Wealth Consolidation Services
By Larry Zagarola and John Conover

Wealth consolidation services have evolved over the past few years in response to the demands of high net-worth investors who are inundated with statements from diverse accounts and seek a means to coordinate, track and analyze their data. Offered through professional money managers, wealth consolidation can provide an objective, up-to-the-minute analysis of a portfolio, allowing one to make critical decisions for their families, trusts or institutions.

True wealth consolidation services extend well beyond the limited account aggregation service offered by some banks, brokerage houses, and other financial service firms managing a portion of a client’s portfolio. While that account aggregation service may provide a snapshot of one aspect of a portfolio, it does not show the relationship between multiple accounts held at different financial institutions. Since the individual account managers act independently on behalf of their clients, there is no coordination among the activities in each disparate account.

Wealth management professionals have championed the development of the technology used for wealth consolidation services, which can now provide both master and sub-reports for every asset in a portfolio - available to investors in paper reports and online. Incremental and calendar year performance is tracked for an entire portfolio from the date an asset is acquired to the current report date. Securities are characterized into asset classes so risk analysis can be performed. Objectives-based risk models can be developed and areas of unacceptable risk can be identified.

One downside in using the services of separate money managers and mutual fund companies is that one may end up owning the same security in different accounts. Wealth consolidation services are built to identify this type of overlap that usually results in reduced diversification and increased portfolio risk. Since gains and losses are tracked throughout the year, tax-saving strategies can be employed before year-end.

Information is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; however, the true benefit comes from the personalized reports that are designed to show the big picture, on demand; namely, your results compared to your stated goals.

Who would benefit from a wealth consolidation service? Individuals of high net-worth, trustees of estates with intergenerational beneficiaries, family limited partnerships, foundations, pension plans - any person or organization requiring detailed forensic portfolio analysis. Wealth consolidation simplifies the account reporting system and provides key variable data to allow critical decisions to be made.

For further information, please contact Larry Zagarola or John Conover at 973-364-0001 or email lzagarola@cohnwm.com or jconover@cohnwm.com.