Young clients need young advisers

Advisory firms who want to gain the trust of the next generation should assign younger advisers to take the educational lead, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) believes.

SSGA's latest US financial knowledge report found 56 per cent of surveyed parents were worried that their children would not have sufficient knowledge to handle the wealth they inherited.

"Advisers hoping to retain assets transferred from baby boomers to their heirs must play an active role in the process — well before wealth begins to change hands," the report said.

"Advisers have a clear opportunity to help alleviate these worries — and better position themselves to retain the assets of the next generation — through providing financial education."

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The report said only 21 per cent of advisory firms had hired younger advisers who could better connect with the next generation of clients.

SSGA said younger advisers would give children the opportunity to broach topics that might be uncomfortable to discuss with either their parents or their parents' adviser.

Advisory firm, RINET chief executive, Brain Rivotto, said this provided "somewhat of a Chinese wall, as the child feels like they have their own adviser with whom they can have an open dialogue".

The report also found that 38 per cent of investors retained their adviser when their spouse died, and when the surviving spouse died and children gained an inheritance, 29 per cent would retain the adviser.

"We encourage our clients to call us when their children are dealing with issues for which we can provide education, such as buying their first house, getting married, or having a baby," Rivotto said.

The report found 45 per cent of all families did not openly discuss wealth matters.

This was followed by 31 per cent who discussed wealth in the family, 21 per cent whose family was fully aware of their wealth plans, and four per cent who regularly had meetings to discuss wealth matters with the family.