Platform for Intermediaries

Building Forward A Platform for Intermediaries

Intermediaries also known IAMs or EAMs, Independent Asset Manager and External Asset Manager respectively are private wealth management companies that provide bespoke asset management services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.

Intermediaries are private and boutique organizations that operate in different fashion to the larger teams of a private bank. They cannot hold assets in custody like a private bank. however, they can offer a wide range of banks as custodian partners, with which the client assets are held and booked in. Private banks have dedicated teams of Relationship Managers whose sole focus is to manage them, similarly financial intermediaries.

The Role of An Intermediary

Portfolio Management (discretionary and advisory mandates)
Family Office Services
Corporate Financing & Advisory
Legacy Planning and Wealth Structuring
Alternative investments (structured products, IPOs, real estate)
Lending solutions

Why Choose An Intermediary

For the client, an Intermediary may provide a good alternative for independent and unbiased investment advice and management services. They might prefer working with a private organization that they have a good relationship with, rather than being a number with a private bank and paying high fees. An attractive point for the Client is that they do not have to move their assets from their current bank. As long as the Intermediary has a custodian agreement with their bank, their asset stay safe and all asset management is handled by the Intermediary exclusively. Otherwise, they can appoint the Intermediary through a Limited POA to conduct transactions. Intermediaries are leaner operations than banks and have lower overhead costs, resulting on greater pricing.

Relationship Managers

The Intermediary industry is growing and increasing numbers of Relationship Managers are going independent. Those who move are usually experienced industry veterans and or entrepreneurial. A relationship manager move from a Bank to an Intermediary for a couple of reasons:

Entrepreneurial desire to work independently and or build a team
Working with clients on their own terms
Freedom of time management
Better payout structure
More custodian relationships, more services and opportunities
Opportunity to build a team of relationship managers

Digital For Intermediaries

Digitalization for intermediaries is a big subject and financial services firms should take note. There is a big gap in the digitalization segment for financial services firms and how they cooperate with Intermediaries. What is important is a utilizing CRM, marketing and execution tools. Virobel is in the forefront for developing such proprietary platforms to digitalize this whole process. Whereas an Intermediary residing in Geneva wants to setup shop whether through their own entity or join the Virobel umbrella.

Conclusion

Platform for Intermediaries are a hot topic amongst Financial Intermediaries and wonder what toolkit can it include. We aim to be a destination for all Intermediaries that wish to be independent, build their own book of clients, access proprietary technology such as an advanced CRM Virobel built and innovative marketing tools we can’t wait to share with you. Are you an Intermediary seeking an innovative partner? Let’s chat to discuss fantastic opportunities.