The concept of a “trusted team” is an outgrowth of the longstanding role of the “trusted advisor” in wealth management and family office services. First outlined in the early 2000s and subsequently expanded throughout the financial services industry, the role of the trusted advisor has become touted less for its excellent client relationship skills and more for its central position of influence and gatekeeping with the client. The aim is to achieve “first-call” status where the client turns to the trusted advisor for whatever needs to be done, thereby controlling access and utilization of other advisory services.

With the growing recognition of the complexity of client needs across the Ten Domains of Family Wealth, especially for UHNW families, there has been increased awareness that one trusted advisor may no longer be sufficient to understand or oversee all that is required to serve the family well. The downsides of the trusted advisor role are also increasingly apparent in the jockeying for position and lack of collaboration that can occur when an advisor seeks to own the client relationship.

A more realistic and effective role for the complexity of modern UHNW wealth may be the “trusted team” concept. Led by an expert generalist or integrated wealth advisor with excellent collaboration skills, the trusted team consists of a small group of highly skilled advisors from various professional disciplines who can operate in an interdisciplinary manner to evaluate and help implement solutions for the client family. This places less of a burden on a single advisor to know and serve the client effectively while also fostering the kind of integrated services a client family may need. While a trusted advisor may still be helpful or appropriate for specialist service providers or highly focused services in a few related domains, the trusted team concept may be more necessary as the levels of integration increase to encompass a greater number of services.