There are more than 22 million millionaires in the United States, according to Credit Suisse, which projects the number of high wealth individuals will increase by about 30% to 28 million in 2025.
All those millionaires are potential clients for finance professionals with the expertise to identify opportunities for growing their wealth, develop strategies for minimizing risks and structure retirement and estate plans. An advanced degree in finance and financial services can equip professionals with the tools to help this influx of high wealth individuals.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts demand for finance and wealth managers will create more than 64,000 positions annually through 2030. This is an increase of 17%, which is more than double the average growth rates for all other jobs.
What Are a Wealth Manager’s Responsibilities?
Managing a client’s wealth is a “highly personalized and attentive” profession, says Glen D. Smith, a Certified Financial Planner for GDS Wealth Management in Flower Mound, Texas.
The company website speaks directly to these in need of financial services: “We will work hand-in-hand with you – and, if need be, your other professional advisors – to select the service that best suits your needs, then apply our investment insight and expertise to tailor the required service to your unique situation.”
Business professionals with a Master of Science (M.S.) in Finance and Financial Services with a concentration in Financial Planning are equipped with the expertise, insights and skills to provide their clients with such services as:
- Estate planning focuses on conserving and transferring wealth consistent with client goals and compliance with legal and tax requirements through trusts and wills. Estate planning can also include advanced medical directives and charitable giving.
- Retirement planning comprises consideration of regulatory requirements, household retirement needs analysis and choosing the investment vehicles and distribution schedules to meet the client’s needs.
- Investment management requires insights into the risk and return characteristics of stocks, fixed income securities, options and other derivatives, as well as understanding pricing processes, valuation models, international capital markets and rational expectations.
- Tax services concentrate on making sound decisions regarding the implications of federal taxes for high-net-worth individuals and ways to mitigate its impact on client wealth.
- Risk management requires expertise in strategies for identifying, quantifying, managing and hedging complex challenges to wealth conservation and growth.
Wealth planning is not a “one and done” exercise. Instead, managers and their clients (and often the client’s accountants and lawyers) typically meet annually to review the plan.
For instance, clients’ tolerance for risk changes often grows more conservative as they get older. This might require that they adjust their investment portfolio. Other topics for annual review include tax exposure, insurance needs, asset preservation and estate planning and other considerations.
Reviewing a client’s plan “represents an opportunity to reassess your investment and financial situation, while also thinking about future milestones and moments that matter for the people you care about the most,” according to Ann Dowd, a certified financial planner at Fidelity.
How Do Finance Professionals Prepare for Careers in Wealth Management?
Graduates with a specialized M.S. in financial planning, such as the program offered online by William Paterson University (WP), are equipped with financial services insights and expertise that are a competitive advantage for careers in wealth management.
The WP online curriculum is offered through the Cotsakos College of Business and accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), which aligns with professional standards and positions graduates for success on the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam.
Learn more about William Paterson University’s Master of Science in Finance and Financial Services with a concentration in Financial Planning online program.
