The Wealthesaurustm

A Glossary of Family Wealth Advising Terms

The Wealthesaurus provides standardized definitions of common and specialized family wealth advising industry terms. By sharing this glossary, we hope to improve communication across the UHNW community.

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Consolidated reporting

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The process of creating financial statements for clients that combine data from multiple investments, accounts, and/or assets to provide a clear picture of the client’s overall financial position.

Consolidated reporting aggregates, cleanses, integrates, and tailors a client’s financial data to provide accurate reliable information for monitoring and decision-making. Compared to getting multiple account statements with different formats, metrics, and analyses, consolidated reporting allows a firm and its clients to track such portfolio metrics as liquidity, cash flow, rates of return, risk parameters, gaps in coverage, debt types and levels, net worth, and other factors related to the complexity of wealth and ownership. 

The process of consolidated reporting (also sometimes called aggregated reporting) depends on back-office processes that gather data from external sources and seamlessly integrate information into customized reports for the client. This function may be as time-intensive as creating spreadsheets by hand or as sophisticated as using AI-enhanced technology to collect, integrate, and display data in whatever format the client requests.  It may be a function performed internally by a client’s primary financial advisory firm or outsourced to a specialist service provider.  Consolidated reporting also increasingly is designed to be available on demand in multiple digital formats.

Investopedia. “Consolidated Financial Statements: Requirements and Examples.” Last modified August 30, 2024. www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consolidatedfinancialstatement.asp

Woodson, William I., and Edward V. Marshall. The Family Office: A Comprehensive Guide for Advisers, Practitioners, and Students. Columbia Business School: 2021 https://uhnwinstitutelibrary.org/document/the-family-office-a-comprehensive-guide-for-advisers-practitioners-and-students/

Mission:
  • Provide an intellectual framework, understanding and organization of family wealth management content
  • Educate advisors and family offices on how best to support evolving UHNW families
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  • Promote best practices, provide professional development and support sustainable, positive change within our industry
  • Foster an equitable, collaborative and safe learning environment within the wealth management industry