Wealth experts give tips on client meetings

PHOENIX — The first few minutes of an initial meeting with a wealthy family can make or break…

PHOENIX — The first few minutes of an initial meeting with a wealthy family can make or break a potentially multimillion-dollar relationship, said Ash Rajan, director of management guidance at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.’s ultrahigh-net-worth investment group.
Speaking at the Investment Management Consultants Association’s Spring Development Conference here last month, he said that advisers should be thoroughly prepared for a first meeting, make a strong and compelling opening statement, and then allow plenty of time to listen to their wealthy prospects.
“It’s invigorating for a family patriarch to see three Wall Street suits taking notes as he talks,” Mr. Rajan said.
In order to prepare for a first meeting with an affluent family, wealth managers should rehearse their presentation to assure that it flows smoothly and that they appear to be in complete control, he said.
Mr. Rajan suggested researching the family online before the meeting to learn as much as possible about their business and social interests, as well as charitable activities.
The executive of New York-based Merrill also recommended arriving early, making certain that the meeting venue is in order and that all necessary technology is working.

At another conference session, Susan L. Hirshman, managing director at New York-based JPMorgan Asset Management, spoke about the six risks to wealth preservation.
The risks, as she sees them, are investment overconcentration, investor behavior, overspending, taxation, family discord and liabilities.
“Investors and their advisers should take all six into consideration when making investment decisions,” Ms. Hirshman said.
She noted that families should understand that predicting the appropriate level of asset withdrawal in retirement involves weighing various risks and making trade-offs among those risks.
The perception of risk, Ms. Hirshman said, is part of a client’s behavioral profile, which colors how they react to adviser input.
Often, clients become overconfident about a specific investment position and reach for a particular target, or use a single event or fact point as the basis for a retirement plan, Ms. Hirshman said.
“You tend to see clients that don’t think the normal rules of diversification and risk management apply to them,” she said “They believe prior investing mistakes resulted from random events rather than poor planning.”