Brokers Pursue the Really Rich

Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup are pushing their brokers to work with in-house experts on such big-money issues as estate planning, philanthropy and alternative investments. It's all in the name of asset-gathering, reports the Practice Management column on the DJ Newswire:

As large firms compete for wealthy clients, they're pushing financial advisors to work with colleagues experienced in serving the superrich.

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These ad hoc partnerships dovetail with the push for advisors to work in teams and tap in-house subject matter experts or colleagues with complementary skills, as needed.

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To be sure, advisors may resist partnerships because they fear losing control of the client relationship or don't want to split fees and commissions with a colleague.

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At Merrill Lynch, a financial advisor who was doing traditional asset management with a client brought in a private wealth advisor with experience in philanthropic planning and alternative investments - two issues important to the client. The client, who had about $25 million invested with Merrill, turned over an additional $40 million within a year….

As of last year, some 215,000 U.S. households had more than $10 million to invest, according to research by Cerulli Associates. About 36,000 had more than $25 million.