We just published the new edition of our Direct Indexing Buyers Guide, packed with fresh tips and information on how your fellow advisors are deploying this wealth management approach in their client portfolios, along with all the platforms that, in my humble opinion, you need on your radar.
If you hurry, you'll be one of the first in the industry to download the book. That's a good thing because direct indexing is evolving fast from its old-school origins toward the mainstream. You don't have to use it, but those who fail to understand it are going to get left behind.
I know this because we polled Wealth Advisor readers (350,000 industry professionals) and out of the survey group, 57% are already using some version of direct indexing in their practice.
That's a statistically valid majority of the people who care enough about this stuff to pipe up with an opinion. While there are probably thousands of advisors who hid when we invited them to participate, they're probably more interested in making it to retirement than staying relevant.
Let them. For those of us who want to avoid watching more adroit competitors tempt our best clients with a customized experience, ignorance is not an option.
That 57% is a tipping point. It might not be the competitive status quo yet, but it's clear where the numbers (and the assets) are going. One day, this will be the industry's center of gravity . . . table stakes.
And long before that moment, you'll need to be able to make an informed and convincing argument to yourself and your clients why you don't offer them this. Again, you might decide that direct indexing is not for you. That's okay.
But then you need to demonstrate that you've absorbed all the pros and cons of running client money. You'll have clients who want what their golf buddies who work with the wirehouses are getting.
You'll need to be able to tell them "no" and back it up. In that scenario, failing to read the Direct Indexing Buyers Guide amounts to career malpractice. You're condemning yourself.
And you never know, the book might convince you that it's not so bad. Technology and market structure have come a long way. It's possible to promise these things now and actually follow through without wrecking your own margins or working yourself to death.
That survey also told us why people who use direct indexing do it. It's really about automating what they already do for their best clients . . . saving time, streamlining the work week, making life easier.
But it also means opening your platform up to give more clients differentiated outcomes. Once you're giving HNW what they want, why not bring it down to the mass affluent and their families?
You won't see these numbers if you don't download the book. And you won't see the platforms that your fellow advisors nominated as best in class, either. There are some surprising names on the list.
