5 Ways to Hold Onto the Next Generation of Clients

Here's one uncomfortable stat for financial advisors: 90% of assets transferred to the next generation don't stay with the existing advisor.

That loss of potential wealth is huge, especially considering that baby boomers in the United States will be transferring their wealth to Gen X, Gen Y and millennials. Just how vast is that baby boom generation? In the year 2000, approximately 2.5 million Americans turned 65. In 2013, more than 3.5 million Americans will pass that age.

According to Matt Matrisian, director of practice management of Genworth Financial Wealth Management, there are some basic steps advisors can follow to lower that 90% figure.

1. Communicate effectively. Clients want MeMail not email. So customize your message. 
2. Stay relevant. "Don't have your website look like it's from 1995," advises Matrisian. "Make sure it's technologically advanced."
3. Bring next-generation staff on board, a junior advisor for example, who can help establish connections.
4. Reach out to existing clients to foster connections with their next generation, including the children of your clients in meetings.
5. Leverage trusts within your business. When working with high net worth clients who will pass down wealth, encourage them to form a trust and then establish yourself as the advisor of that trust. "This will help encourage a continuity of the agreement."

When it comes to improving retention of next generation clients, do you have any tips to add to this list? If so, I’d love to hear them. Email me at paula.vasan@sourcemedia.com, connect via Twitter/LinkedIn, or comment below.  

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