What exactly is “Private Wealth Management”?  It is the department within a financial institution that has financially accredited financial advisors, also known as wealth managers, who are available to provide financial advice to individuals of high net worth regarding their private financial portfolio management. A private wealth manager does not provide these services to any large corporations, trusts, or any other similar groups.

An individual with a net worth of $5 million USD can get financial advice from a financially accredited wealth manager working at any large corporate financial management company, smaller, more independent entities, or a portfolio manager with multi-licensing capabilities which usually handles the high net-worth customers.

Once the high-net worth individual (HNWI) contacts a private wealth management firm he or she will be assigned to a financial wealth manager.  The first meeting with a wealth management advisor may be to inquire about the HNWI’s current financial situation, along with what their goals are for the future, their current employment status, as well as their spending habits.  The wealth manager will then assist the (HNWI) individual in making any necessary improvements to their current financial situation; as well as working with this individual(HNWI) to take the necessary steps involved in setting up their financial strategy for making secure and safe investments that will benefit their short, medium, or long term financial goals. Once the financial strategy is set up, the wealth manager will use the HNWI’s money to make the necessary investments that will be most beneficial for their financial situation.

An individual can also order investment packages from some of the larger banks or brokerage houses; however, many individual investors are not equipped with the necessary knowledge, nor has the time that is required to successfully manage their finances in this manner.  For this reason, an individual can schedule an appointment to meet with a wealth manager whom will sit with them and assist them in managing their financial needs.  The wealth manager will then go over the individuals’ financial picture, set up an investment plan in which will best meet the person’s goals, and then the wealth manager manages that person’s money by making investments in ways best suit for their individual needs.

Wealth management has been around since the early 1930s and is only available to high-net worth individual investors.  The wealth manager that is assigned to a HNW individual is responsible for offering them plans for estate planning, business succession/stock options, as well as the occasional hedging of stock derivatives.

It wasn’t until the late 1980s that the banks and brokerage firms began offering clients information about financial wealth planning and private wealth management services in the form of seminars that were designed to show off their manager’s financial expertise.    The 1990s then brought the “Family Office Exchange” and the “Institute for Private Investors” formed in 1991, and then “The CCC Alliance” was formed in 1995.  These were all online networks designed to assist the ultra-high-net worth customers and their families with their financial wealth management.