Certainly, the wealth management industry as a whole needs to do a stronger job of helping actual and potential clients choose the advisory channels that suit their needs and ambitions best, argues David Poole, managing director and head of business development for Citi Private Bank in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr Poole can claim he speaks from deep experience: he has worked at Lazard Brothers, NM Rothschild, Singer & Friedlander and Merrill Lynch.

“I don’t think the industry has done a good job at explaining what the options are,” Mr Poole told WealthBriefing during a recent conference call alongside John Rhodes, a consultant to the private client division of Stonehage, the UK-based multi-family office. A veteran of the private client industry, Mr Rhodes previously worked at the law firm Macfarlanes for 40 years.

As both men explained, it can be easy for wealthy families to make the mistake of recruiting too many advisors rather than too few, as all may offer similar but subtly different ideas, ending up in confusion, potential conflicts of interest and high fee bills.

“One issue to watch is when advisors try to jostle for control family. From the family’s point of view, it will often be clear who the right person is to be that lead advisor,” he said.

“There are a lot of wealthy people who struggle about what to do with their immediate family. Sometimes they get it right but sometimes they get it completely wrong,” Mr Rhodes said.

A key issue in judging a good advisor is “chemistry”. “Are you talking to someone who has the same outlook on life as you? I am not talking about whether you went to the same school as them. Rather, the advisor has to have a clear-sightedness, the ability to see the big picture,” said Mr Rhodes.

Although much of the advisory market can appear dauntingly confusing, paradoxically there are relatively few choices in some sectors, such as stand-alone firms providing advice on investments for rich families in the UK. There is a handful in the UK, Mr Poole said, giving examples of Cambridge Associates, Unigestion, Jewson and Lord North Street.

The advisory market is also changing; both men cited the examples of law and accountancy firms offering, or potentially providing, investment advice. Mr Poole said he was concerned about recent UK legislation paving the way for possible flotation of law firms and similar professional bodies.

“I think this is a potentially worrying development, given the conflict of issues that may arise,” he said.