A Crash Course On Staying Wealthy
Most kids start their lemonade stands with a card table, a cardboard sign and some lemons. The kids at a recent Wealthbridge Partners training program began with a different set of tools: a "production team," a "capital budget group," a "location assessment unit" and a logo.
As the wealth-management industry grows, a host of specialized companies and private banks are launching programs aimed at the next generation. The goal is to teach kids about everything from stocks and bonds to business start-ups and philanthropy. For the firms, it is a chance both to market with an eye toward the future and to solidify their client relationships with wealthy families.
WEALTH-MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
See five financial training courses for children and young adults.
The courses range from half-day retreats and crash courses to ongoing workshops that can last for several years. Most of the programs are geared to young people in their teens or 20s, although some go as young as seven. The costs range from $150,000 for an entire family to free for favored banking clients.
Five years ago, observers of the industry say, there were few if any programs that focused on wealth training for kids. Parents usually handled the job themselves, while private banks and trust companies offered cursory lessons to their clients' children who had trust funds.
But there are now more than 430,000 households in the U.S. with net worths of more than $10 million, twice the 1990 level. As the business of managing that wealth becomes increasingly complicated -- with a baffling array of products and strategies -- more and more parents are outsourcing the job to specialists.
"My sons don't listen to me about this stuff," says Christine E. Neely, a mom in Yorba Linda, Calif., who sends her two sons to a wealth-education program at IFF Advisors. "I can't tell them, 'OK, this Saturday night we're going to sit down at the kitchen table and talk about stocks.' They will go to a retreat with an expert, if it's fun and interesting."
The demand has helped turn wealth training into a big business. Some of the players are specialized firms like Irvine, Calif.-based IFF Advisors and Washington D.C.-based Wealthbridge Partners LLC, which specialize in programs for families with more than $50 million and $100 million in net worth, respectively. More and more private banks and trust companies, meanwhile, are offering the courses to many of their clients as a way to lure the next generation.
Citi Private Bank, a unit of Citigroup Inc., whose clients have accounts worth at least $10 million, hosts between 20 and 30 of their customers' children each year as part of its "Next Generation" program. Last year's 11-day conference in New York featured classes like "Fundamentals of International Estate Planning," "Capital Markets Economics" "Structured Products" and "Systemic Equity Platforms." The kids also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a forum for learning about collecting art.
IFF, co-founded by trust-and-estates attorney Douglas K. Freeman and wealth psychologist Lee Hausner, is opening offices around the country on the back of its Praxis training program. Praxis, Latin for "practice," consists of a series of retreats and workshops that teach kids about investing, taxes, inheritance, credit and risk-management, as well as leadership skills. Even at a cost of between $12,000 to $15,000 per child per year, IFF says demand is strong. The firm says its biggest problem is finding enough qualified teachers.
This year IFF is running about eight groups, with about six to eight kids per group. Most of its clients have a net worth of more than $50 million.
IFF's programs usually include outward-bound activities, like exploring caves outside Las Vegas, as well as financial workshops. To learn about investing, kids at one of the programs pitched in thousands of dollars each of their family's money, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for an investment club. They then gathered in Palm Springs to interview financial advisers and wrote up a detailed diversification plan, putting the money in various securities.
Advocates of this kind of training say the best programs offer several classes over long periods -- at least a year -- as well as firsthand experience starting a business or learning about investments.
"Kids aren't going to be interested in seeing a PowerPoint presentation on exchange-traded funds," says Kathryn McCarthy, a New York-based adviser to families typically with net worths of at least $100 million who has designed several wealth-education programs. "But if they go to a stock exchange and see how they work, that really sticks."
Wealthbridge's programs typically run for more than a year and stress hands-on experience. The group that ran the lemonade stand in Florida did a detailed cost-benefit analysis of using fresh lemons or powder. They studied several locations to find the busiest corners and eventually set up outside a grocery store. Even though it rained on the day of their sale, they raised more than $100, which they donated to charity.
Another Wealthbridge group spent the night at a zoo, studying the operation as a business. Wealthbridge kids have launched greeting-card companies and analyzed a luxury resort to determine how they make their profits.
J.P. Morgan Private Bank, a unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Northern Trust Corp.; and U.S. Trust, a unit of Charles Schwab Corp., are also expanding their wealth-education programs. J.P. Morgan's program, called Next Gen, which the bank has been running for a decade, is being rolled out regionally around the world. The program focuses on investments and leadership in family-owned businesses.
The New York-based Institute for Private Investors, a consortium of 300 wealthy families and their advisers, runs one-day "For the Next Generation" seminars for wealthy kids who are mainly in their 20s and 30s. The group also runs a program, in collaboration with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, that focuses on managing wealth, although the attendees are usually older than 30.
Some wealth-education experts are wary of programs held by wealth-management firms, saying they're largely marketing campaigns for the next generation of potential clients. Alex Samuelson, a spokesman for Citigroup, says, "Yes, one of the reasons we do this is to cultivate the next client base." But he adds that bank also helps clients understand the reasons behind the products, such as the need to diversify or the reasons why bonds underpin the capital markets.
儿童理财培训方兴未艾
很多小孩子第一次玩摆柠檬水摊点的游戏时，都会有一张小桌，一块硬纸板书写的招牌，还有几个柠檬。但最近参加Wealthbridge Partners培训营的孩子们却得到了一套截然不同的道具：一支“生产队伍”、一个“资金预算组”，一个“选址评估部”和一个标志物。
随著理财行业的日渐兴起，不少专业的理财公司和私人银行都纷纷推出了针对下一代人的培训项目，把从股票、债券到初创企业和慈善事业的桩桩件件都教给孩子们。对这些公司来说，这不但是推广产品的机会，也是著眼未来，巩固自己同那些富裕家庭客户之间关系的大好机会。
这些培训课程既有为期半天的速成班，也有能够持续数年的学习班。大多数课程都以十几岁或二十出头的年轻人为主要对象，有些课程甚至瞄准了年仅七岁的孩子。课程收费也不尽相同，有的面向整个家庭一共收费15万美元，有的则免费提供给重要的银行业务客户。
业内观察人士称，大约5年前几乎看不到面对儿童的理财培训项目。家庭理财事务由父母一手掌管，而那些享有信托基金的孩子们也只会从负责基金运作的私人银行和信托公司那里得到漫不经心的潦草指导。
但现在，净资产高于1,000万美元的美国家庭已经超过了43万户，是1990年的两倍。理财也变得越来越复杂，各种产品和投资策略层出不穷，越来越多的父母还是把理财事务托付给专家打理。
加州的家庭主妇克里斯丁?尼利(Christine E. Neely)说，“我儿子根本不听我跟他们讲这些。”她把两个儿子送去接受IFF Advisors的理财培训。“我没法跟他们说，好吧，这个礼拜六晚上我们在餐桌边谈谈股票。他们会去找专家咨询，如果这种咨询有趣又好玩的话。”
这种需求把理财培训变成了一项规模越来越大的行业。有些培训公司是理财业内大名鼎鼎的专业公司，比如加州的IFF Advisors和哥伦比亚特区的Wealthbridge Partners LLC，他们的重点培训客户分别是净资产超过5,000万和1亿美元的家庭。私人银行和信托公司也纷纷加入到这个行业，向客户提供种种理财培训，以此吸引下一代客户。
Citi Private Bank是花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)的子公司，其客户的帐户金额至少在1,000万美元以上。它每年都会组织20到30名客户的子女参加该行的“下一代”项目。去年为期11天的培训在纽约举行，主要课程包括“国际不动产规划的基本要素”、“资本市场经济学”、“结构性产品”和“系统性权益平台”等。孩子们还参观了纽约大都会博物馆(Metropolitan Museum of Art)，学习如何收藏艺术品。
IFF由信托和地产律师道格拉斯?弗里曼(Douglas K. Freeman)和财富心理学家李?豪斯纳(Lee Hausner)共同创办，他们在全美各地设立办事处，推出Praxis培训项目。Praxis是拉丁语“练习”的意思。他们的培训课程包括一系列的学习班，面向儿童开设投资、纳税、遗产、信贷和风险管理，以及领导力等诸多课程。虽然每个孩子每年交纳的学费高达12,000-15,000美元，IFF表示项目需求强劲，唯一的障碍是没有足够的合格教师。
今年IFF开办了大约8个学习班，每个班大约6-8名儿童。
IFF的大多数客户都有超过5,000万美元的净资产。
IFF的培训项目通常包括出外活动，比如到拉斯维加斯探索洞穴，以及金融培训课程。为了学习投资理念，有项课程要求每个孩子都从家里拿来数千美元，组织一个数万美元资金的投资俱乐部。然后他们在棕榈滩会合，会见金融顾问，并撰写一份详尽的多样化投资计划书，把这些钱投入到不同的证券当中。
支持“从小做起”的人说，最好的项目就是能在一个较长的时间段──至少一年──之内组织多次学习班，并提供创业或投资培训的第一手经验的项目。
“用PowerPoint讲解上市交易基金的方式，孩子们不会感兴趣的，”纽约家庭理财顾问凯瑟琳?麦卡锡(Kathryn McCarthy)说。她的客户家庭的净资产通常都超过1亿美元，她自己也设计过几套理财教育项目。“如果他们走进一家证交所，看到证交所的运作，就会立刻被吸引住。”
Wealthbridge的培训课程往往都超过一年，重点强调亲自动手。在佛罗里达州摆柠檬水摊点的小组还针对使用新鲜柠檬还是柠檬晶进行了详细的成本效益分析。他们对几个地点都进行了研究，找出客流量最大的地点，最终开办了一个小卖部。虽然开业那天在下雨，他们还是收入了100多美元，把这些钱捐给了慈善机构。
Wealthbridge的另一个理财学习小组在动物园呆了一夜，研究如何运营业务。孩子们成立了好几家贺卡公司，还对一处豪华度假胜地进行了调研，确定如何才能赢利。
摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)子公司J.P. Morgan Private Bank和嘉信理财(Charles Schwab Corp.)子公司U.S. Trust都在扩充各自的理财培训项目。摩根大通名为Next Gen的项目已经开办了十多年，在世界各地不同地区轮回推出，培训的重点是家族企业的投资和管理。
由300户富裕家庭和他们的理财顾问联合成立的财团Institute for Private Investors推出了为期一天的“为了下一代”研讨会，主要面向20到30多岁的富裕家庭子女。他们还和宾夕法尼亚大学的沃顿商学院(Wharton School)合作推出了一个项目，针对30岁以上的人群传授理财经验。
一些理财教育专家对理财公司组织的项目感到担忧，他们说这些公司就是为了针对下一代潜在客户推广自己的产品。花旗集团发言人亚历克斯?萨缪尔森(Alex Samuelson)说，“的确，我们这样做的目的之一就是培养下一代客户群体。”但他还说，这些项目也帮助客户理解产品背后的原因，比如说多样化投资的必要性，或者为什么债市是资本市场的支撑等等。
