Are you advising on your clients’ entire net worth?

Advisors often perform certain tasks or services that, despite their inherent value, go largely unnoticed, and thus do little to support growth, marketing or client acquisition efforts. Advising on net worth is one of these tasks.

So if you’re helping your clients make decisions that are broader than the plan or portfolio you’re managing for them, here’s why and how to start drawing attention to it.

While many wealthy clients hold assets with multiple advisors, most of the financial decisions they make benefit from a holistic perspective. That’s why, even when managing only one portion of a client’s invested capital, many IAs consider or evaluate the wider scope of their wealth to at least some degree. You likely have clients who ask your opinion on real estate purchases, managing debt and liabilities, or insuring valuable items. They may even seek high-level guidance on their total invested assets, if they opt to share this information.

This is significant for two reasons. The first is that while you’re providing advice on these assets, you are not charging fees on them, and thus the fees you do charge have greater value than what appears on your clients’ quarterly statements.

The second is that in cases where the client works with multiple advisors, the one who provides the clearest picture of their overall financial status and the most contextualized information for decision-making is likely making the best case to consolidate those assets.

For those advisors who choose to lean into this aspect of their service, annual reviews are structured around net worth and high-level financial guidance. Some request general information on the client’s other investment accounts, which is factored into their investment recommendations and included in the total wealth picture they present at each review.

Net worth guidance is also something that can be reflected in your outward brand, so that from the beginning of every potential client relationship, you can distinguish yourself from the siloed investment professional and pursue a more central role in the financial lives of high-net-worth individuals.