Wealth management is a professional service that incorporates financial and investment advice and aggregated financial services that include accounting services, tax services, estate planning and retirement planning. It is a very straightforward term in that from the point of view of the wealthy, it is the science of either solving or enhancing their financial situation, and from the point of view of the advisor, it is the ability of one to provide financial advice and services. Naturally, the latter is called wealth management advisors. By definition, wealth management advisors are those that can consult on any given financial topic under the sun including philanthropic activities. Wealth management embraces all aspects of a person’s financial life.

Wealth management advisors can be part of a small business or a large firm usually directly related to finances. A wealth advisor usually starts by setting up a strategy that will sustain and enlarge his client’s wealth based on the client’s financial status, what he wants to make of his finances and the degree of risk he is willing to take.

The whole relationship between a wealth management advisor and the wealth holder is consultative, which makes the entire process client-centered. The wealth advisor doesn’t always take care of all of the needs of his client actively. He coordinates a team of experts to help with the needs of his client.

Every wealthy person does not necessarily need a wealth management advisor. He needs one only if he has a wide range of needs and wants about how he conducts his finances. A person with the wealth of any sort, especially those that are middle class may need a financial planner who may assist with budgeting, saving, spending and help the money go as far as possible. In contrast, a wealth management advisor is a financial advisor who is sought by high and ultra-high net worth individuals for whom his services are specifically designed.

Forbes’ America’s Top Wealth Advisors of 2016 consist of 200 members who together manage $675 billion with billionaires from Silicon Valley, titans of Wall Street and heirs to massive family fortunes as their clients.

Wealth management advisors earn quite a sum of money for their services. For instance, an Edward Jones wealth advisor earns $60,732, a UBS wealth advisor earns $93,114, and a JPMorgan wealth advisor earns $119,651.

Of the 118 professional designations on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website, only a few are specifically suited for the role of wealth management and only one is widely recognized for its mission of solving financial needs of affluent clients and going beyond mere portfolio managing, the Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA). For someone who works with clients worth a million dollars and more, the title matters. Naturally, the title alone is no good. It should come with skill. A wealth management advisor is one who is naturally sociable, a people person and an avid networker. He has to be good with people. He must also love markets to be successful. And, of course, having and building the right contacts always helps.

If you are looking for wealth management advisors, some of the top firms you can go to for one include:

• UBS, which has $3 billion in profits before taxes thanks to wealth management. This profit is half of the company’s entire profit before taxes. About half of its assets for wealth management are from clients based out of the western hemisphere with 10% from clients from Switzerland and 25% from other European clients.
• Wells Fargo, which has over $2 million in profits before taxes generated by wealth management. It has huge banking operations, and this amount is less than 10% of its total profits before taxes.
• Credit Suisse, has a whopping 75% of its profits, before taxes, generated by wealth management. It specializes in diversified wealth management. It is a key player in the industries of private banking and securities brokerage.
• JPMorgan Chase generates about $1.5 billion before taxes in wealth management. This is about 6% of the company’s total earnings. JPMorgan Chase is an amalgamation of Banc One, Chase Bank and J.P. Morgan & Co.
• Morgan Stanley, whose wealth management contributes to 50% of its profit, before taxes. Thanks to the acquisition of Smith Barney from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley’s wealth management activities have greatly increased.
• HSBC, which generates $1 billion in profits, before taxes, from wealth management. Being a banking giant, though, this $1 billion is a mere 5% of its total profit.
  Deutsche Bank, which generates $500 million in profits, before taxes, from wealth management. This accounts for about 8% of its total pretax profits.
• Barclays, which generates about $400 million, before taxes, in profits from wealth management. This accounts for nearly 7% of its total profit, before taxes.
• BNP Paribas, which has the reputation of being the best private bank in France and the best bank for philanthropic services in the world generates $300 million, before taxes, in profits from wealth management which is 3% of the total profits.