Success in wealth management depends on who you ask
When it comes to wealth management, should you seek a financial adviser or a financial planner?
“Actually, the terms have been pretty interchangeable over the years,” says Ben Lewis, chief communications officer of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). “However, a financial planner tends to look at the long term holistic financial needs of clients. They will look at everything from investments and insurance, but also look at things like real estate planning, college funding, home budgeting and debt management. Typically, a financial planner is someone who has earned the CFP (certified financial planner) accreditation.”
On the other hand, a financial adviser covers a much wider definition: professionals who advise their clients on investments and/or insurance. They provide ideas and implement solutions, but are usually not really doing any in-depth financial planning.
“There are a lot of different monikers, and some may designate a lot of the same kinds of services,” admits Lewis. “As for the people who offer financial advice, their numbers could be in the hundreds of thousands. But when you talk about the CFP designation, that would be about 90,000 people nationwide.”
The bottom line: CFP is a designation you should look for when asking for long-term wealth management planning advice.
Brent Boden, regional manager of Wealth Management and Trust at Stock Yards Bank & Trust, which serves Northern Kentucky, is a financial services professional with a laundry list of alphabetical accreditations after his name. In addition to the aforementioned CFP, Boden’s professional designations include: ChFC, APMA, BFA and EMBA.
“The list on the title does get a little long,” quips Boden. “But each of those designations carries a separate financial responsibility or discipline.”
Stock Yards Bank & Trust offers a plethora of wealth management services, including financial planning, business succession planning, investment management including ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) funds and alternative investments, trust administration and estate settlement, family wealth office services, insurance services, and retirement planning such as 401k plans administration.
Stock Yards Bank & Trust currently manages just over $4.5 billion in assets, but “with the acquisition of Commonwealth Bank & Trust, by the end of the year we will be managing over $7 billion in assets,” says Boden.
“Northern Kentucky is definitely an important market for our wealth management,” Boden adds. “With an already strong presence with our private banking for medical professionals, business owners and high net worth clients, we look to work to expand and service the growing Northern Kentucky market along with our business and commercial banking team at Stock Yards.”
Many smaller banks might not have a dedicated wealth management and trust staff. And they may partner with another firm for brokered investment products. But as banks grow, wealth management is a natural progression, offering clients a next level of investment management needs.
“Wealth management involves secondary disciplines of financial planning, investment management, trust administration along with a number of ancillary services to support mass affluent and affluent clients and their financial needs,” says Boden.
And while larger banks may have an edge, you should also look for a financial organization that is able to offer personalized advice and service.
“Wealth management is still a people business, getting to know your clients and build trusted relationships with families is our main goal,” says Boden.
Today, however, personal service can be lost with the advent of new technologies.
“While we use those technologies to our advantage—our business still takes time to build a relationship with our clients and their families,” says Boden.
