They love to compete for business.
They have very substantial relationships, not only with the affluent, but also with foundations and endowments.
They work closely with the client's CPA, attorney, business consultant and other professionals.
They are not afraid of "big" money. They understand the benefits of leveraging the value of those relationships by having other professionals manage that money.
Working with large clients and having the confidence to handle the sale (in essence, not worrying that you are going to lose control of the client), is a function of personality and temperament. Only certain types of individuals are the right fit.
Indeed, the battle cry of some advisors who question managed accounts has been, "Why should I give up control of my best clients?" Why indeed?
The only reason you would do this is to build a solid, long-term business. The individuals who realized early on they were "in the business of building a business" were the advisors who grabbed managed accounts. And as they looked around for areas in which they could excel, the No. 1 common denominator kept surfacing-they were all really good salespeople. Advisors who didn't necessarily enjoy managing money, but who loved to prospect, could focus on doing that, could stop watching the market, stop being responsible for the individual securities selection and finally do what they loved-winning and servicing big clients.
There was a differentiation among those who were both into marketing and into sales. The advisors who wanted to run a real business didn't just sell what the firm told them to sell, they utilized marketing strategies, they started building a practice. These advisors also realized the value of leveraging their expertise and saved an enormous amount of their time by turning the management of their accounts over to individual money managers.
It's A Crowded Marketplace
If you are trying to compete on the same basis every other advisor is, what is your mark of differentiation? It is the real value that you provide. It is the counsel and the process. One of the ways to explain your value is to say, "I'm offering a serious investment process by which you can manage your money."