Financial Advisors Wear More Hats Than Ever
August 27, 2019 by Ross Snel
Used to be that financial advisors would sit down with clients a few times a year, discuss life insurance and tax-reducing investment strategies, and then organize clients’ portfolios.
My, how things have changed.
Facing increasing competition from cut-rate automated investment platforms – the so-called robos – human advisors find themselves offering once-unthought-of services in order to maintain clients’ allegiance, The Wall Street Journal reports.
For example, some have been setting up side-businesses offering college counseling, while others have turned to outside companies in order to offer clients help with college planning. As university costs skyrocket in the U.S., advisors can make themselves indispensable by writing financial aid applications for clients, shifting their assets to financial accounts that colleges won’t inquire about and even helping their children choose majors.