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Back To School
Louise Kramer
09/01/2005
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One of the few efforts in this field with
a proven track record is the Private Wealth Management program at the Wharton
School, created in 1999 in collaboration with the Institute for Private
Investors (IPI) in New York. The program saw a dip in enrollment after 9/11, but
has since recovered and now has a waiting list. Some 250 people from 18
countries have participated in the retreats at Wharton’s Philadelphia conference
center. No more than 30 students can participate at any given session.
| “There is a lot of snake oil out there. The question is how to discern what
is not.” | The
program uses a case-study method to teach investment principles, wealth transfer
and philanthropy. Participants use different management theories to formulate an
investment policy for a fictional patriarch who has just liquidated substantial
assets. Wharton professors and experts from other universities guide the
students, who range in age from teenagers to octogenarians, and often include
several generations of the same family.
In response to requests from Private
Wealth Management students, Wharton this year is offering a separate retreat for
wealth advisors. The course will also consist of five days on campus and will
cover many of the same topics as the investors’ program. In 2004, IPI conducted
a survey of investors showing that nearly half of them wanted their advisors to
be better financial educators. More than half also responded that they wanted
advisors to be better attuned to their unique needs.
Charlotte Beyer, founder
and chief executive of IPI, explains investors are looking for advisors who are
trained in family dynamics. All too often, lack of such training “really
handicaps even the smartest of investment professionals,” she says.
Privacy
concerns drove Wharton’s decision to create a separate program for advisors. “It
would have changed the atmosphere in the classroom if famous last names were
trying to figure it all out and we brought in investment professionals,” Beyer
says.
Louise Kramer is a New York–based writer who writes frequently for the New
York Times and other publications. Additional Information
 A Family Affair
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