“I also find clients at marriages and bar mitzvahs,” he says. “There’s a lot that goes on [at] those events involving young people. Advisors can offer them a lot of guidance.”
Silveira networks to generate referrals from firms who don’t serve low-asset clients.
“I go to FPA meetings and get good referrals because the people reaching out to them don’t meet their minimums,” Silveira says. “Other FPA members feel comfortable sending these clients to me.”
Firms serving family wealth often attempt to include clients’ younger relatives in planning. Troubled by statistics that suggest nearly three-quarters of generational wealth transfers fail, Brown Brothers Harriman is studying ways to bring millennials in for multi-generational planning. BBH’s approach now keys on open communication between advisors and clients’ children, says the firm’s Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist.
“If we’re meeting with Mom and Dad to talk about family wealth, we’ll suggest that this is an opportunity to bring the kids,” Clemons says. “If they’re open to suggestions, we lay ground rules—what do you want us to address, what topics should we avoid. We find that Mom and Dad never thought of how the next generation will manage their money.”
But there’s risk when advisors speak with young adults on behalf of older family members. Many times, the advisor is only speaking with clients’ children as a favor, Landes says. “When a young person picks up on that, trust is obliterated.”
Tisler adds that advisors don’t necessarily want the clients they would attract this way.
“I feel it’s better to prospect directly,” he says. “That means whoever reaches out to you has a reason to do so. The kids don’t engage because it isn’t personal to them. Work with people because they want to be worked with.”
Bera says that engaging the younger generation of clients should also involve a younger generation of advisors.
“If you don’t start forming that relationship with people before they’re in their 40s, you can miss,” Bera says. “People want to work with a planner within 10 years of their age, so if you are a boomer serving older clients, hire younger CFPs, bring them into family meetings and have them talk to the younger relatives.”