Wealth management consultants will help you to increase your confidence in choosing personalized financial guidance. This article will help make sense of the confusing financial credentials making your head spin.
Defining Wealth Management Consultants
Wealth management consultants offer customized services helping investors build, manage, protect and transition wealth based on individual goals and risk tolerances. They leverage skills across financial planning, portfolio management, banking, accounting, tax strategies, and risk management to provide comprehensive counsel.
Skilled wealth consultants act akin to a trusted GPS system helping navigate financial decision points over the journey of life.
— Elle Stevenson, Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at Round Table Wealth Management.
Table of summarizes the most common wealth management credentials and associated expertise.
| Credential | Associated Expertise |
| Certified Financial Planner (CFP) | Financial planning, investment planning, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, insurance planning, and risk management. |
| Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) | Investment analysis, portfolio management, and financial analysis. |
| Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) | Tax planning, estate planning, retirement planning, investment planning, and insurance planning. |
| Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA) | Wealth management, investment planning, and risk management. |
| Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) | Wealth management, investment planning, and risk management. |
These are just a few of the many wealth management credentials and associated expertise.
Top Questions When Choosing a Wealth Management Consultant
The simplicity tipping the scales towards working with one primary point professional lies in the continuity of their situational awareness and integrated advice across the multi-dimensional financial puzzle pieces requiring coordination. Yet finding an ideal long-term match still requires homework.
When interviewing a potential wealth management consultant, you can explore:
- Qualifications and Specialties What credentials and core competencies apply most to your situation?
- Fee Structures How are they compensated and what determines costs?
- Client Retention and References What do existing client experiences reveal about advisory relationships?
- Openness and Communication Style
Does their personality and engagement approach resonate? - Firm Context and Resources
Do their team, tools and oversight support advice quality and emergency coverage?
According Vincent Turner, President of Certified Financial Consultant Board,
Ideal wealth consultants think strategically and wear multiple hats integrating capabilities spanning from therapists and mediators to analysts, coaches and quarterbacks working in clients’ best interests.
Look Beyond Titles to Find the Right Fit
The world of financial credentials continues to expand as the discipline develops. But rather than getting distracted deciphering credential acronyms, focus first on finding a patient wealth management consultant who demonstrates authentic understanding and care for your unique financial situation. Combining personalized advice with accountability and trust will be the strongest foundation for a consultant relationship that builds prosperity for years to come.
The Bottom Line
Wealth management consultants leverage an array of specialties from multiple financial disciplines to offer customized guidance towards managing, growing and preserving wealth aligned with investor priorities and risk profiles. Yet finding consultants who resonate requires screening beyond titles for patient problem-solving abilities and support structures reinforcing advice reliability. But investing time upfront is well worth the payoff in securing ideal financial GPS systems helping navigate lifetime journeys towards financial security.