These professionals are responsible for helping clients set short-term, mid-term, and long-term financial goals, from saving and investing to retirement planning and more. In addition, financial planning is a dynamic career that requires both technical and soft skills.
If you’re technically minded and interested in a profession that allows you to help people on their financial journeys, then a career in wealth management might be just what you’re looking for. What is a private wealth manager? What does the job entail, and what can you expect?
What Is Private Wealth Management?
As the name implies, this position deals with managing private wealth or financial capital individuals or families hold. Private wealth management focuses on affluent individuals and families that fall into the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth categories or those with liquid assets totaling over $1 million or over $30 million, respectively.
What Is a Private Wealth Manager?
A private wealth manager is a finance and financial management professional, often with knowledge of accounting, economics, and perhaps business. This person works closely with clients to understand their current financial situation, help them create realistic goals, and find the most efficient and productive pathway to reaching their objectives.
Financial planning at this level can be complex, involving a range of strategies, savings accounts, investment accounts, and legal instruments like wills and trusts designed to grow, protect, and pass wealth. It involves knowledge of financial markets, strong communication skills, and a desire to help individuals and families achieve diverse financial goals.
Why Become a Private Wealth Manager?
Private wealth management is more than just a profession. It’s something of a calling. While it does require an array of technical skills, strong attention to detail, and a refined sense of risk versus reward, it also hinges on a particular desire to help others become successful and realize their dreams.
As such, the career path for a private wealth manager can be incredibly fulfilling. It’s ideal for self-starters who like to operate independently, and those who get bored with repetitive tasks will find that there are always new advances to explore in financial planning. What benefits will you enjoy when you pursue a career in wealth management?
Help Clients Protect Their Financial Future
It’s not unusual for people to reach adulthood with very little understanding of finance, and the results can be disastrous. Common issues include extensive debt, bad investment strategies, and delayed retirement planning. Financial planners have the unique opportunity to use their knowledge and skills to help their clients improve their financial situation and grow their wealth.
When it comes to wealth management, clients may have any number of goals, from purchasing investment properties to building a solid portfolio for amassing and protecting generational wealth. Private wealth managers help clients prioritize their goals and guide them toward positive outcomes that meet and exceed their expectations.
Scratch Your Entrepreneurial Itch
While it’s not unusual for private wealth managers to work for financial institutions or boutique firms, this career also lends itself to entrepreneurial pursuits. Suppose you’re ambitious, driven, and persistent, and you enjoy independence in your work. In that case, you’ll find that the field of wealth management provides more autonomy than many financial positions. Motivated individuals could certainly start their own firms or simply serve clients in a singular capacity.
Enjoy Remote Work Opportunities
As you research to find out what is a private wealth manager, you’ll be pleased to discover that there are opportunities to work in both the office setting and from the comfort of home. Your time will primarily be spent serving clients' needs, which allows you some latitude to perform work remotely and perhaps even set your own hours. That, in turn, provides opportunities to create a work/life balance that best suits your personal preferences.
What Does a Private Wealth Manager Do?
Private wealth managers perform various tasks similar to other types of financial advisors. Still, the fact that they work for high-net-worth individuals informs the services they offer and the strategies they pursue. Building a portfolio that encompasses savings, investments, retirement funds, and so on is a given. This level of financial planning may also include considerations like generational wealth protection, charitable/philanthropic donation strategies, advanced tax management, and more.
As a private wealth advisor, you’ll need a comprehensive range of talents, including technical and soft skills. Technical knowledge starts with an in-depth background in finance, including proficiency in financial planning, constructing portfolios, tracking and forecasting capital markets, accounting and quantitative skills, and so on.
It doesn’t hurt to be multilingual, and you’ll undoubtedly want to be up-to-date with technologies associated with finance. You also must educate and advise clients, so you need strong communication skills and be comfortable with sales. What does this job look like in action?
Investment/Portfolio Management
Personal wealth managers may perform several services for their clients, but offering advice on investing and building a portfolio to grow wealth is often at the top of the list. This profession demands knowledge and understanding of traditional and emerging investment strategies and products.
You’ll have to understand and track capital markets and explain your strategies to clients in a way that makes them feel comfortable and confident following your advice. You must understand and convey risks and rewards so your clients know what to expect, and it’s your job to help ensure that they make informed decisions about their financial future.
Retirement and Estate Planning
Private wealth advisers are responsible for helping clients grow their wealth, protecting it, and passing it on to successive generations. That is where long-term goals like retirement and estate planning come in.
It could involve a range of products, including 401Ks, IRAs, and life insurance. It could also include legal planning activities like wills and trusts designed to protect wealth for future generations and eliminate unnecessary taxation.
Philanthropic Planning
Many individuals and families with excess wealth are interested in using at least a portion of their money to help others. As a result, private wealth managers may assist clients in finding suitable philanthropic outlets, including planning for sizable donations during their lifetime or after they pass away.
Tax Services
When it comes to taxation, wealthy individuals may face complex challenges associated with various income streams, multiple properties, a range of investment accounts, and so on. They often require the assistance of financial professionals to incorporate advanced tax management strategies that help to preserve their wealth.
What Is a Private Wealth Manager’s Average Salary?
In addition to answering the question, “what is a private wealth manager?” you’ll surely want some information on salary and job opportunities. On average, private wealth managers in the US could earn between $82,000 and $102,000 per year. However, it will depend on various factors, including education, experience, and place of employment. Salaries vary, depending on whether you work for a large bank, boutique firm, or a self-employed position.
The highest-paying jobs are in Washington, DC, California, and New Jersey. However, this profession also supports remote work.
How to Become a Private Wealth Manager
The path to a career in personal wealth management could take several forms. The most common degree for this position is a bachelor’s or master’s degree in finance from an accredited school or program. Some candidates enter the field from a business or economics background, and choosing these fields of study as minors can only help you to stand out. Others start in banking or other financial fields and move into private wealth management.
Is Private Wealth Advisory Right for You?
You’ll find that it’s an ideal career for those interested in both technical and social pursuits. You’ll gain the opportunity to work one-on-one with clients, building relationships as you help them set and reach financial goals. In addition, you’ll enjoy a dynamic and versatile work environment that is both challenging and rewarding.
To get started, you must find a flexible and accessible program that suits your lifestyle. Check out the programs available through the University of Miami’s UOnline program to gain access to outstanding educational opportunities paired with the convenience of remote learning. Contact the University of Miami today to learn more.
