Reframing the Client-Advisor Relationship with Matt Belnap

May 23, 2023

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According to Cerulli’s research, “22% of wealth managers said consolidating to a unified managed household (UMH) is a significant priority, with half reporting it as a moderate priority for their firm moving forward.” This discovery is aligned with wealth managers shifting away from transactional brokerage relationships and prioritizing fee-based assets. The Unified Managed Household (UMH) goes further than the Unified Managed Account (UMA), which aggregates accounts at an individual level. The UMH takes into account not only the client's financial situation but also that of their entire household.

This week, Jack Sharry talks with Matt Belnap, Associate Director of Retail Distribution at Cerulli Associates, about the latest research in household-level management. Cerulli is a financial services industry leader providing market intelligence and strategic business recommendations. Matt is involved in the development of research across various aspects of retail financial services, including wealth management, managed accounts, and product development. He is involved in creating nine Cerulli reports spanning three research practices and oversees The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Advisor quarterly publication.

In this episode, Matt talks with Jack about key challenges managed account sponsors face, why clients should seek more holistic financial advice, and why the household-level approach will take time.

Key Takeaways

[01:18] - What does the research show about unified managed households?
[03:42] - Cerulli’s research philosophy.
[07:57] - Key challenges managed account sponsors face.
[11:53] - Points of entry for account openings.
[16:03] - What will progress look like?
[20:35] - What will it take for clients to seek more holistic advice?
[23:57] - The power of tax-deferred.
[25:25] - Matt’s key takeaways.
[27:33] - How Matt spends his time outside of work.

Quotes

[06:11] - “It’s a complete reframing of the advisor-client relationship, and it’s something that is going to be pretty important for these advisors as they look to differentiate their practices going forward.” ~ Matt Belnap

[20:39] “I think there's questions for some of the firms that haven't begun anything yet of, ‘Where do we start? How do we even begin to begin? To move into doing something like this? How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, but where does that first bite go?’ And I think that’s something that a lot of firms are grappling with in terms of, ‘how does this happen?’” ~ Matt Belnap

[26:56] - “Don't wait for the perfect time to completely flip to a household-level approach because it's not going to be there. It’s going to have to be piece by piece.” ~ Matt Belnap

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