to sell these assets to be wealthy; your wealth is calculated based on the market value of these assets when you are holding them.

Of course, if the value of your assets goes down, then your wealth decreases. This is why it is important to carefully analyze an asset before you invest in it. You also need to keep periodic checks on your assets and get rid of the ones that are doing poorly so that you don’t incur higher losses in the future.

Basically, much like your health, you need to manage your wealth as well.

What is wealth management?

Wealth management is an investment-related discipline that includes financial planning, investment portfolio management, and many other financial services.

It is a judicious combination of both financial planning and specialized financial services. This can include personal retail banking services, estate planning, legal and tax advice, and investment management services. 

Wealth management is executed to sustain and grow long-term wealth for the investor. It is a lifelong process, and financial planning is just one part of it.

Who is a wealth manager?

A wealth manager is a financial advisor who assists you in various financial disciplines. The scope of such a financial consultant extends to myriad functions like financial and investment advice, legal or estate planning, accounting, and tax services, and retirement planning. A wealth manager offers a full range of financial services and products in a consultative manner.

A good wealth manager meets a client without any pre-assumed biases about financial products, and provides appropriate ones as per the client’s needs and wants.

Keeping this in mind, the profile of a wealth manager becomes crucial to an investor’s financial well-being.

What can a wealth manager do for you?

A wealth manager would:

• Determine the client’s financial status, which includes income, expenses, insurance coverage, tax status, financial objectives, and other information needed to develop a financial plan
• Recommend strategies in cash management, insurance coverage, and investment planning, to help them achieve their financial goals
• Recommend financial products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or insurance
• Analyze financial information to develop strategies for meeting the client’s financial needs
• Manage the client portfolios, keeping the client up-to-date with future plans
• Review the client’s accounts and plans regularly to determine if any reassessment is required
• Keep a tab on any changes in the financial status
• Investigate available investment opportunities 
• Guide the client in the gathering of information and keeping records like bank account records, income tax returns, insurance records, pension plans, wills, etc

With such a vast variety of functions at hand, the necessity for employing a wealth manager becomes important for you as an investor.

Why is a wealth manager necessary?

On the face of it, you would think that you could easily be your own wealth manager. However, managing wealth is not as easy or straightforward as it seems. You need a wealth manager because:

1. Markets are subject to fluctuations, and unexpected factors usually change the returns from your financial products. Wealth managers can utilize their expertise and experience to change your investment profile based on market conditions
2. A wealth manager can offer a detailed analysis of your financial health, and can thus give you a clear perspective about your financial situation and standing. They can help you in determining which investment is good for you and which is not
3. They can help you allocate investments based on life’s realities, prepare you for your retirement or any inheritance issues and transfer of assets. They help you to preserve and manage wealth
4. They also help you in determining your tax benefits and what you can do to minimize tax deductions on fair lines
5. Wealth managers also help you in the long-term strategic planning of your financial goals. They can help you align your plans and objectives, and set goals and strategies to achieve your targets

With such comprehensive management, wealth managers can prove to be quite beneficial to a prospective investor.

One must understand that wealth managers are different from investment bankers. Wealth managers are focused on the personal service of clients, while investment bankers assist corporations. There is some overlap between the operations of investment bankers and wealth managers, but the two are distinctly different.

Wealth managers maintain cordial relationships with clients, analyze information and evaluate results to choose the best solution to solve problems. They are experts in their field and establish long-range objectives. At the same time, they specify the strategies and actions to achieve them. They judge the qualities of funds, stocks, investments and other financial products of the client to create wealth and investment plans.

Overall, a wealth manager can help a client protect their wealth by minimizing fees and taxes. They will ensure that their client’s wealth is distributed well and managed as per his needs and objectives.

If your health deteriorates, you go to a doctor. But in the case of your wealth, prevention is better than cure. Hence, a wealth manager is important to help you take care of your wealth before things turn awry.

At Wealthy, our wealth managers prioritize the need of our clients. Schedule a meeting with one of the wealth managers to discuss all your financial needs.