Financial Advisor Magazine – Curation is the New Currency

Have you ever wondered why you don’t paint your own house, change your own oil or do your own taxes?

It’s not that you couldn’t—you probably could.

But would you really want to? And would it be done with excellence? You pay someone to help you because they’ve got the experience, the tools and the know-how. They make it easy.

Now, think about the current state of wealth management. Clients today could handle their own investments. Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, UBS, et al.—they provide research, tools and partnerships. They’ve got reports from Bain, BCG, Deloitte and EY stacked to the ceiling. Data is more accessible than ever. Investment products? They’re a dime a dozen.

That’s the thing. The basics? They’re table stakes.

The real game has shifted to something bigger.

“Providing” wealth management is no longer enough. It’s about curating a unique experience that makes clients feel taken care of, in a way they can’t replicate on their own.

Let’s get real: the “what” of wealth management is turning into a commodity. But the how? That’s the new frontier.

How are you making wealth management not just an investment but an experience?

How are you doing for your clients what they could never do for themselves, no matter how many pie charts and bar graphs they have access to?

How do you deliver perspective to help your clients understand where the puck is going and why the moves you’re suggesting today will make even more sense years from now?

This is where the industry is heading. We are crafting, curating, creating. As of today, most of us aren’t where we want to be.

For the firms who are paying attention, this is the opportunity of the next decade.

Curation Or Bust

If we can become scalable curators—not just advisors—of personalized, transformative experiences, we’ll no longer compete with online advice and one-size-fits-all portfolios. Instead, we’ll build real relationships and loyalty that transcend numbers.

McKinsey did a study (McKinsey & Company (2021) called The value of getting personalization right—or wrong—is multiplying that found that companies that excel at personalization generate 40% more revenue than average players. In case you’re wondering, personalization is not just using your clients name in a canned email you send once a month.

Curation is one of the keys to real personalization.

It’s fundamentally rooted in customer empathy and a deep dedication to delivering an ever-changing value to customers with the desired goal of impact.

It’s no wonder the firms who accomplish it grow.

Curators are simply better businesses because they do more good and continue to iterate on it.

How can you begin to curate? Think about the now popular concept of “Unreasonable Hospitality” and the story of Eleven Madison Park’s rise to becoming the top restaurant in the world.

Every detail matters. The moment your client interacts with you, from the first phone call to the last report, should feel like it was crafted just for them. It’s about making wealth management a full-on experience—one they can’t get anywhere else.

So ask yourself: what are you curating today?

What do your clients feel, see, and experience that’s beyond just the numbers?

Because that’s your identity, that’s your value, and that’s where the future lies.

Jud Mackrill, is co-founder and managing partner of Milemarker, the driving force behind the next evolution in wealth management technology, empowering advisory firms to break free from fragmented data and disjointed systems. The Firm Intelligence platform synthesizes insights, automates workflows and puts advisors back in control—amplifying the value of their tech stack.