Wealth Management Boston

Wealth management can help you achieve your financial life goals. It can help structure your finances so that you do not have to worry about Black Swan events or disruptions that can put question marks on your financial future. As a high net worth or ultra-high net worth individual, you appreciate the hard work that it takes to accumulate the wealth that you have. You now want to protect and grow that wealth. That can happen when you make the right decisions. When making financial decisions about millions of dollars, every percentage matters. A slightly higher cost can run into millions over a longer-term. Therefore, investment advisory services from a professional advisor can be beneficial.

In order to truly understand wealth management, we need to explore the strategies of a wealth manager and look at how successful independent Boston wealth management firms work. We also need to answer the question of how much money do you need for wealth management? Lastly, we will explore how Pillar Wealth Management can be a candidate for Boston wealth management for high net worth individuals. The firm works with clients who have $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets.

This may all sound like a lot, but once you start reading, you will get through this specially compiled guide in no time. Let’s go!

Strategies of a Financial Advisor

A wealth manager is someone who focuses exclusively on clients who have significant wealth. So, they are well-versed in dealing with problems, issues, and topics on any market cycles faced by high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals. These topics are different from the requirements of an average middle-class family. Pillar Wealth Management, for example, focuses on offering white-glove services to clients with $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets. Its strategy revolves around personalization and customization.

Given the fact that the amount of money at stake is significant, the impacts of every decision can also be far-reaching. Therefore, one of the strategies of a financial advisor in Boston is to look at every decision with a holistic approach. For example, making a long-term investment in a passive fund vs active frequent trading can be the difference between attracting short-term capital gains tax or long-term capital gains tax. The former is higher than the latter, and a few percentage points of extra tax can run into millions. Sure, the idea is to earn a return, but how the return is earned can have other implications for the client. You can read many examples of such not-so-apparent investment costs in this complimentary book on improving portfolio performance for investors with $5 million to $500 million in investible assets.

Another strategy of any good manager at a wealth management firm in Boston is to constantly monitor the progress of the client’s portfolios. This is something Pillar WM does through its stress testing. Get in touch with Hutch Ashoo to know more about the process. Wealth management is not a fire-and-forget activity, it is more like a commitment to help the client. Once a financial plan is made, it needs to be updated regularly because the financial situation of the client changes and the world around us changes every day. New risks and new opportunities emerge every day. Learn How to Choose an Advisor Who Will Stop at Nothing to Help You.

Viewing costs saved as money earned

Another important strategy of some top wealth managers is to view investment costs and other financial costs as a source of putting money back into the client’s pockets. We talk about this concept in more detail in our guide on choosing the best financial advisor for individuals with $5 million to $500 million in investible assets.

Some wealth managers may even commit to saving the client a few hundred thousand dollars for every few million dollars that the client brings to the wealth manager for management. It is the job of a wealth manager to “plug the leakages” and structure finances that minimize investment costs and taxes. This can mean shifting funds from high expense ratio options to low cost yet reasonably well-performing funds. It is why wealth managers get paid a decent fee. The money saved and generated has to outweigh the fees.

How much money do you need for wealth management services?

Generally, wealth management firms have minimum account size requirements starting from a few million dollars. So, if you thought that you need to be super rich to work with a wealth manager, then the answer is a yes and a no. It all depends on what you perceive to be super-rich.

The definition of high net worth is someone who has $1 million in liquid investible assets. Liquid investible assets do not include your house or any illiquid investment. They include money that can be readily invested. The definition of an ultra-high net worth individual is someone who has at least $30 million in liquid investible assets. One has to be a high net worth or ultra-high net worth individual to be able to work with a wealth management firm.

For example, Pillar WM works with clients who have $5 million to $500 million in investible liquid assets. If you find yourself in that category, then feel free to start a conversation. There is no cost other than spending some of your time. And who knows, that time might be well spent if you get something useful out of the conversation.

How much money do you need for wealth management is just one factor in deciding whether a wealth management firm in Boston is right for you? There are a few things that you should know. Firstly, a wealth manager does many things besides invest. A wealth manager crafts a comprehensive financial solution that helps you achieve all your goals. Every solution is unique and the very best wealth managers will treat every client’s account with a personalized approach.

Secondly, if your needs are diverse because you have more money, and if you want help with multiple financial planning services like estate planning, risk management, retirement planning, taxes, philanthropy, investment management, etc., then a wealth advisor makes sense.

Independent Boston Wealth Management

Successful wealth managers often tend to be independent professionals at niche firms. There is nothing wrong with working with a big-name Wall Street firm for your wealth management needs. However, their business model is geared more towards volume and large assets under management numbers. Their investment products tend to be generic and group clients into categories like “high risk”, “medium risk”, and “low risk”.

However, we believe that every client’s financial situation is unique and requires an independent personalized strategy. Clients cannot be grouped into predefined categories. Their goals, motivations, and financial situations are unique. We have highlighted this and many other points in our short downloadable guide called 5 Critical Shifts for Maximizing Portfolio Growth Strategies for Families Worth $5 million to $500 million.

If you are looking for an independent Boston wealth management firm to work with, then it may help if the firm is a registered fiduciary. It means that the firm is bound to act in your best interests at all times if it is to maintain its registration as a fiduciary.

Fiduciaries have to be SEC-registered. It is a state registration requirement or validation purposes of an advisor being fiduciary. This also means that the wealth manager is independent of any conflict of interest. Speaking of a fiduciary standard, it closely related to an independent investment firm that can provide flexible investment advice based on the clients’ priorities. The wealth advisor or investment adviser of an investment advisory firm refers as RIA (Registered Investment Advisor).

One example of such conflict is that of an advisor who receives a commission for “selling” the client investment products like securities business such as broker-dealer or underwriter to trust services company. In such a situation, the independence of the financial advice is compromised because the wealth advisor is motivated by the commission. He/she may end up pushing a product that the client does not really need. In order to discuss how fee structures affect wealth management advice, we encourage you to schedule your free consultation with Pillar WM. We will be happy to share our 60 years of combined experience in wealth management with you. Learn How to Choose an Advisor Who Will Stop at Nothing to Help You.

Boston Wealth Management for High Net Worth

Pillar WM is a niche yet exclusive firm offering Boston wealth management service for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals. As pointed out above, our founders have more than 60 years of combined experience in dealing with a wide range of wealth and financial management issues for clients just like you.

We believe in the philosophy of financial serenity. It means that whatever planning we do helps our clients achieve the life and the goals that they have always wanted in a stress-free manner. Ultimately, money shouldn’t be a source of concern but rather a means to achieve everything that you have set out to achieve in your life. And while that happens, we want you to be able to sleep soundly at night and not worry about whether the next market crash will wipe out 60% of your net worth.

Pillar WM is a fee-only fiduciary advisor. It means that the firm earns only through fees and there are no commissions involved. A fee-based model involves commissions. As explained in the previous section, the introduction of commissions in any compensation model can potentially disturb the alignment of the client’s interest with that of the wealth advisor.

As you explore wealth management firms in Boston, MA, it may be a good idea to research the background of the firms. Check if the firm works with the kind of net worth that you have. If possible, get on a call with the firm. We encourage everyone reading this to start a conversation with us and discuss anything about wealth management in Boston. In fact, even if you are already working with an advisor, we still encourage you to talk to us. After all, you never know when the grass is greener on the other side.

How to Find a Wealth Advisor in Boston?

Finding a good wealth manager to work with requires some time and effort from your end. You can begin by looking at general information online. Use your favorite search engine to find wealth advisors in the Boston and the north-east area. Then, visit their websites and get to know the kind of Boston wealth management services that they offer. If you need help with succession or generational planning, then find someone who has expertise in that area. If you want tax professionals or legal advice to help you with your taxes, then tax planning should also be listed under the services offered. Wealth managers are generally multi-faceted and offer plenty of services depend on your asset classes.

You should also read any articles or blogs that a wealth manager has written. For example, Pillar Wealth Management has written The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Financial Advisor: For Investors With $5 Million to $500 Million in Liquid Assets. Reading these guides and articles on the menu will give you an idea of the way a wealth manager thinks about the subject.

You can also keep an eye out for any designations or memberships that a wealth manager holds. You can then go to the website of such organizations and double-check if the wealth manager is indeed a member of such organizations. You can look at the educational background on websites like LinkedIn.

Another great way to find promising wealth managers is to speak with family, friends, and business colleagues. Chances are that they may also be high net worth or ultra-high net worth like you. They may already be working with a reputed wealth manager in the Boston area or elsewhere. You can hear a genuine and honest review of the wealth manager in Boston that you might not on a glossy website.

Hutch Ashoo and Christopher Snyder are the expert founders of independent, fee-only, and fiduciary wealth management firm Pillar Wealth Management. If you would like to speak with them or simply ask any questions about how custom and trusted wealth management advice is offered to high net worth individuals with $5 million to $500 million in investible assets, then feel free to start a conversation.

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