Osaic Wealth, Inc

Joe Gaeckle, Senior Vice President, HNW and Financial Planning Solutions, Osaic Wealth

Beyond Comprehensive Planning: The Rise of Advice Orchestration

Joe Gaeckle

Wealth Management Authority

The Growing Need for Advice Orchestration

Many affluent families already have talented professionals around them. They may have a financial advisor, CPA, estate attorney, insurance specialist and perhaps even a trust company. What they often don't have is someone responsible for ensuring every recommendation fits into a single, coordinated strategy.

Over the last several years, I've had the opportunity to work with many of the industry's top advisors and one observation continues to stand out. The advisors winning the most significant new client relationships and building the kind of long-term relationship that clients are reluctant to leave, aren't necessarily the ones leading with better investment performance or a more sophisticated financial plan. They are the trusted professional who is uncovering coordination gaps clients didn't realize existed. 

A growing frustration from affluent clients has nothing to do with investment returns or market volatility.  It’s much simpler.  The question clients are asking now is, “Why am I still the one moving information between my advisor, CPA or attorney?”  In every part of their lives, technology has made collaboration easier.  Clients increasingly expect the same from wealth management.

The Next Evolution of Wealth Management

Over the past decade, our industry has expanded well beyond traditional financial planning into comprehensive planning, integrated wealth management, private wealth and family office services. Yet I don't believe the next competitive advantage in wealth management is adding more expertise. It's reducing fragmentation.

“The advisor's role is evolving from being a provider of expertise to becoming the integrator of expertise.”

Clients expect a trusted relationship to bring every aspect of their financial life together.  The advisor who can align people, information and expertise around client experience will define the next era of wealth management. To me, that's the next evolution of our profession and it deserves its own description: Advice Orchestration.

From Expertise to Integration

Advice orchestration isn't about replacing comprehensive planning. It's what comes next. It's the intentional integration of the right expertise, technology and human judgment into one connected client experience. No longer is the advisor expected to have every answer. Their value increasingly comes from knowing which expertise is needed, when to involve it and how to ensure every recommendation supports a common objective.

The advisor's role is evolving from being a provider of expertise to becoming the integrator of expertise. Every specialist contributes deep knowledge in their discipline, while technology connects information and removes administrative friction. The Advice Orchestrator creates value by ensuring everyone is working toward the same outcome, at the right time and in the client’s best interest. 

Building a Connected Client Experience

This also explains why we are seeing growing interest in family office services and integrated wealth models. Clients want confidence that every aspect of their financial life is connected, whether they're discussing taxes, investments, estate planning, business succession, philanthropy or preparing for the next generation.

Artificial intelligence and digital collaboration will accelerate this evolution by making information easier to access and workflows easier to manage. But technology alone will not create better client experiences. It will simply make better orchestration possible.

For years, wealth management firms competed by expanding expertise. The next generation of leaders will compete by integrating them. The winners won't be the ones with the most specialists. They’ll be the ones who make specialists work as one.  Those that bring together the right people, the right technology and the right expertise to help clients make better decisions. That’s the future of advice. That’s Advice Orchestration.