Making Sense of the Fast-Evolving Family Wealth Landscape with Jamie McLaughlin

9 snips

May 30, 2024

In this engaging discussion, Jamie McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of J. H. McLaughlin & Co., shares insights from his 30+ year career in wealth management and family offices. He reveals how the industry has evolved, driven by regulatory changes and shifting client demands. Jamie explains the importance of intimacy and trust in a competitive landscape and outlines the diverse types of firms serving ultra-high-net-worth clients. He emphasizes the duty of wealthy families to use their capital for social good, advocating for thoughtful advisor selection and business design.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Late Start, Rapid Learning

Jamie joined Sanford Bernstein in his late 30s after a political career and learned investing from scratch.
He likens his career to a trade learned and refined over decades.

INSIGHT

From Product Supply To Client Demand

The industry shifted from supply-driven product distribution to client-driven demand for counseling over 35-40 years.
That secular trend favors partnership-style advisory but brings capital and scale into the industry.

INSIGHT

Scale, Speed, And Intimacy Win

Bain's framework predicts winners need scale, speed, and intimacy in the client era.
Intimacy (trust) is the most critical differentiator for wealth advisors.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Jamie McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of J. H. McLaughlin & Co., a management consulting firm focused on strategy and practice management for wealth management and investment advisory firms, private banks, trust companies, single- and multi-family offices. Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, a partner at Convergent Wealth Advisors where he built the firm's New York office, the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management's New York region, and a financial advisor at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Jamie is a Co-Founder of the UHNW Institute, an independent "think tank" serving firms that serve the ultra-high-net-worth client segment and their advisors.

Jamie has enjoyed a long and decorated career in the wealth management and family office space, and being a history major, he has also written many excellent works on the history of the family wealth and family office industry. He tells the story, as he witnessed it, of how we the industry evolved over the past 30-40 years and paints an elaborate picture of our current industry landscape.

The family office field is enjoying unprecedented growth, and with that growth come different business and service models and a variety of advisory frameworks and practices. Jamie describes the different types of firms that exist today in the UHNW wealth management and family office space, comparing their origins and unique characteristics and analyzing the pros and cons of each model.

Given the spectrum of wealth management models that have emerged in the UHNW segment of our industry, Jamie offers his advice for firms who are looking to establish their place in the space or to solidify their position and ensure the long-term sustainability and profitability of their wealth management and family office business. He also provides valuable practical tips for UHNW clients and enterprise families looking to make sense of the fast-evolving wealth management landscape that serves them and to choose among the different kinds of wealth advisors and family office service providers out there.

Don't miss this in-depth conversation with one of the most experienced and respected thought leaders in the UHNW wealth management field.