Certified Wealth Strategist by the Numbers

The Certified Wealth Strategist (CWS®) designation is crafted for professionals engaging with affluent and high-net-worth individuals within the financial services sector. This certification is particularly relevant for private bankers, financial advisors, and independents. The goal is to enhance their competencies in dealing with bank channels, sole practitioners, and various unreported sectors.

Approach

The CWS certification incorporates several key areas aimed at boosting the performance and effectiveness of financial professionals:

• Technical eLearning: Provides a foundation of technical knowledge relevant to wealth management.
• Business Routines: Helps in establishing efficient and effective daily business operations.
• Client Interaction Skills: Focuses on improving the quality of interactions with clients, ensuring a better understanding of their needs and goals.

Impact: Voice of the Practitioner

The feedback from participants underscores the practical benefits of the certification:

• Jimmy, WRFA: Noted the CWS® as the most practical designation, significantly enhancing his ability to place a broader set of solutions (50%) and improve client conversations (74%).
• Susan, Regional Private Banker: Highlighted the program’s role in instilling a sales discipline and improving teamwork and technology usage.

Quantitative outcomes reported by practitioners include:

• A 79% increase in confidence in adding value.
• Enhanced discussion on wealth issues (63%).
• Enhanced business strategies and financial planning activities (46% and 56%, respectively).
• 50% placed a broader set of solutions, while 32% increased their usage of the firm’s technology, and 37% created new and more effective business routines.

Results: An Enterprise Perspective

The program was implemented across an international investment bank and financial services institution's retail banking and wealth management units. The study spanned 24 months and involved over 1500 professionals, including new hires and high-performing veterans.

For New Hires:

• Financial plans completed increased by 342%.
• Loans funded saw a 60% increase.
• Assets gathered and fee revenue increased by 135% and 91%, respectively.
• Deposits increased by 16%.

For High-Performing Veterans:

• There was a notable 587% increase in financial plans completed.
• Loans funded and assets gathered saw increases of 157% and 317%, respectively.
• Fee revenue and deposits grew by 242% and 14%, respectively.

The Certified Wealth Strategist certification demonstrates significant benefits for both individual professionals and the broader enterprise. It enhances client conversations, improves business strategies, and increases financial planning activities. Moreover, it contributes to substantial growth in financial plans completed, assets gathered, and fee revenue, among other metrics.

The CWS certification stands out as a valuable asset for professionals in the wealth management sector, aiming to excel in serving affluent and high-net-worth clients.

“I am SO glad I went through it. I learned a ton and as I said, it will be the most practical designation I could ever get. I will highly recommend others pursue getting the CWS®.”

“I wanted to thank you for this amazing program. As a new employee, it was very beneficial to go through this program to help generate a sales discipline as I approach working with clients. The books are a great resource, working in teams and from each other was very helpful. The instructor-led courses are great as well.”