Celent report warns that attempts to be all things to all clients will fail. There will be a 24% growth in the population of affluent and wealthy individuals in North America to 37.7 million individuals by 2010, according to a new study by Celent. This, the Boston-based research firm suggests, is an indication that financial institutions should focus on targeting specific client segments within this broad universe with specific products.

Dissonance

"Many firms struggle between trying to be best of breed and being all things to all people, and wind up being neither," says Robert Ellis, senior analyst in Celent's Securities & Investments practice and author of the report. "Cognitive dissonance occurs on the part of clients when they are offered the wrong products through the wrong delivery channels."

Celent's Wealth Management in North America: Clients, Products, and Providers is a snapshot of the U.S. and Canadian wealth-management industries at the end of 2006. It highlights three major client segments. Mass affluent: assets between $250,000 and $2 million; 33.9 million individuals by 2010 High net worth: assets between $2 million and $10 million; 3.4 million individuals by 2010 Ultra high net worth: with assets over $10 million; 377,000 individuals by 2010

As these numbers rise, institutions will attempt to fulfill as many needs as possible under one roof, resulting in overlap and platform constraints. Although this may broaden the range of customer segments catered to, Celent warns that, over time, it will also dilute the institution's brand and quality of the services provided.

Wealth Management in North America is 52 pages long. Here is its table of contents. -FWR

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