Proper financial management is an essential tool that you should opt for to experience economic growth. Many companies now focus on providing startups and growing businesses with financial solutions and services to manage their assets. Additionally, some specialized services are available for highly wealthy individuals. This article will focus on a type of service exclusive to wealthy individuals known as private wealth management.
What Is Private Wealth Management?
Private wealth management is a specialized financial service designed to help highly wealthy individuals manage and invest their assets. It provides custom-tailored financial and investment advice. Two categories of individuals can benefit from this service. These include high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs). HNWIs are those individuals who have liquid assets of at least $1 million after accounting for all liabilities, whereas UHNWs are individuals who have investable assets of at least $30 million.
Key Components of Private Wealth Management
Here is a list of some critical components of private wealth management that make it a favorable tool for individuals to use for better financial and investment management:
Financial Planning
Companies providing private wealth management services create comprehensive and custom financial plans focusing on planning for the client's present and future goals. They emphasize planning for important life milestones such as retirement, education funding, buying real estate, or allocating sufficient funds for emergencies.
Investment Management
There is a strong emphasis on providing investment management services to implement to grow and preserve your finances. Your manager may advise you to invest across different asset classes, such as real estate, stock, or bonds, to reduce the risk of financial loss in case one investment underperforms.
Risk Management
When dealing with large amounts of wealth, the risk of incurring potential large financial losses always exists. Opting for a private wealth management service allows you to identify financial risks and use good mitigation strategies, such as opting in for insurance.
Philanthropy and Charity
When opting for a wealth management service, they can advise you to establish charitable foundations using your assets. Establishing a charitable foundation has many benefits, such as the ability to continuously fund projects that align with your values and interests and hold philanthropic activities throughout the process. You can also gain tax benefits by donating to a charity foundation, as these donations are tax-deductible, which would reduce the amount of your taxable income.
Cash Flow and Liquidity Management
An essential feature of a private wealth management service is ensuring that you, as a client, have sufficient liquidity to handle your current expenses. It is done by mapping out your current expenses and allocating adequate funds to meet them in best and worst-case scenarios. The company offering this service will also check if you have enough remaining liquidity after fulfilling your current expenses to handle emergencies. Managing incoming cash flow would also allow you to support your long-term financial goals while ensuring you can regularly contribute to saving accounts or new investment plants.
Disadvantages of Private Wealth Management
While many vital components make private wealth management a favorable tool for individuals possessing large amounts of wealth, there are some disadvantages associated with this service that you should weigh in on before opting in. These include:
High Cost of Service
Since private wealth management companies provide tailored financial management recommendations, the service cost is often high. The total service cost is broken down into smaller components such as advisory, performance, asset, and account management fees.If you do not want to pay a high service cost, this service may not be your best option. Once you opt in, you must consistently use the service if you want long-term financial management benefits.
Limited Control
Once you opt-in for such a financial management service, you often have to give autonomy to the financial manager in charge of making investment decisions for you. Placing your trust in another individual or entity to make these choices for you may be difficult, considering there is always a potential for a loss or fraud. While private wealth managers can provide access to various investment opportunities, they can emphasize specific proprietary strategies or products that can limit portfolio diversification.
Performance Risk
Sometimes, despite professional planning and analyzing market trends, an investment may not perform as expected, which would result in financial loss. It may be challenging to deal with, considering you're paying an entity to manage your finances professionally.
Endnote
If you have investable assets that exceed $1 million, you may require a personal wealth management tool to manage your assets. By opting for a personal financial service like this, you can plan and allocate assets for your short-term and long-term financial goals, identify and manage financial risks, and understand where it may be advantageous for you to invest. However, before you decide to use the service, you must also consider associated drawbacks such as limited control over financial decisions and inevitable investment performance risks.