According to the Spectrem report on the most affluent American investors, most of them make their own investment decisions and access financial advisors only when a special need arises.
The 2014 $25 Million Plus Investor report shows that 25 percent of investors with a net worth of at least $25 million make their own investment decisions entirely (and are labeled Self Directed investors), while 39 percent make most of their own decisions but use advisors when they are involved in specialized needs such as retirement planning or making alternative investments (labeled Event-Driven investors).
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Twenty-six percent of the $25 Million Plus investors say they are Advisor-Assisted, which means they regularly consult with advisors on investment plans but make most of their own decisions. The final 10 percent say they are Advisor-Dependent, relying on an advisor to make most or all of their investment decisions.
(For comparison, 16 percent of Millionaire investors with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million say they are Advisor-Dependent.)
Virtually none of the respondents in the $25 Million Plus study operate financially without at least one advisor, but 43 percent say they employ only one. Only 27 percent have more than two financial advisors they work with.
Even among investors with multiple advisors, there is one considered their top firm, and 73 percent of all assets belonging to the $25 Million Plus investors is managed by the top firm.
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By GlobalDataThe $25 Million Plus investors are more spread out in terms of the types of advisors they use. While 26 percent say their primary advisors is a full service broker, 16 percent say they use an independent financial planner and 13 percent use an accountant. Nine percent use an investment manager and 9 percent use a private banker.
In a Spectrem study of Ultra-High Net Worth investors with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million, 41 percent use a full service broker and far less are involved with the other types of advisors as their primary choice.
