Notes

How wealth management firms can prepare for turbulent times [Farnoush Farsiar]
Generational change. Global mobility. Technology transformation. Farnoush Farsiar , EU Today writes that these are only some of the major changes that have impacted family offices and fundamentally impacted their operational structures and practices.

Family offices serve a younger, tech-savvy, and mobile-savvy generation more often. Because of the economic recession, clients are now more interested and involved in their investment.

These changes take place at a crucial time in political and economic chaos. Offices which try to maintain their old methods will soon discover that they are not being used by the very people they were established to advise. They need to be flexible and creative when managing investments so that they can provide UHNWIs with a genuine value proposition.

While family offices can differ in both size and size, they should focus on flexibility over the need to be experts in all areas. A smaller team of advisors who are able to quickly introduce the latest technologies and bring on board external experts when needed can ultimately offer better service to customers. This has led to the blurring of the lines between private banking and family offices. Successful firms will continue to maintain the loyalty of family offices and the trust they have while also keeping up with the latest technology in sourcing deals and adopting the latest technologies.

It is important to be able to draw on the old-fashioned, network-based, and reputation-based strategies for deal sourcing. Online tools can be used to identify deals and opportunities. Wealth managers and private offices that have a highly skilled staff can implement online deal platform for sourcing. It is in stark contrast to the cumbersome banks that are in bureaucracy. These platforms allow dealmakers to access and evaluate a large number of deals at one time - a substantial saving of time and money.

Wealthica and other dashboard services like Wealthica are also revolutionizing how family offices communicate directly with their customers. These services consolidate investments in a way that is automated from multiple sources, and put clients in daily communication with their investments. This is a huge improvement from the past when wealth managers providing only intermittent updates regarding the progress of their clients' funds.

Of course they are only an instrument that wealth managers can improve their efficiency and speed at the way they work. Most important is their investment strategy. The most effective strategy is to combine the old and the new. This means you can continue to look for opportunities on real estate but also consider investing in areas like food security or climate science. Impact investing is definitely 'at last in the world of family offices - the UBS Global Family Office Report 2018 found that one third of family offices are engaged in impact investing and the majority expect to be more involved in the near future. There are many challenges in this area including the difficulties in assessing impact and conducting due diligence. However the next generation of UHNWIs and HNWIs will be expecting family offices to identify and secure such investments. Plato Capital is my boutique investment bank. Plato Capital draws from the experience of its founders who worked for large banks as well as the tech sector. Plato Capital provides investment advice that is geared towards the entrepreneurial. Our local knowledge and connections allow us to assist our clients reduce risk while increasing their capital returns.

Wealth managers of all types can succeed during turbulent times, by mixing the traditional with the modern while experimenting and making a risk with their structures and methods.
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