Russ Alan Prince, Author at CPA Trendlines

Five Business Models for Wealth Management

Choosing the wrong one could be detrimental to your firm.

By Russ Alan Prince
Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice

Central to establishing your accounting firm’s wealth management practice is selecting a suitable elite wealth management business model. A lot of thought goes into deciding first if wealth management is applicable and meaningful at an accounting firm; and second, if so, the best way to establish and grow a wealth management practice.

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The choice of business model makes a great deal of difference. There are five main business models to choose from.

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

The Life Insurance That Your Firm Needs

Guarantee funding when your business needs it the most.

By Russ Alan Prince
Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice

There are times because of death when key people in a company are lost. Key person life insurance provides funds to a business to address the financial losses that can occur when a key person dies.

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Revenue losses can be offset, and money can be tapped to help ensure the business remains viable and doesn’t fail – for example, to find a replacement or train someone to take the job of the key person who died.

This is almost always the most cost-effective approach. Additionally, key person life insurance pretty much guarantees the money required will be available when needed.

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Stop Selling and Start Discovering

Discover how not selling produces better business.

By Russ Alan Prince
Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice

Selling is persuasion. It’s convincing someone – prospects and clients – that they should engage you for your services.

MORE: Create Family Dynasties and Add Value, ROI | Four Core Principles for Elite Wealth Management | Is Elite Wealth Management Right for You? | Wanna Know What Clients Say About You? | Why Accountants Fail at Wealth Management
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As an accountant, you have a set of expertise and selling is about getting others to hire you for your expertise. However, a much more powerful way for you to grow your accounting practice is by not selling.

Allow me to explain.

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Create Family Dynasties and Add Value, ROI

Having a well-formulated succession plan is essential.

By Russ Alan Prince
Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice

A family dynasty is defined as a cohesive economic entity where the perpetuation of family wealth, values and objectives lasts for five or more generations. About 60 percent of ultrawealthy families (net worth = US $30 million or more) are strongly attracted to the concept of a family dynasty.

MORE: Why You Need a Team of Experts | Why a Virtual Family Office? Why Now? | Is Your Client’s Umbrella Big Enough? | Your Client’s Instincts Are Wrong | Preserving Wealth Is a Different Mindset | Three Approaches to Investment Consulting
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The interest in creating a family dynasty is strongest among ultrawealthy families with single-family offices. Nearly three-quarters of them think along these lines, according to senior management at these single-family offices. Percentagewise, the founders of the single-family offices find the prospect of a family dynasty more appealing. At the same time, two out of five C-level ultrawealthy business owners are very interested in potentially creating a family dynasty. In these cases, more inheritors than founders find the idea of a family dynasty appealing. As the research is based on a worldwide sample, it is evident that the appeal of family dynasties is extensive and widespread.

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Four Core Principles for Elite Wealth Management

Keep these promises to your clients no matter what.

By Russ Alan Prince
Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice

There are four unquestionable core tenets of an accounting firm’s elite wealth management practice.

MORE: Why You Need a Team of Experts | Why a Virtual Family Office? Why Now? | Is Your Client’s Umbrella Big Enough? | Your Client’s Instincts Are Wrong | Preserving Wealth Is a Different Mindset | Three Approaches to Investment Consulting
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It’s not debatable. And it’s not negotiable.

Think of the four rules as a professional oath for those who strive to have successful elite wealth management practices.

PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING

Build Your High-Performing Family Office Practice

Make your firm indispensable to elite clients.

By Russ Alan Prince

If you have an elite wealth management practice, you might want to “upgrade” to a family office practice.

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Self-proclaimed family office practices are multiplying at an incredible rate. For a great many financial and legal professionals, professing to have family office practices is nothing more than a marketing ploy.

As there is no “official” definition of a family office practice, anyone can say they have a family office practice irrespective of the expertise they can deliver. Today, family offices are being described in all sorts of ways.

But, when you get right down to it, a family office is a very simple concept: “A family office is an expert coordinator of expertise that optimizes the lives of family members.”

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Is Elite Wealth Management Right for You?

It can result in a firmwide multiplier effect.

By Russ Alan Prince

Accounting firms are professional services firms. Many accounting firms have expanded into other areas. One of those areas is wealth management. When wealth management is part of a well thought out accounting firm’s strategy, it can be instrumental in delivering greater value to clients. An elite wealth management practice can also be core to generating substantially greater revenues for the firm.

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An elite wealth management practice – as opposed to a traditional wealth management practice – results in a firmwide multiplier effect. Most importantly, it can be central to optimizing clients’ financial lives. Your elite wealth management practice will also contribute significant revenues – directly and indirectly – to the accounting firm.

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Wanna Know What Clients Say About You?

If they can’t communicate your value, referrals will be tough.

By Russ Alan Prince

Accounting services are commodities, but that does not mean that accountants are inherently fungible. Without question, some accountants are better than others.

That said, a large majority of accountants are unable to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Many times even when they are more capable, they blend in with the morass of mediocre accountants.

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The reason is simple. Very few accountants are proficient at communicating their value to their clients. Think of your situation. What value are you providing your various clients? Now, if those clients were asked what value they were receiving from you, how much alignment would there be?
READ MORE →

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Accelerate Your Success by Becoming a Thought Leader

Distinguish yourself from the competition by being the go-to pro.

By Russ Alan Prince

Accounting services are commoditized. However, this does not mean that all accountants can deliver the same level of expertise, but it does mean that better accountants can provide better expertise. What is more telling is that clients—both individual and corporate clients—are usually unable to discern the quality of the accounting services they receive. For most clients, it can be tough to differentiate between accountants when it comes to filing tax forms or providing tax advice.

MORE: What Level of Advice Do Entrepreneurs Need? | Three Approaches to Investment Consulting | The Role of the Personal CFO | Three Components of Collaborative Wealth Management | Cashing Out: Your Business Clients’ Five Big Issues
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For higher-margin practices, the competition for clients is intense. For example, one of the most significant growth areas for accounting firms is having a family office practice. The wealthy—especially the ultra-wealthy—are regularly choosing to work with family office practices over other providers. Furthermore, the profitability of a well-run accounting firm’s family office practice is significantly better than most other practice areas. With so many accountants positioning themselves to provide family office services, even with exploding demand, some will seriously underperform.

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

The Goldmine at Your Fingertips

Competition is intensifying, but proper service to one client base could be all you need.

By Russ Alan Prince

In many ways, the accounting industry is under pressure. For example, fee compression is an issue for many accounting firms. More savvy and cost-sensitive clients are looking for a “bargain.” At the same time, competition for many of the services some accounting firms provide is intensifying. Tax consulting, for instance, is being done by wealth managers, lawyers and even some life coaches.

MORE: What Level of Advice Do Entrepreneurs Need? | Three Approaches to Investment Consulting | The Role of the Personal CFO | Three Components of Collaborative Wealth Management | Cashing Out: Your Business Clients’ Five Big Issues
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While many accounting firms are under pressure because of increased competition and more demanding clients, there are certain types of clients that prove exceedingly profitable. READ MORE →

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Russ Alan Prince

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Russ Alan Prince is co-author of "Your $5 Million High-Net-Worth Practice: Guidelines for Sourcing and Working With the Wealthy During the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond," published by CPA Trendlines.

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Prince is the Executive Director of Private Wealth magazine (pw-mag.com) and Chief Content Officer for High-Net-Worth Genius (hnwgenius.com).

He consults with family offices, the wealthy, fast-tracking entrepreneurs, and select professionals. He consults with family offices, the wealthy, fast-tracking entrepreneurs, and select professionals.

Prince is the author or co-author of more than 60 books, including Everyone Wins! How You Can Enhance and Optimize Business Relationships Just Like Ultra-Wealthy Entrepreneurs and How to Build a High-Performing Single-Family Office: Guidelines for Family Members and Senior Executives.

Collectively, the cache of research-based insights within Prince’s publications is the most complete empirical analysis in the field and the largest, most comprehensive database on the topic.

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