Rocio Ortega Discusses Engaging Next-Gen Clients with Citywire
June 6, 2018
Citywire recently asked “What steps should you be taking to engage with the next generation of clients?” WE Family Offices Advisor Rocio Ortega was among the advisors interviewed in a recent article.
“Engaging and educating the next generation has always been a core belief of our firm,” Rocio told Citywire. “How this process is implemented varies from family to family because, as an advisor, you have to take guidance from each family on how, when and what they wish to communicate to the next generation.”
Rocio also gave the example of one particular family she recently worked with. The patriarch believed that it was time to engage the next generation, and between the older generation and the advisors at WE, they designed an education plan which would engage the second generation and begin introducing them to their wealth enterprise® over the course of a full week.
“The goal at the end of the week was for them to understand what they own, how they own it and why they own it in this way,” explained Rocio. “We began with the basic fundamentals of ‘What is the economy? What are interest rates? What is a market cycle?’ to give them a base to build on and to help them understand the more complex conversations over the next couple of days.”
Proven successful, this week-long educational course is now an annual tradition for this family, with each session building on what was covered in the last. She explained how they set up the ‘curriculum’ for each course. “Throughout the week, we had different meetings…The members of the second generation heard pitches and market overviews from their different providers, which we’d tie back to what they were learning. The week culminated with them constructing their own virtual portfolios, taking a test to determine what type of risks they were comfortable with and walking them through building a portfolio suited to their preferences,” she explained.
While not all families have the time or need for week-long courses, many can still benefit from day-long courses, family meetings or outside education. “It’s really important to understand the interests and knowledge of the next generation and to build around that to keep them engaged,” emphasized Rocio.
To see the full Citywire article, click here.