Not all broker-dealer firms are created equal—a fact that’s been emerging in recent recruiting efforts. Advisory firms with aggressive growth strategies are reaping the rewards of their competitive approach, as more than 9,000 advisors moved firms in 2022, despite market volatility and economic uncertainty, according to the latest Diamond Consultants Advisor Transition Report. Independent broker-dealers tracked within the report, for example, saw net gains in advisor headcount, with over 1,000 new advisors joining firms that offered larger technology budgets and greater flexibility in how they provide advice to clients.
To further compound the competitive landscape, thousands of advisors are approaching retirement age, expanding advisor workloads and expectations, reducing the number of experienced advisors and further increasing the stakes to recruit remaining advisor teams. To stay competitive, top broker-dealers are offering advisors a broader, more sophisticated set of tools and services, with automated, workflow-optimized tax transition and tax management solutions emerging as a key differentiator among firms.
Stand Out and Attract Talent
Investors are increasingly looking for more personalized relationships and services from their advisors. So, it’s no surprise that when evaluating which broker dealers they want to affiliate with, many advisors consider the tools and services available from the firm to enable them to satisfy (or exceed) client expectations.
Broker-dealer firms not only compete for the country’s top advisors, they’re also competing against each other, and against different business models. The best firms are equipping their advisors with tools and support that allow advisors to optimize their clients’ portfolios and incorporate different tax scenarios.
Tax transition services and individualized focus on after-tax portfolio investment returns are high-touch, high-value, very personalized client-facing services. Not long ago, such tailored services required extensive manual processes and a deep bench of staff. Today, however, the same solutions are automated and streamlined, providing advisors with modernized workflows that eliminate bottlenecks.
Advisors who are focused on after-tax optimization know that this is a way to differentiate their services, and understand that delivering this requires a mix of automation, fine-tuned technology and high-quality services they can rely on. This scalable combination of tools and expertise has proven to be a winning proposition for both clients and advisors.
Situations with complex embedded taxable investment gains present a prime opportunity for advisors to provide more value to their clients, with a combination of tax transition and ongoing tax-management solutions. These specialized client scenarios also provide an opportunity for top firms to showcase their prowess and attract new advisor talent. By signaling that they’re more than capable of taking on client assets with complex tax circumstances, top firms are easing the transition of fast-growing teams when they opt to join a new company. Firms offering cutting-edge tax transition and tax management solutions stand out to elite advisors, because these same firms are putting actual capabilities behind their marketing and messaging.
Advisors who previously may have been reluctant to take on new assets that presented complicated tax situations can be empowered to manage those assets with full confidence in the technology and services provided by the most competitive wealth management firms in the recruiting game.
Tools and services that enable advisors to offer clients an individualized approach to managing the tax consequences of their investment portfolios – whether through managing the transition of that portfolio into new strategies, ongoing tax-optimization of the trading and rebalancing of the portfolio, or both, offer several key benefits for firms, advisors and their clients:
- helps advisors attract client assets,
- boosts recruitment of advisors and teams
- potentially improves tax outcomes and after-tax investment returns for existing clients, and
- as a result, can help clients to keep and grow more of their portfolio assets over time
By providing advisors with the right technology and services, firms are demonstrating their commitment to helping advisors to facilitate their transition if they’re joining from another firm, capture wallet share and grow their books of business.
A Flexible Solution is Key
Firms that can provide advisors with the tools and resources they need to efficiently and effectively provide their clients with personalized services are winning the battle for talent. Advisors stick with firms focused on client experience. They’re partial to firms that understand the importance of personalized tax budgets and optimized after-tax returns for their clients.
At Vestmark, we help wealth management firms provide the tools and services that allow fast-growing advisors to provide the right tax transition and optimization solutions for their clients. Our solutions are scalable, by design, so firms and advisors can grow without constraints and maximize efficiencies.
We, like you, also believe that one-size-fits-all leaves much to be desired. Our solutions are modular, and can be tailored to your business, desired advisor/client experience, workflow, or outcome.
To learn more, contact us today.
TAX TRANSITION AND OVERLAY SERVICES OFFERED BY VESTMARK ADVISORY SOLUTIONS (VAS). VAS DOES NOT PROVIDE TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE.
Investment strategies that seek to enhance after-tax performance may be unable to fully realize strategic gains or harvest losses.
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