Wealth managers control more than twice the assets of financial advisors and earn more than three times as much income, reported a new study. Best Practices of Elite Advisors: The Wealth Management Edge, conducted in the first quarter of 2007 by CEG Research and sponsored by Dow Jones, surveyed 2,094 U.S.-based financial advisors administering at least $50 million in assets. It found that wealth managers controlled an average of $645 million in assets, compared to an average of $308 million for investment generalists; and that wealth managers’ average net income was $881,000, while generalists averaged $279,000.

Other findings included: Wealth managers met with clients an average of 15.4 times per year—almost three times as often as financial advisors. Wealth managers have a much greater reliance on professional referrals—81.9 percent of wealth managers versus 26.2 percent of financial advisors. The survey also showed that 85.5 percent of wealth managers performed formal reviews with clients, and 76.8 percent provided written evaluations of clients’ situations.