What Is Wealth Management

What is Wealth Management?

The branch of financial management known as wealth management is focused on protecting and growing the wealth of their clients.

Written by : Anamika Arora

Reviewed by : Jasmeet Bedi

Jasmeet Bedi

2024-08-14

1284 Views

11 minutes read

Wealth provides you with money that can be used to realise your financial and personal goals. It aids you in sustaining your life and remaining in good standing even when you are no longer employed. Wealth can get eroded, i.e., reduce in value, over time, if invested in the wrong or non-profitable avenues. Proper wealth management can help you plan your money better so that it continues to grow.

Wealth Management – Definition

Wealth management is a part of financial services that assists you in managing your money and provides you with advisory services.

Wealth management includes comprehensive guidance on finance, taxation, estate and legal. Your wealth manager can be your single point of contact who will collaborate with accountants, estate managers, and tax experts to design a holistic wealth plan.

How does Wealth Management Work?

Wealth management revolves around financial planning with a crystal-clear objective of offering better returns on investments. Some broad pointers on how wealth management works:

  • Your wealth manager will note your financial goals with specific timelines, if any.

  • By probing with a wide variety of questions, they will figure out your risk appetite.

  • Needless to say, you must provide details of how much money you want the wealth manager to “manage” or invest. 

  • At this stage, your wealth manager will draft an investment plan recommending different asset classes, financial instruments, timelines, and allocations.

  • Taxation will always be factored in so that you get the best possible exemptions and rebates.

  • Once you approve the plan, your wealth manager will go ahead and execute the same.

  • The investments are monitored and modified if the need arises. 

Click here - What are Financial Assets?

Did You Know?

According to a field study, the wealth management sector is poised to grow from $1.25 trillion in assets under management in 2020 to $3.43 trillion in assets by 2030.

- Allied Market Research

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How To Choose a Wealth Manager?

Wealth managers are incredibly useful for people who want the guidance of experts to grow their finances for some time. They are also important for people who need more confidence in their own financial decisions. Of course, with their importance, it is essential to find a wealth manager you know you can trust. Some tips and points to keep in mind when choosing a wealth manager are:

  • Understand your financial capacities and have clarity on what your investment goals are. You cannot expect a wealth manager to give you huge profits without knowing your own financial capabilities. You should set realistic investment goals, which can help you find the wealth manager that specialises in what and how you want to invest.
  • Understand the type of clients your choice of wealth management usually serves. Most managers serve High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs). Some of them serve semi-HNWis, and some serve ultra-rich clients. Understand the type of clientele your wealth manager has to decide which one serves you best. Find out what qualifications your manager has for that purpose.
  • Check your wealth manager’s track record. Try to get reviews from former or current clients. This will also help you understand the customer services a wealth manager provides.

Choosing a wealth manager is one of the most important financial decisions. Your manager is expected to grow and protect your wealth, potentially for decades. Thus, it is important that you spend the time and effort to find the wealth manager you can trust and believe in.

Advantages of Wealth Management

There are several benefits of using professional wealth management methods. The margins of error reduce because the dos and don’ts are clear.

a) Wealth management is customized to suit your need, objective, funds available and risk appetite

b) It is a 360-degree service comprising tax advice, investment advice, legal advice, retirement planning, accounting, and estate management.

c) Wealth management is more strategic than investment advice. Investment advice is a subset of wealth management and is more tactical in approach. For wealth creation, a holistic approach to strategic wealth management is needed.

d) If the magnitude of your assets is huge, the wealth manager will work alongside a team of specialized wealth managers who have expertise in specific domains of finance and investments.

Must Read - Passive Investing

Wealth Management Strategies

Earning money, creating wealth, and managing wealth does not mean the same thing. Some points to note:

  • Your primary source of income gives you considerable money because of your expertise in your chosen profession.
  • Therefore, you must invest wisely so that this income works by itself and generates wealth.
  • All along, managing this entire process is critical so that your money is safe, growing and available at planned intervals/milestones.

Here are a few pro tips for SMART wealth management:

1. Set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound (SMART) goals.

2. Work on clear budgets

3. Diversify your investment

4. Stay clear of the bad debt or at least keep them to the minimum

5. Buy insurance plans like term insurance, health insurance, property insurance etc., to mitigate risks. should be in place.

6. Work with reputed, credible, qualified wealth managers

Also Read - What is NPV?

Financial goals, plans, and aspirations change as you traverse through the journey of life. Needs and wants are dynamic, and therefore, your wealth management plan should adapt to your life stage. Retirement is the final stage, and you most certainly do not want to enter it with inadequate money in hand. Adopting different strategies for different life stages is recommended:

  • Accumulation: Start investing early in your career. Get your priorities right, have a clear budget, and stick to it. Do not buy things you don’t need; invest the money instead. Start planning for retirement. Invest in high-growth instruments such as equities.
  • Preservation: If you haven’t covered your health and life with insurance, do so on top priority. Balance your investment portfolio with equity and debt. The proportion of the amount in debt should gradually increase as you inch towards retirement. Take calculated risks because you will not have time to bounce back if your riskier bets do not pan out as planned.
  • Distribution: Time to reap the benefits of all the hard work, due diligence, financial prudence, and planning. Earn income from your investments in the form of interest payouts, annuities, profits, etc. Keep ploughing back the surplus, if any.

Investment Options in India for Wealth Management

Each of the strategies described above has corresponding investment options that can help you achieve the goals for that stage. Some examples of popular instruments for each stage are listed below:

1.Accumulation Strategy

The focus is clearly on getting above-average returns and building a strong base so that the power of compounding gives better returns in the medium/long run.

  • Mutual Funds/ELSS: Mutual funds invest in equities and have funds focused on specific industries and or stock indices. You can choose the type of fund depending on the risk appetite and targeted return.
  • Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP): ULIPs also invest in equity and debt just like mutual funds do. But ULIPs come with additional advantages. ULIPs have insurance coverage that comes with the investment. Moreover, both the investment and the maturity amounts have tax benefits, which means you save money on taxes as well.
  • National Pension Scheme (NPS): NPS helps you invest in a diversified and dynamic portfolio of equity, debt, and alternative assets. This automated portfolio investment reduces your portfolio risk as you age and will ensure safe investments by the time of maturity. You can withdraw up to 60% of the corpus as a lump sum and must invest the rest to receive an annuity.

Recommended Reading - NPS Withdrawal Rules

Other than the diversified portfolios, you can also consider buying stocks directly. Stocks can offer huge value accretion over time as well as a possibility of dividend income. Investing in Gold ETFs, and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) will also fall under this strategy. However, these investment options may not allow tax savings.

2.Preservation Strategy

Consolidation is the mantra here. The degree of consolidation will increase as you progress through this stage and approach retirement.

  • National Savings Certificate (NSC): NSC is offered by the Post Office and is very similar to the tax-saving 5-year bank deposit. The rate of interest for an NSC is 6.8%, which is a tad higher than the current rate of interest for bank deposits. The lock-in period is 5 years, and the amount invested is deductible from taxable income under section 80C. Interest is compounded annually, and this annual interest can also be deducted from taxable income. However, the interest amount receivable on maturity is taxable.

Also Read - Is Pension Taxable?

  • Life Insurance Savings Plans: Savings plans from life insurers offer guaranteed maturity benefits with bonus additions for long-term investors. The plans also have a tax-free maturity and investment. Thus, you can protect your wealth from inflation as well as taxes.

  • ULIP/Guaranteed Return Plans: ULIP plans offer you investment into safer debt funds. You can allocate 100% of your funds to debt funds while enjoying the tax benefits on your investment. Even when you start with a 100% equity investment, you can later switch to 100% debt in ULIPs. Tax benefits and bonuses ensure that your wealth is safe from market forces, inflation, and taxes.

Alternatively, you may invest in guaranteed return life insurance plans where the return is assured so that you can predict the maturity value.

3.Distribution or Income Strategy 

You need the money at this stage. Moreover, you need guaranteed cash flow post retirement when your income from employment or profession will dry up.

  • Life Insurance Annuity: An annuity is a long-term investment wherein your contributions are converted into periodic payments that can last for life. In addition, you also get life insurance coverage.

  • Bank and Post Office Fixed Deposit (FD): Both bank and post office FDs give almost the same rates of interest. If one is highly risk averse, FD is the right choice for investment. The interest rate hardly beats inflation but the person is assured that the money is in safe hands.Unless one is investing in the 5-year tax-saving FDs, you will not get any tax benefits for other FDs. But you can receive a defined sum into your account as interest payments.

  • Monthly Income Plans: Monthly income plans are mutual funds which aim to provide a monthly income pay out. These funds invest in blue chip stocks to generate income through dividend payments.

Your current state of finance portfolio is important when planning your wealth growth strategies. Keep a holistic view when investing and have the patience to stay invested. Hiring professional wealth managers to help you make decisions based on concrete data will preclude you from making costly mistakes. Factoring in constraints, opportunities, goals, and personal circumstances is essential when drawing a wealth management strategy.

Conclusion

Finding a wealth management team or manager to aid you in your financial planning is essential for long-term financial success. Having a defined financial strategy that is evolving and managed by a financial professional at all times helps give you some rest. It is thus essential to find and choose a wealth manager with whom you can trust your finances, and who offers advice you can listen to.

Glossary:

  • ETF: Stands for Exchange Traded Fund, which is a pooled investment security that can be bought and sold like an individual stock. 

  • NPV: It is the difference between the current value of cash inflows and the current values of outflows over some time.

  • REIT: A Real Estate Investment Trust is a company that owns and operates real estate to produce income and profit.
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FAQs Related to Wealth Management

A financial advisor is very important to take advice from, especially if you are having a hard time making the right financial decisions. It is still beneficial to investment-savvy people, who might benefit from another voice that can help them with their finances.

Asset managers, most importantly, work on growing their clients' financial assets to gain the most profit. Wealth management keeps a much more holistic focus, offering a range of services aimed at helping people manage their wealth and achieve long-term financial goals.

Wealth management is a branch of financial management that provides advisory services for affluent clients with their investment needs.

A wealth manager works as an advisor to affluent clients and manages their wealth usually for a set fee.

Wealth management aims to maintain, analyse, and increase a client’s wealth based on their financial situation, goals, and risk tolerance.

The 5 steps of wealth management are investment management, portfolio auditing, tax planning and preparation, advanced financial planning, and private banking and reporting services.

There is no set minimum amount required to gain access to wealth management services.