In the wealth management industry, “customization” and its synonyms aren’t buzzwords. They’re words to live by because clients of all stripes are demanding bespoke planning and strategies.
Gone are the days when cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approaches worked. Such tactics should have never crept into wealth management in the first place, but the point is a new era is here and it’s not going to change. If anything, clients are likely to become more demanding and expectant of customization. Advisors need to be prepared for that groundswell.
Perhaps to the surprise of some advisors, select model portfolio suites allow for high levels of customization. Yes, there are plenty of model portfolio offerings that allow for just minimal tinkering, if any at all. What you see is what you get and while those tools are fine from a creating efficiencies perspective, but they lack the tailoring that some clients are seeking.
Enter WisdomTree’s Shared CIO custom model portfolio service. The CIO custom model portfolio platform isn’t just about getting a task off advisors’ plates. Rather, it in part centers around the concept of clients expecting more customization. As WisdomTree noted earlier this year, “60% of wealth managers expect their high-net-worth clients to require some degree of personalization either now or in the future. ”
A Solution Right for These Times
There’s more to the CIO custom model portfolio than just tailoring. Yes, customization is a source of allure, but so is the process backstopping that trait.
“Every portfolio is built on a foundation of institutional rigor—leveraging the investment expertise of our Global Research Team and Model Portfolio Investment Committee across global equity, fixed income, alternatives and currency markets,” notes Ryan Krystopowicz, director of client solutions at WisdomTree. “But the real power comes from the flexibility. Want to include specific managers? Adjust trading frequency? Tilt toward themes like income or alternatives? That’s all on the table. This is customization without compromise. ”
The WidsomTree offering is also features plenty in the way of accessibility and flexibility. Strategist fees? Nope. Plus, the assets under management requirements are far less rigid than what’s found with competing platforms around the industry.
“The open-architecture design gives advisors the flexibility to incorporate preferred managers and strategies, and implementation is seamless across major platforms,” adds Krystopowicz. “Just as important, we offer robust marketing support—white-labeled or co-branded—including factsheets, commentaries, brochures and other materials to help advisors effectively communicate strategy and performance to clients and prospects. ”
A Tool for Growth
Recent data suggest the wealth management industry is growing, organically and inorganically. That’s good news, but it’s also reasonable for advisors reading those articles and reports to ponder how they can get in on that growth.
Model portfolios can help, but that situation can be amplified for the better when sprinkling in customization – an objective accomplished by WisdomTree’s Shared CIO service.
“We’ve seen Shared CIO drive real transformation for advisory firms. Practices in growth mode can use it to streamline their investment process and scale with confidence,” concludes Krystopowicz. “Aggregators can use it to create consistent, centralized portfolios that help ease transitions for newly acquired advisor teams. And for advisors looking to modernize their investment vehicle lineup, Shared CIO can help replicate legacy mutual fund exposures with ETF-based portfolios that enhance tax efficiency, reduce costs and preserve the intent of the original strategy. ”