Somewhat counterintuitively, the rate of return an advisor can deliver is often only ranked fourth or fifth in importance across many client surveys. Financial planning and its connected virtues of trust and accessibility are among the services that clients value most.
“There’s been a huge trend towards the democratization of financial knowledge,” Cicci says. “There are so many ways that clients are informed. They’re smart, and they realize the importance of looking at the whole board and delivering great family financial advice.”
Cicci explains that teams can create a sense of trust and continuity for those clients. By constructing a team that feels like it can last beyond the career of a single advisor, or even a single cohort of advisors, clients will feel more ready to trust that team in guiding the next generation of their family.
CG is now working to build modern teams that can earn client trust and offer that continuity. Cicci says they’re doing so by building out the infrastructure and technology that their advisors need to serve complex clients. That includes investments in their CRM, financial planning tech, and digital engagement platforms. That also includes investment options that can serve ESG requirements and other investment needs. These investments, Cicci explains, are the product of years of work on the part of CG as they work to equip their advisors and their advisory teams with the means to win in this wealth transfer.
“Clients are more willing now to pay for high quality advice than ever before, because they understand that not getting good advice eds up far more expensive,” Cicci says, “We now see more potential to grow huge practices than there has ever been. But you’re only going to grow that practice if you build a team, get sophisticated, advertise, and offer a wide breadth of service offerings with different touchpoints for different generations.”
