The demographic that’s ‘impossible for financial advisors to ignore’; ex-Wells advisors allege retaliation; how to serve wealthy single women

PRACTICE AND CLIENT MANAGEMENT: Millennial and Generation Z investors are building wealth so quickly that the "demographic is becoming impossible for financial advisors to ignore," according to a new study.??

Americans 42 years old or younger boosted their wealth at a higher rate than any other age group between 2019 and 2022, and a majority of millennials and Gen Zers now own homes or have retirement accounts. Advisors would do well to ensure they’re ready to attract and retain these young clients.

Read: 'Everyone's balling' — but is the industry ready for young wealth?

INDUSTRY NEWS: A pair of ex-Wells Fargo advisors allege in a new lawsuit they had been required by their former managers to collect personal information from clients who might be good candidates for the sale of bank products.

According to the suit, the advisors were told they should not let their customers know that details concerning estate and trust plans, real estate holdings and relationships with lawyers and accountants had been gathered for use by the firm's private bank. All that ran contrary, the pair allege, to an internal policy requiring them to fill out attestations that they had in fact gotten clients to sign off on the collection of the personal data.

Read: Ex-Wells advisors' suit describes pressure to 'cross-sell' bank products

PRACTICE AND CLIENT MANAGEMENT: The future is female. Over time, more and more of America's wealth is shifting into women's hands.

And many of these women will be single. According to the Pew Research Center , 28% of U.S. women are widowed, divorced or unmarried — and that number rises to 39% among women aged 65 and older.?

That's a lot of single women who will need financial advice — and a $30 trillion opportunity for wealth managers. How can advisors serve these investors' particular needs, strengths and weaknesses? Financial planners from across the country offered their advice.

Read: Single woman seeks wealth management: How to advise independent female clients

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