2021 Market Trends for the Wealth Management Industry

2021 Market Trends for the Wealth Management Industry

By Joe DeMarco, CPA

Time to Hire a CPA that Knows RIA Firms

In a recent podcast with Truelytics, Elevate CPA Group discussed how leveraging a CPA firm can help grow your RIA business.   Truelytics is a sophisticated management platform that helps wealth managers attract, grow and retain advisory business while also providing powerful key performance indicators for the RIA industry.  Elevate CPA Group leverages the analytics and analysis of Truelytics to target initiatives for our RIA clients to grow their firm.

If interested, here is the link to our podcast:

https://blog.truelytics.com/how-to-leverage-a-cpa-firm-to-grow-your-ria-business

In the podcast, RIA firms learn how surrounding themselves with the best service providers, including a CPA firm that specializes in the RIA industry, allows them time to focus on the profitable growth of their firm. This point was reaffirmed in a recent article about market trend predictions for wealth management in 2021.

Brian Hamburger, President, and CEO of MarketCounsel is a prominent attorney that has specialized in the wealth management industry for over 20 years.  In the article, he said, “Here’s what I hope for in 2021: I hope advisors give their own business the same care and analysis that they give to other equity investments, make the same type of investment in themselves that they make in others, and make principled decisions when the decision rests with them.”

Positioning Your RIA for Growth

Nearly every RIA firm owner wants to grow their firm in a scalable and profitable manner. More than likely, it’s their largest asset and where they spend the majority of their time. As Mr. Hamburger stated, RIA firms should give “their own business” the same care as other equity investments.

This statement really resonated with me. In my experience, too often RIA firm owners are not focusing “ON” their business. The daily requirements of handling new and existing clients have become more and more time consuming.  Clients are looking to their wealth manager for advice on all topics – whether it’s a financial plan for retirement, tax implications on their portfolios, or stock market fluctuations. This couldn’t be more apparent given the impact of COVID-19 on the market in 2020 and now the increased volatility with the GameStop scenario. Each market wave and crash equate to less time for RIA firm owners to focus on their own business.

All of this takes time away from RIA firm owners focusing on their own business.

Partnering with Your Firm to Drive Value

At Elevate CPA Group, we understand the financial services industry. Our team of nearly 50 professionals is RIA firm specialists that consistently help them create value.

The wealth management industry is changing more every year:

  • Managed fees are compressing
  • Competition for clients is rising
  • Clients are requiring more tax planning and guidance
  • Regulation will continue to increase specifically around the Books and Records rule

Elevate’s outsourced CFO services could be the answer to addressing these issues. As an Enterprise Partner with Truelytics, we can start with a complimentary benchmarking assessment of your RIA firm. Contact us to get started.