NU Online News Service, July 2, 2003, 5:53 p.m. EDT – Wealthy people who want to give to others may make great prospects for financial advisors, according to results of a survey of wealthy U.S. residents sponsored by The Phoenix Companies Inc., Hartford.
Phoenix hired researchers at Harris Interactive Inc., Rochester, N.Y., to conduct a Web-based survey of U.S. household financial decision-makers who come from homes with a net worth of at least $1 million.
Phoenix used the survey answers to divide the wealthy into six groups: Deal Masters, Altruistic Achievers, Secret Succeeders, Status Chasers, Satisfied Savers and Disengaged Inheritors.
Members of some groups were wealthy but also reluctant to seek professional financial advice.
Phoenix describes the Deal Masters, or 11% of the survey participants, as relatively young dealmakers who have an average age of 49 and a "winner takes all" attitude about life. They have achieved an average net worth of $3.5 million.
But they have lost an average of only 23% of portfolio value over the past three years, and 91% believe that they are very or fairly financially knowledgeable. Fifty-six percent say they rarely seek professional financial advice, Phoenix says.
Phoenix recommends that advisors try to reach Deal Masters by using a results-oriented approach and showing how insurance products can fit in with the many products that the Deal Masters already own.
