Q4 Featured Advisory Board Member Q&A – Doris Meister

• Why did you join the Institute?

Because I believe in our mission and I enjoy working with my peers throughout our industry. The Institute is committed to advancing the practice of integrated wealth management which is a very challenging mission. Having worked with UHNW clients my entire career, I know they will benefit most from advances in our approach. We are a work in progress today.

• What’s your best advice to an emerging professional entering the field now?

This is a challenging field and requires a complex set of skills and experience to perform at the top of our game. It is also a team sport. Be committed to continuous improvement and constant learning in developing technical expertise and skills. Collaborate well. Above all, have a true north that guides you to put clients first and to operate with integrity.

• As it pertains to UHNW client needs, what are the most significant trends you’re seeing now

Increasingly, clients are looking for a comprehensive and integrated wealth management experience. Everyone is on overload and is looking to make things less complicated where possible. As the UHNW baby boomers age, multigenerational planning, and family legacy/governance to guide succession are even more important to wealthy families. All clients are looking for a client experience that harmonizes technology with customized personal advice and service.

• Due to those needs, what are the biggest changes happening NOW within the industry, and how will they impact the families we serve? 

The larger comprehensive wealth management firms that provide an integrated experience are expanding their areas of specialist expertise or they are forming strong relationships with third parties who can cover a particular specialist area. It is not easy to increase the range of services while maintaining a great client experience.  This is why the role of the integrated wealth advisor is so critical. As far as coordinating with third parties, it is still not clear that the industry has a good partnership model in place or even best practices to help partners deliver a seamless experience.

• How do you envision this industry will be disrupted? And how can the Institute support the impending changes to the industry rather than be blindsided by th?

Technology has been the major disruptor and this will accelerate with the adoption of AI. At the same time, client needs are complex and require strong integrated wealth advisors with strong teams who can leverage technology to improve the value they add to clients.

• What will the integrative wealth management industry look like ten years from now?

I believe that the best providers of advice and the client experience in the future – the winners – will be those firms that invest in developing great integrated wealth advisors, their team, their capabilities and have a strong process to facilitate integrated advice and solutions. Technology will enable larger firms as well as smaller firms to win.

• When looking for talent within your firm, what are  (or were) the three key traits you’re looking for?

Client centricity – people who truly care and operate with integrity in putting the client first

Commitment to excellence in expertise, execution and continuous learning

Great collaborators who are accountable to their clients, team , and firm

• Share a time you/ your firm ‘missed the mark’ or failed, and what did you learn from it?

With UHNW clients, wealth management firms rely on teams to deliver. It is critical that expertise and the overall client experience be consistently delivered by the team to each client.  When we have missed the mark in a significant way in my experience, the integrated wealth advisor who is responsible for the client fails to ensure that the team executes on something important and loses credibility. We always go to “root cause” for the failure to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Across four different large firms, the consistent cause can be traced most of the time to the training and development of the integrated advisor. In some cases, the integrated wealth advisor was not really up to the job.

• In order for this industry to better serve UHNW clients, what infrastructure can you envision needs to be built to train and develop the ‘integrated advisor?’

Most wealth management firms serving UHNW clients train their professionals. The next big step the industry needs to take is to develop standards. Let’s work to define what a great integrated wealth advisor looks like in terms of expertise, skills and personal characteristics. Then, we will know what we need to do to train and develop the people who are the hub of the entire client experience.

• Share one fun or interesting fact about yourself that few people know. 

Fifteen years into my career, I pivoted from Wall Street to become the first COO of Christie’s in the Americas. (It makes more sense than you may think!) My experience at Christie’s led me to move from the institutional side of financial services to wealth management.