Page 29 - Investment Advisor April/May 2023

Why ‘Retirement’ Language

Falls Flat With the

Ultra-Wealthy

BY JOHN MANGANARO

any financial advisors are comfortable working with private aviation and art collection curation. While the work is
M clients who are building substantial wealth, with the more demanding, it is often very meaningful to see the impact
goal often being to earn enough from working income and UHNW clients can have on their communities. And, Savir says,
investments to achieve a stable, dignified retirement — and to the benefits to the firm are significant as well.
potentially pass some excess wealth to the next generation or
an important charitable cause. The UHNW Niche
In the experience of David Savir, co- Prior to co-founding Element Pointe in 2016, Savir worked as a
founder and CEO of Element Pointe vice president at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, directing a team of
Family Office, working with ultra- investment and lending professionals in advising ultra-high net
high net worth clients is differ- worth clients throughout the U.S. He has spent his entire work-
ent, especially once the investable ing life in the high-net worth arena, after beginning his career
assets top $10 to $15 million. in the investment management division of Goldman Sachs.
Given the size of their fortunes, Working in those settings was a great education, Savir says,
clients in this range have a unique but it also inspired a vision and a desire to do things differently.
David Savir perspective on wealth, and they tend This vision was shared by Carlos Dominguez, Element Pointe’s
to have a set of goals that varies substan- other co-founder and chief investment officer.
tially even from the mass affluent. “The genesis of the firm is that we saw there were needs
With this difference in perspective, Savir says, advisors who of ultra-high net worth clients that were not being met by the
want to break into the UHNW space must retool their approach. current business models out there at the big banks and broker-
Specifically, the framework of pursuing “financial indepen- ages,” he explains. “The families with which we worked at J.P.
dence” or “sustainable retirement income” just won’t resonate Morgan or Goldman had balance sheets that were so large and
with the ultra-wealthy, because this independence already exists. complex that they effectively needed a CFO or a CIO. Banks
Instead, advisors with ambitions to enter this market- and brokerages aren’t really wired for that.”
place must be “true, holistic wealth planning consultants” for Savir says the services of the banks and brokerages are use-
UHNW clients, he explains. Success requires expertise on top- ful, but they are fundamentally limited in that they are product
ics that range from trust planning and tax-loss harvesting to distribution businesses at their core.

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