The COVID-19 pandemic has made an enormous impact on the world economy. Many global corporations and mid-sized companies have felt the immediate change in the market, volatility in the stock and currency exchanges, and fundamentally, in the supply and demand. Even the so-called high-net-worth individuals have sought the professional advice of wealth managers to find safe havens for their cash and other sources of fortune. For this reason, the demand for competent and trustworthy wealth managers is slowly rising. If you are interested in making a career shift to the finance industry, please keep reading.
What is a Wealth Manager?
A wealth manager or money manager is a financial adviser to high net worth (HNW) individuals. He or she specializes in giving financial or investment advice to enable a client to grow his assets over time. The wealth adviser also helps in the areas of accounting, tax services, as well as retirement and estate planning.
A wealth manager needs to be trustworthy and competent since he or she deals with large sums of money. One of the most well-respected private wealth managers in the U.S. today is Jeff Erdman of Merrill Private Wealth Management. In his firm, a minimum account needs to be at least $2.5 million. Today, Erdman’s firm handles around $7.8 billion worth of client funds, out of which they get a commission or service fee.
There are particular challenges to this line of work especially if the HNW client is a frequent traveler and has multiple residences and countries of business. Naturally, the wealth manager needs to be updated on tax regimes and legal frameworks in those countries where the client has businesses or assets. For a manager of an American citizen, it will definitely need more work since current U.S. laws impose a tax on foreign assets.
Managing Data and Information for the Wealthy
Given the enormous amount of information and data involved in handling clients, many wealth managers and financial advisory firms use the cloud-based Microsoft 365 backup as storage. They had to leverage data storage technology to securely handle information about clients while still having access from anywhere in the world.
Increasingly, wealth and asset management are being migrated online to enable both the manager and client to interact using the same data and information despite distance and difference in time zones. This technology has become so important that cloud storage as a service now has more than 200 million active users, proving its importance for daily business and investment operations. While much of the data is secured in bank-based information systems and those used by financial institutions, wealth management professionals and their firms still need technology to handle and track numerous accounts that are active in different continents around the world.
Advantages of Hiring a Wealth Manager
Simply put, high net worth individuals and ultra-wealthy people hire wealth managers so that they can keep more of their fortune and grow it. Their expertise enables wealth managers to provide accurate and timely advice to the rich on how they can avoid paying taxes. Legally, the ultra-rich can park their wealth in offshore trusts and bank accounts. Doing this would significantly lower their tax rates in the United States.
Their adeptness in identifying opportunities and avoiding pitfalls in investment also makes wealth managers valuable to the rich. They not only avoid wealth loss, but these managers are also key to growing money via private banking and forays into stock and currency markets. In some cases, they also assist in the management of financing for foundations or charities that were created and supported by wealthy sponsors. ;
Benefits of the Wealth Management Profession
The average wealth adviser can make anywhere from $92,000 to $127,000 a year. Aside from the good paycheck, they also get to travel and establish good relationships with the elite. They get to gain unique access to a closed network of ultra-wealthy individuals, groups, and families who offer them not just friendship but opportunities in business and finance. If they work in a large firm, they normally have a flexible spending account that they use for representation purposes. Their work schedules are also generally free and flexible since they focus on building a good professional relationship with clients, a task that does not limit itself to normal work hours.
Indeed, as the wealthy look for better ways to conserve their wealth while the pandemic rages on, professional wealth managers will continue to provide a very technical and, at the same time, truly personal service to each client. Together, both client and wealth managers can brave the economic uncertainties in a post-COVID-19 era and find more ways to fare better in finance and win more wealth.
