As we round out 2016, Investments & Wealth Monitor focuses on niche client segments. The Editorial Advisory Board put some thoughtful work into narrowing this universe to millennials, same-sex couples, women, business owners, and one I would never have thought of—later-in-life divorce.
Did you know that millennials are the largest of the three generations in today’s workforce? I didn’t know that until I read Keith Robinson’s “Managing the Millennial Generation,” which explores millennial values and how best to communicate with this market niche. This segment wants its money to have social impact, and Tim Macready and Simba Marekera explain how advisors can help in “Impact Investing in the Context of a Diversified Portfolio.”
In “Advising Same-Sex Couples in a Post Marriage-Equality World,” Frederick Hertz helps us with important details of this niche’s recent legal-status changes. In “Old Money and New Money: Exactly the Same but Different,” Susan Bradley shows how these niches face similar quandaries but each needs a different advising approach.
Don’t miss our candid interview with IMCA members Dorothy Bossung, Noel Pacarro Brown, and Christine Gaze, who discuss their different paths to successful careers in the financial industry and the challenges each faced along the way as women in a business dominated by men.
In “When Divorce and Retirement Collide,” author Jessie Foster notes that the divorce rate for couples over 50 has doubled in the past 20 years and provides advice for helping clients navigate such a potentially devastating event. In “Women’s Retirement Reality,” Kathleen Burns Kingsbury outlines what women want—and why—from their advisors. Will Olinger and Benjamin Doty examine the difficult and complex decision business owners face when they consider selling their business, and Patrice Radogna explores special considerations around wealth management firm valuations.
In “Investable Assets of Tomorrow,” Chris Ciompi and Jay Jacobs use innovative graphics to help advisors understand four distinct gen-X and millennial investor types. In “Driving Change: A Guide to Entrepreneurial Philanthropy,” Page Snow asserts that philanthropy is ripe for “innovative disruption” and that your younger entrepreneurial clients are ready to apply their vision and talent to achieve it.
Take a look at our practice management article, “How Do Registered Investment Advisors Compete for Talent against Big Banks?”; and don’t miss Duane Thompson’s update on the Department of Labor conflict of interest rule as well as Mark Harbour’s interview with family-wealth psychologist James Grubman about a few of the complicated ethical challenges advisors are likely to face.
With year-end approaching, I wish all a happy holiday season.
David Koulish, CPWA®, CFP®
Chair,
Editorial Advisory Board