Wealth Management is a professional services business like many others. Its business depends on Relationship Managers (RMs) who acquire, nurture and develop client relationships. The role played by the RM in the business model is both a strength and a weakness – a strength because of the bond formed with clients, a weakness because the “sales force” that is made of RMs can sometimes be resistant to the changes that management views as beneficial.
Up until now and before the digital age, more business has always meant to have more RMs, but neither automatic productivity improvements nor better economies of scale. By contrast, other professional services sectors, such as audit or consulting, faced with the same scale challenge have been able to successfully grow to significant sizes. These firms have not just merely increased their staff but have chosen a path to make their professionals more productive and their business models more scalable.
In this article we look at some elements that Wealth Managers might have neglected in their model and we suggest an agenda for growth.
