InKnowVision Blog

Questions and More Questions

July 8th, 2008

GenSpring Family Offices just released its most recent study, entitled Men & Wealth. You can read all of the pertinent data by downloading the study, of course, but there are some things I find particularly interesting and puzzling.

First, most of the men fit the InKnowVision client demographic perfectly: over $10 million of net worth, over age 50, working, self-made, married, etc. What is puzzling to me is that the sample here, of over a hundred individuals, provides responses that are very different from what we experience.

For example, most (70%) state that they have clear goals for their wealth; most (56%) state that they are worried how their children will handle wealth; most feel it is important to give money (83%) or time (70%) to philanthropy. These results are astonishingly different than our own anecdotal evidence. Our experience at InKnowVision is that goals are often not well defined, parents don’t talk about their children in terms of “managing wealth”, and involvement or discussion involving philanthropy is minimal.

This raises some questions for me. Do respondents alter their answers to “say the right thing” in surveys? Or, do the people at GenSpring (and others like them) know how to ask better questions? Are “our” advisors asking the right questions or avoiding the tough ones and just collecting “facts”?

It’s both interesting and frustrating to me that this disparity exists. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this phenomenon. And I don’t know what to do about it. Our job would be so much easier if we could get those “clearly defined goals” and understand where the concerns are about the children and know what the philanthropic intent and goals and passions are. How do we get those answers? How do you ask those questions?

Ideas?

Entry Filed under: Advisors in Philanthropy, Philanthropy