Building Family Wealth Map: Enhanced Engagement for Multi-Gen Planning

Building Family Wealth Map: Enhanced Engagement for Multi-Gen Planning

Executive Summary

Summit Wealth Advisors faced a critical challenge in effectively onboarding high-net-worth, multi-generational families, often struggling to visually communicate complex wealth structures and facilitate productive conversations about long-term financial planning. Golden Door Asset developed a custom family wealth map tool integrated with their existing Salesforce CRM to address this issue. The result was a 30% increase in multi-generational client engagement, leading to more comprehensive financial plans and a substantial increase in assets under management (AUM) from new family members.

The Challenge

Summit Wealth Advisors, a leading RIA firm specializing in serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, identified a significant pain point in their onboarding process: effectively engaging multi-generational clients and illustrating the intricate web of their assets, liabilities, and family relationships. Traditional methods, such as spreadsheets and lengthy written reports, often proved overwhelming and failed to foster a shared understanding of the family's complete financial picture.

One particular scenario highlights the problem. The Miller Family, with over $25 million in combined assets across three generations, presented a daunting onboarding challenge. The patriarch, John Miller, held the majority of the wealth ($15 million) in a combination of publicly traded stocks, private equity investments, and real estate. His daughter, Sarah Miller-Davis, managed her own business and had approximately $5 million in assets, including retirement accounts, investment properties, and a complex stock option package from her company. John's grandchildren, two young adults, each held smaller investment accounts and were beneficiaries of several trusts.

Before implementing the family wealth map, Summit spent over 20 hours compiling and analyzing the Miller family's financial information. The initial presentation to the family, consisting of dense reports and spreadsheets, resulted in confusion and a lack of engagement. Sarah, despite being financially savvy, struggled to grasp the interconnections between her father's investments and her own. The grandchildren, unfamiliar with complex financial instruments, were completely disengaged. Crucially, the advisors identified potential blind spots, such as overlapping insurance coverage and estate planning inconsistencies, but struggled to clearly communicate these issues and their potential impact. Without a clear visual representation, the family remained hesitant to consolidate assets under Summit's management, leaving a significant portion of their wealth untapped. The absence of a unified vision also hampered discussions regarding long-term wealth transfer strategies. The firm estimated they were only managing 40% of the total addressable AUM within the Miller family network.

This scenario was not unique. Summit consistently observed that clients with complex family structures and diversified holdings required a more intuitive and engaging approach to onboarding. The firm realized that a visual representation of their wealth, highlighting key relationships and potential opportunities, was essential for building trust and driving meaningful conversations.

The Approach

Golden Door Asset worked closely with Summit to develop a tailored solution centered around a visual family wealth map. The approach was multi-faceted, encompassing data gathering, relationship mapping, and iterative design:

1. Data Collection and Consolidation: The first step involved streamlining the data collection process. Golden Door Asset developed a secure online portal where clients could upload their financial documents and input relevant information about their assets, liabilities, and family relationships. This portal was designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, minimizing the burden on clients.

2. Family Relationship Mapping: Recognizing the importance of understanding family dynamics, Golden Door Asset integrated a relationship mapping feature. This allowed Summit advisors to visually represent the relationships between family members, including legal entities like trusts and foundations. This step included defining roles such as trustee, beneficiary, or power of attorney, which became crucial for identifying key decision-makers and potential conflicts of interest.

3. Lucidchart Integration: To create the visual family wealth maps, Golden Door Asset leveraged Lucidchart, a leading visual collaboration platform. A custom template was designed specifically for Summit, incorporating branding elements and adhering to regulatory compliance standards. The template allowed advisors to easily drag and drop asset types, link them to relevant family members, and add annotations to highlight key information.

4. Salesforce Integration: The family wealth maps were seamlessly integrated with Summit's existing Salesforce CRM. This integration enabled advisors to access the maps directly from the client's profile, ensuring that all relevant information was readily available. Furthermore, data from the wealth map could be automatically updated within Salesforce, providing a single source of truth for client information.

5. Iterative Design and Feedback: The development process involved continuous feedback from Summit's advisors. Golden Door Asset conducted regular meetings to gather input on the design and functionality of the wealth map tool. This iterative approach ensured that the final product met the specific needs of Summit and its clients. The feedback loop included advisors testing the tool with sample client data and providing suggestions for improvement based on their experiences.

6. Communication and Education: Golden Door Asset provided comprehensive training to Summit's advisors on how to use the family wealth map tool effectively. This training included best practices for presenting the maps to clients and facilitating productive conversations about their financial goals. Advisors were also trained on how to leverage the maps to identify potential planning opportunities, such as tax optimization strategies and wealth transfer planning.

The strategic decision framework centered around the idea that enhanced visualization and clear communication would be the key drivers of improved client engagement and ultimately, increased AUM. By focusing on the client experience and providing advisors with a powerful tool to communicate complex financial information, Golden Door Asset aimed to transform Summit's onboarding process.

Technical Implementation

The family wealth map tool involved a combination of data integration, visual design, and platform customization:

• Data Integration: The tool connected to Summit's existing data sources, including their portfolio management system and Salesforce CRM. This was achieved through secure APIs and data connectors, ensuring that client data was synchronized in real-time. The data integration layer was built using Python and a serverless architecture on AWS Lambda for scalability and security.
• Lucidchart Customization: A custom Lucidchart template was created with pre-defined shapes and connectors representing various asset types (e.g., stocks, bonds, real estate, trusts) and family relationships (e.g., spouses, children, grandchildren). The template also included fields for capturing key financial information, such as asset values, ownership percentages, and income streams. Custom data linking within Lucidchart was set up to allow advisors to link specific data points from Salesforce to elements within the visual map, so if an asset value changed in Salesforce, the map would automatically update.
• Salesforce Integration: A custom Salesforce Lightning component was developed to display the family wealth map directly within the client's profile. This component allowed advisors to easily access and navigate the map, as well as add annotations and comments. The Salesforce integration also included a workflow rule that automatically updated the map whenever changes were made to the client's financial information in Salesforce. This ensured the map remained current and accurate.
• Financial Calculations: The Lucidchart template incorporated basic financial calculations, such as calculating the total net worth of the family and the allocation of assets across different categories. More sophisticated calculations, such as projected estate tax liabilities and the impact of different wealth transfer strategies, were performed using external financial planning software and the results were displayed within the Lucidchart map. For example, advisors could model the impact of gifting strategies on reducing estate taxes by entering different scenarios into the financial planning software and visualizing the results in the map.
• Security Measures: Robust security measures were implemented to protect client data. All data was encrypted both in transit and at rest, and access to the family wealth map tool was restricted to authorized personnel. Regular security audits were conducted to ensure compliance with industry best practices. Furthermore, a detailed audit trail was maintained to track all changes made to the maps, providing accountability and transparency. Summit followed SEC Rule 206(4)-2, the Custody Rule, to ensure data was always secure and only accessible to approved individuals.

Results & ROI

The implementation of the family wealth map tool yielded significant positive results for Summit Wealth Advisors:

• Increased Multi-Generational Client Engagement: Multi-generational client engagement increased by 30% within the first six months of implementation. This was measured by tracking the number of family members attending meetings, participating in discussions, and actively engaging with the financial planning process.
• Increased AUM: The average AUM per multi-generational family increased by 15% within the first year. This increase was attributed to the improved communication and transparency facilitated by the family wealth map, which led to more comprehensive financial plans and the consolidation of assets under Summit's management. For example, in the Miller Family case, Summit secured an additional $4 million in AUM from Sarah's business account and the grandchildren's trusts within 9 months, representing a 25% increase from the initial $16 million under management.
• Improved Client Satisfaction: Client satisfaction scores related to the onboarding process increased by 20%. Clients reported feeling more informed, engaged, and confident in Summit's ability to manage their wealth. This was measured through post-onboarding surveys and feedback sessions.
• Reduced Onboarding Time: The time required to onboard multi-generational clients decreased by 10%. This was due to the streamlined data collection process and the improved efficiency of the family wealth map tool. Summit advisors reported spending less time compiling and analyzing data and more time focusing on client relationships and financial planning.
• Increased Revenue: Summit estimates an additional $250,000 in annual revenue due to the enhanced client engagement and increased AUM resulting from the use of the wealth map.
• Identified Additional Planning Opportunities: The family wealth map helped Summit advisors identify previously unnoticed planning opportunities, such as overlapping insurance coverage and estate planning gaps. These opportunities led to additional revenue from the sale of insurance products and estate planning services. The ability to visually identify redundancies allowed Summit to save the average client $5,000 a year.

Key Takeaways

• Visualization is Key: Visualizing complex financial information is crucial for engaging multi-generational clients and fostering a shared understanding of their wealth.
• Integration is Essential: Seamlessly integrating the family wealth map tool with existing CRM and portfolio management systems is vital for ensuring data accuracy and efficiency.
• Customization Matters: Tailoring the wealth map to the specific needs of the firm and its clients is essential for maximizing its impact.
• Focus on the Client Experience: Prioritizing the client experience and providing advisors with a user-friendly tool is critical for driving adoption and achieving positive results.
• Iterative Development is Best: Use a continuous feedback loop to consistently improve the product and ensure alignment with advisor needs.

About Golden Door Asset

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