Wealth managers looking for ways to get the attention of both clients and prospects may want to take a page from WealthTrust - Arizona’s marketing playbook.

The Scottsdale-based firm has leveraged a hot topic in the news - last week’s passage of the historic health care reform bill - to draw a capacity crowd for a breakfast at a resort hotel featuring a health care expert from the Mayo Clinic.

“We presented an overview of the bill and discussed its tax implications, cuts to Medicare and how the health industry would be affected,” said Paul Ahern, a partner with the firm, which has about $500 million in assets under management.

“Clients loved it,” Ahern said. “It was a topic that concerned them and they asked lots of questions.”

Last week’s health care overview was the first in a series of medical-related events WealthTrust is sponsoring.

Health experts will discuss how to live well into your 80s in May and coronary heart disease in September.

“We see it as a value added,” Ahern said. “We’re already dealing with clients’ financial health and now we’re helping them with their physical health as well.”

The events are also valuable prospecting tools, Ahern added.

“Clients were asked to bring referrals, and they did - 110 people showed up, which was our maximum capacity,” he said.