According to a recent article in Investments & Wealth Review (IWR), there’s a prime opportunity some advisors might be overlooking—using philanthropy expertise to help manage additional assets held by current clients.
The article cites the following findings from recent CEG Insights research: Only 4.9 percent of advisors manage 100 percent of their clients’ investable assets, and fewer than one-third (28.7 percent) of advisors manage more than 75 percent of their clients’ assets.
Expanding your role with existing clients – instead of pursuing new prospects – is a more efficient and cost-effective way of working that will enable your practice to grow without the time and expense of finding new clients. CEG deems this strategy “one of the biggest untapped opportunities in the industry.” Additionally, and as we can attest to, CEG cites philanthropy as one of nine ways to capture such wallet share.
Better yet, insightful new research by The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) reveals that high-net-worth clients are more receptive than ever to receiving charitable planning guidance from their advisors.
Philanthropy: An Ideal Business Development Tool
CEG Insights’ key takeaway regarding philanthropy is that charitable planning discussions with your clients can reveal additional assets that you could be helping to manage through formal giving vehicles like a private foundation, donor-advised fund (DAF) or charitable remainder trust (CRT). Such assets can include cash, publicly traded stocks, bonds and ETFs, restricted stock, life insurance policies, real estate, tangible assets like artwork and collectibles, and shares in private businesses such as LLCs and S- and C-corporations.
As motivation to hone your charitable giving knowledge – or partner with a philanthropy specialist like Foundation Source – consider the following findings from TPI’s 2026 Study of the Philanthropic Conversation. It was conducted via an online survey of 300 financial advisors and 103 HNW individuals (“clients”) with $5 million or more in investable assets who are actively engaged in charitable giving. This research is the third time since 2013 that TPI conducted a national study of advisors’ approaches to and HNW clients’ expectations of philanthropy discussions.
The TPI research was co-sponsored by DAFgiving360™ and Foundation Source, with additional support from the Boston Foundation with a goal of updating landmark research to help new generations of philanthropists work more effectively with their closest advisors.
- 96% of advisors now say discussing philanthropy with clients is a professional obligation — up from 62% in 2018, and 90% say such discussions benefit their practice, up from 78% in 2018.
- 88% of advisors (up from 74% in 2018) say that having philanthropic discussions deepens existing client relationships and 92% says it helps establish new relationships (up from 60% in 2018).
- 78% of HNW clients now use at least one structured giving vehicle (donor-advised fund, charitable trust, private foundation, or giving circle) — nearly double the 43% reported in 2018.
- 75% of HNW clients say they would be more likely to select an advisor who is knowledgeable about philanthropy. That’s up from just 40% in 2018.
- Less than half of HNW clients — just 49% — consider their advisor very knowledgeable about charitable giving vehicles.
By offering philanthropy guidance, financial advisors can help their clients fulfill not only their charitable giving goals but also create stronger alignment with your investment management, legacy planning, tax efficiency and estate planning guidance – all of which, as CEG suggests, can potentially uncover additional assets for you to manage.
As advisor roles evolve to meet more complex client needs, expanding into adjacent services like philanthropy isn’t just good client service — it’s good business strategy, especially for making the most of your existing client relationships and increasing wallet share. It’s also worth noting that philanthropy can potentially aid in some of the other nine ways cited by CEG to win more of your clients’ assets, including business owner exit, inheritance planning and tax rebalancing.
Want to learn more about helping clients with their giving?
Schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.
