Why Would a Wealth Management Firm Focus on Helping Families Thrive?

Why would a Wealth Management company host an event on helping families thrive?

At Archetype, we have a different scorecard that guides our success. Our mission is to help families thrive across generations. So we started a company that operates on a unique Platform, with unique People, and a unique Process that allow us to completely represent our clients 100% of the time.

So what is the #1 risk to your family’s wealth?  It may not be what you think.  At our event, “How Thriving Families Cultivate the Next Generation”, we highlighted a massive risk to your wealth that is hiding in plain sight! A study by the Williams Group found that 9 out of 10 wealthy families will lose their net worth by the third generation.

The primary villain: a breakdown of Family Communication and Trust.[1]

As a company that spends every day analyzing risks to portfolios, we would be remiss if we did not analyze this threat. As a result, we sent our team around the country to learn from the leading experts in the field of family communication, psychology, and wealth transfer, and built a process to help families thrive across generations.

Interestingly, US Trust conducted a study in 2018 that identified the top 5 topics High Net Worth investors want to talk about with their advisor:

1. Estate Planning
2. Trust options and implications
3. Strategic philanthropy
4. Facilitating discussions about the use of family wealth
5. Teaching children/heirs financial skills
   
   

And that same study found that only 20% of advisors are engaging with their clients on these topics. This begs the question: “If you can’t talk about it with your advisor, where do you go for advice?”

Your wealth is like a can of gasoline and a match. When used responsibly, in the hands of someone who recognizes the dangers, it can change lives for the better. But, if I gave that same can of gasoline and a match to my unprepared 3-year-old daughter, it would produce destruction.

The reality is that wealth is both a blessing and a burden. And the 1 out of 10 families that “survive” beyond three generations are doing things differently. They are spending time, resources, and energy to improve family communication across generations and develop a shared purpose that is greater than any one member of the family.

So why would a Wealth Management focus so much time and resources on helping families thrive? Let me answer with a question: how could we not?

As people obsessed with helping your portfolio thrive, it’s in our best interest (because it is in yours) to bring awareness to, and a process for, enhancing family communication and trust.

At Archetype, we are all about shedding light on the “elephants in the room” – issues that add risk to your portfolio, your family, and your legacy. We believe that by talking about them, we shrink them down to a manageable size, so we can help families thrive. And it is our privilege to deliver a unique process to help our clients address these issues as we journey with them across generations. 

Sources:

[1] https://www.thewilliamsgroup.org/blog_post.cfm?id=79