Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Wealth management refers to a more comprehensive array of services — covering not only the purchase, monitoring and withdrawal of investments within a portfolio, but other aspects of a client’s financial dealings and overall financial health. In addition to investment management, wealth management for an individual might include retirement planning and the administration of trusts and estates to minimize taxes, whereas wealth management for a business might include the administration of 401(k), profit-sharing and pension plans.
Managed investments, more typically called managed accounts or managed funds, represent investments or collections of investments supervised by one or more financial professionals hired by an individual or business entity. In this kind of investment management, professionals take on the legal responsibility and authority to act in the best interests of either a single investor or a group of investors. Managers may buy or sell assets without checking with clients first, but they usually issue regular reports to keep clients aware of how managed investments perform. A popular kind of managed investment is a mutual fund.
Investment banking is a broad set of financial services aimed at providing financial capital to businesses, facilitating mergers and acquisitions and helping shareholders of private companies to monetize or sell liquid ownership stakes. Asset management then provides the professional management of the liquidity created by business sale proceeds in constructing a portfolio of financial securities to meet specified financial objectives and income needs.
Wealth management is a financial advisory service for individuals seeking assistance to manage and grow their wealth. Investment banking is a service that helps individuals and companies raise money and free up cash flow.
The goal of any investment includes financial gain, but some investment management decisions miss the mark — either gains fall short of expectations or losses occur instead. That possibility defines the risk in investment management. Investments that offer the highest potential gains tend to involve the greatest risk, also referred to as uncertainty or volatility. Investors who can absorb losses without hardship tend to be more tolerant of risk, while others prefer to avoid risk as much as possible.
In the world of investment management, the term “portfolio” refers either to an array of investments owned by a single entity or to an array of investments administered by a single entity (known as bundled investment or managed funds). Regarding the former definition, a portfolio manager works as a financial professional who handles all of an individual’s investments, evaluating each purchase or sale with the client’s overall goals in mind. By contrast, an investment fund manager handles investments within the bundle on behalf of anyone who buys into the fund as a whole — potentially serving many clients with each transaction but without customization.
By definition, investment management assumes responsibility for all strategic decisions made when researching, selecting, monitoring and trading a collection of financial holdings. The goal of investment management is meeting specified financial goals in accordance with the client’s ability and tolerance to assume risk. Investment management firms oversee short-term and long-term financial planning on behalf of a single client, such as an individual or business entity, or for a fund that sells a bundled array of investments to multiple clients. Collectively, an array of holdings or investments makes up a portfolio, which is why some clients refer to investment management as portfolio management.
