Page 36 - Investment Advisor September 2022

Alliance for Lifetime Income “the most in-depth quantitative study of affluent households’
Based on “the collective vision of 24 lead- charitable practices and the motivations behind them,” the
ing financial services company CEOs in firm said. “The 2021 study set a new high-water mark with
2018, the Alliance for Lifetime Income is timely and relevant content related to pandemic and racial
a non-profit 501(c)(6) educational orga- equity giving as evidenced by strong engagement by clients,
nization … that creates awareness and prospects, advisors, the media coverage, the philanthropic
educates Americans about the value and importance of hav- sector, and policymakers.”
ing protected lifetime income in retirement, and to shifting The study gave the bank’s 18,000-plus financial advisors
people’s retirement planning mindset from just accumulat- across Merrill and the Private Bank insights to use in dis-
ing wealth to focusing on retirement income,” according to cussions with clients and prospects about best practices in
the group. giving. “The study uncovered an increase in defined giving
In 2021, for instance, it staged an integrated annuities edu- goals, monitoring donations and the use of strategic giving
cation and communications campaign and “continued to be vehicles, pointing to the impact professional advice has on
successful in changing the narrative and understanding about donors,” it explained.
how protected income can be a powerful solution for retire-
ment security, while helping lay the ground for new industry BlackRock
opportunities,” it added. BlackRock says its Emerging Leader
Lab is “a unique, high-impact program to support BlackRock’s
Allianz Life clients” and was designed to help them “build their leader-
Allianz Life focuses on the risks that ship pipeline, with a special focus on supporting the next
come with retirement through its thought leadership program. generation of leaders.” This nine-month program began as
Its Retirement Risk Readiness, Quarterly Market Perceptions a pilot in the fourth quarter of 2020, with 54 unique RIA
and other studies produce insights to educate the industry, firms and 91 total participants. Since then, the lab has gradu-
financial professionals and consumers. ated 173 leaders from 101 RIA firms, representing over $450
“Allianz Life thought-leadership research shares findings billion in assets. The program has also expanded to include
that financial professionals can use to help them prepare a home office version with 57 leaders at 19 wirehouse and
their clients for important financial planning discussions and independent partner firms.
investors need to understand, including several areas of risk It was designed and launched as an experiential leader-
management,” it explained. “Last year, Allianz Life focused ship program by Tony Svach, national sales manager and
some of its research on equity in financial services and Black, head of its Mega RIA client segment; Liz Koehler, head
indigineous and other people of color communities.” of BlackRock’s Advisor Insights team; Stefanie Gonzalez,
leadership coach and practice specialist on this same team;
Andes Wealth Technologies Meredith Mehr, program manager and practice specialist on
Andes Wealth Technologies says it the team; and Larry Kaye, the (now retired) former head of
is “the first company to combine behavioral finance with Learning & Development.
risk visualization to help financial advisors deliver differen-
tiated and hyper-personalized services. Inspired by MIT’s BNY Mellon Wealth Management
Andrew Lo and his adaptive markets theory, the Andes Wealth In February 2022, BNY Mellon
Platform offers solutions in risk-tolerance assessment, behav- Wealth Management Global
ioral finance, deep analytics and investment policy statements Family Office released “Shifting
for an integrated client onboarding and communication plat- Horizons: Insights Into How Family Offices Are Responding
form, giving advisors “a new way to deliver wealth manage- to Rapid Economic and Social Change,” its inaugural Global
ment,” according to the firm. Family Office Survey. “As a trusted partner to family offices
Founder and CEO Helen Yang, CFA, who shared the Harry across the globe, we can compare the findings from our survey
Markowitz Award with Lo in 2011, has proposed the use of and use them as a benchmark for conversations we have with
a four-dimensional risk measurement framework to clarify our family office clients. It shows clients that they are not
“long standing confusions and misconceptions, and giving alone in their thinking,” the firm explained.
financial advisors the new language to have robust conversa-
tions around investor emotions during market turmoil.” CAIS
CAIS’s AI-backed learning system, CAIS IQ,
Bank of America “builds on the platform’s commitment to
For more than 15 years, the democratizing access to alternative assets
Bank of America Study of Philanthropy series has provided by offering financial advisors the ability to

32 INVESTMENT ADVISOR SEPTEMBER 2022 | ThinkAdvisor.com