Most financial advisors are accustomed to advising on a range of investment portfolios, such as a client's real estate purchase or a long-range retirement plan. However, there exists another segment of high-net-worth individuals whose youth, wealth and celebrity bring new and different challenges to their professional advisors every day.

These individuals are top professional athletes, touring musicians, songwriters and actors who have attained fame and wealth, but neither the time nor expertise to manage the range of financial challenges their lives present.

These clients have success and wealth, but they may now want to be entrepreneurs, start a clothing line, open a chain of restaurants, or pioneer a revolutionary sports drink. Advisors have to be attuned to their clients' special needs-how to deal with lucrative contracts and rapid career trajectories, for example-to serve this niche market.

One group that makes a specialty out of serving this demanding category of clientele is SunTrust Bank Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group, which works exclusively in this niche market.

"Our clients are often people who are earning huge sums of money for ten years that then has to last them and their families another 50 years, instead of working for 40 years to make money to last another 20 years," says Thomas Carroll, managing director of SunTrust Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group.

Founded in Nashville in 1988, with roots in country music, SunTrust's Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group has been expanding to include financial services for sports, music and film professionals all over the country. Carroll now runs a team of 60 professionals at SunTrust Bank's Atlanta headquarters.

"Our advisors are set up across the country so that they can be closer to their clients and the major market centers of music, film and sports," says Carroll. The group has offices in Greenwich, Conn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Daytona Beach and Boca Raton, Fla.; Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, and has plans to add more, he says.

Carroll's team has been working on an aggressive growth plan. During 2009, SunTrust engineered a deal to purchase CSI Capital Management's baseball practice and its San Diego office. That successful integration led to SunTrust's purchase this year of CSI, which represents sports and entertainment celebrities, and which added $1.5 billion of assets under management to Carroll's group.

"CSI is excited to join SunTrust's Sport and Entertainment team," says Steve Cutcliffe, president of CSI and now a managing director at SunTrust. "SunTrust is widely recognized as the leading player in sports and entertainment. Given the size of the CSI franchise in this specialty niche, there were only a few partners that we would even consider."

Sudden Wealth
"We are often dealing with people who suddenly have enormous amounts of money," Carroll says. "They are young, they think they are invincible and many think the money will last forever. They may have gone from zero to millions of dollars a year in a short period of time. For that reason we want them to invest very conservatively. That is what drew us to CSI, because they had a similar philosophy."

The SunTrust Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group is a leading financial manager in the country music business, with clients who captured about 80% of this year's Country Music Awards. The group's NASCAR practice represents over half of this year's winners.

The group's clients includes current and former All-Star players from both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball-a roster that SunTrust feels gives it a dominant position in the field of serving professional athletes.

"We are not necessarily concerned with market share," says Carroll. "We are working to build the SunTrust brand in our specialty niche. We are the recognized leader in serving these clients' diverse and unique needs, and we focus on being the best in our market every day one client at a time."

Sports salaries have grown at an estimated compound rate of 8% a year for the past 40 years, making it one of the fastest-growing and virtually recession-proof segments of the economy. Income in other high-profile professions, such as music and acting, are "lumpier," as advisors put it, meaning there are more high and low spots.

"There has been an absence in the professional athlete market of strong financial advisors," says Cutcliffe. "The market, however, is now coming into its own and there is recognition by the smarter players that their diverse and unique needs require experienced professional advice. Add to that the backing by SunTrust Bank and the complete range of service we provide and it is a power position in the marketplace."

A True Specialty
Because of the special nature of the clients, working in the SunTrust Sports and Entertainment world is not typical of a financial advisor's career.

Carroll explains, "Working here is not just a career, it is truly a lifestyle. We have to be available 24/7 and be able to help on all types of problems or situations.

"I start the day by reading The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Billboard magazine, the Sports Business Daily and the Daily Variety," Carroll says. "We need to know when album sales are declining, when sports contracts are ending, how movies perform at the box office and who is a free agent and what his prospects are."

Advisors at SunTrust confront so many different types of situations it is difficult to pinpoint any one unusual one, the advisors say. Musicians may need huge loans to pay for a world tour that could bring in millions of dollars or they may need money to bridge the gap between uneven payment cycles. Film financing also can require huge sums of money up front. Certain athletes have to be insured against injury, protecting themselves from the loss of their biggest asset: their earning potential. In many ways, the circumstances are different in each of the high-profile careers, advisors say.

"A NASCAR driver is taking a huge risk every time he steps into a car. He needs to be insured against that risk. A pro football player has no guaranteed contracts and may have a short career, compared to an actor or musician, all of which has to be taken into consideration in financial planning and when trying to make their money last," says Carroll. "It all starts with the basic education of the client, sharing some common pitfalls to avoid, then establishing a plan that protects their income and prepares them financially for life after their career.

"We try to stress liquid savings and a conservative philosophy. Debt can be used, but a client has to be careful. They have opportunities for investments that are different from people who do not have name recognition-restaurants, clothing lines, makeup or fragrance lines, product endorsements-but that presents challenges, too," Carroll adds.

Rasheed L. Muhammad, senior vice president, SunTrust Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group, says advisors with close ties to the industry assist with advising around sensitive industry issues.

"Right now, the talk of the town has been the NFL lockout. We have to understand the impact of the lockout or strike in a sport and know how that may affect our clients financially. We have to consider if we need to make changes to their financial plan based on those circumstances," he says.

"In addition, we are assisting clients, especially in the sports field, who are looking at a second career at the age of 30, not 50," Muhammad adds. "Many of our clients are approached about investments in night clubs, bars or restaurants, but our focus is on implementing a long-term financial plan."

Carroll attributes part of his team's success to the commitment of the advisors to their clients and the industry they serve. "We have people on our team who were musicians, sports agents, entertainment business managers and professional athletes. They truly understand the client and can relate to their unique needs. We do not have any former actors with us yet, but if we found one with good financial skills, we would consider hiring him or her," he says.

"It helps that we have people on the team who like the idea of a famous athlete or musician being on the other end of the line when they pick up the phone," Carroll says. "While these clients require a tremendous amount of work, we take a great deal of pride in their success. At the end of the day, it is fun to turn on the TV and watch your guy pitch a game or go into the locker room or back stage or to a movie premiere and recognize their hard work. That aspect to the job helps when we're hiring the best talent and building the culture of our team."

SunTrust knows their clients often from an early age. Many are signed on immediately after their college or even senior year of high school, before professional sports teams draft them. This is before the player has made his first dollar.

"The signing of a draft pick often times involves a special relationship with the player's family," says Cutcliffe. "During those first meetings that might take place in the family room of the player's home, we get everything on track for the future. Plans are made not just for home and car purchases, savings accounts and investment accounts and insurance, but we also work out state residency issues for tax purposes, a budget for spending and we manage client business matters. We want to be the advisor on all financial matters in our clients' lives. Bringing this type of a comprehensive solution to a young player and his family has a wonderful payoff."

Muhammad agrees: "Dealing with sports, music and movie stars is challenging, but also makes the process, and the prospect of helping stars invest their money, more appealing and rewarding. The hard work we put in is often recognized by our clients in the form of long-term loyalty to us."