If you’ve noticed a change to more targeted advertising from financial service companies in Memphis and beyond, it’s part of an industry-wide chase to connect with the next generation of clients. They’re coming into their own as mature adults and will inherit a tremendous amount of the wealth in the United States, and most of it will happen within the next ten years. They’re less formal, more tech savvy, and they want access to tools that enable them to interact efficiently and on their own time.   

This coveted group of clients, called the “millennials and xennials,” are increasingly attracted to a new batch of financial technologies that enable them to manage their finances. At Memphis Planning and Wealth, we believe it’s imperative to understand and incorporate these financial planning technologies so we can reach more people and service the emerging affluent with increased efficiency.

We are proud to announce that we are embracing a new online platform, Guided Wealth Portfolios (GWP), which is powered by Future Advisor. GWP is an advisor-assisted technology that enables our clients to see their entire financial picture in one place with online access, allows them to have their investments analyzed and managed, and gives them access to our personalized advice.

Our new offering compliments our steadfast belief that we are in the holistic advice and service business. While we can and should provide individualized asset management for our financially independent clients, we also believe that lower-cost, index-based portfolios are the right decision for clients who are in the accumulation phase of their journey. Clients who are investing on a monthly basis are not trying to avoid volatility, but take advantage of it through their behaviors.

Because we also provide strategic advice that requires the coordination of local Memphis area professionals, we don’t believe that robo advisors will ever be a replacement for a personal relationship with a true wealth manager. However, the online platforms have been wise enough to expand their profitability models to include human advice and even local CFP access for additional fees (which we applaud).  

In summary, a survey of the competitive landscape of financial services reveals that while the robos are adding advice, the brick-and-mortar advisors are adding the technology that enables clients to more easily engage their holistic services. From our vantage point, it’s easy to see that the advisor-assisted robo is the point of convergence where the quality of advice will be the differentiator. Offering GWP puts us in a leadership position among modern financial practices.

We invite you to our GWP page to find out more!