What do the world’s wealthiest clients need most? Well, a loan, of course.

Merrill Lynch announced it was launching a new credit unit last week that will offer custom lending and loan management to high- and ultra-high net worth clients and their advisors. The firm’s lending platform has surpassed $10 billion in loan originations in under two years, and the private bank sees opportunity ahead with providing credit to the uber wealthy.

“It also allows them to further diversify their wealth and take advantage of trends in varying asset classes at differing times that are helpful to growing their balance sheets,” said Bank of America managing director Kurt Niemeyer, who will lead the new unit.

Lend Me a Hand

The lending options are flexible, and clients will be able to borrow against a range of assets in their portfolios, including businesses, real estate, collectibles and even luxury items, like yachts, Niemeyer said. Wealthy clients will often use this type of credit to avoid disrupting their long-term investment strategies.

Today, America is home to roughly 23.8 million folks worth seven figures, a statistic that grew by more than 1,000 people a day in 2024, according to UBS’ latest global wealth report. By 2028, that number is expected to be roughly 25.5 million. As assets grow, so does the complexity for wealth management, and Merrill isn’t the only firm beefing up:

• Last year, Goldman Sachs told Reuters it aimed to double its lending over the next five years to ultra-wealthy private bank clients with account sizes exceeding $10 million.
• JPMorgan announced that it will also increase its direct lending commitment to clients to $50 billion earlier this year.

No Alternative Opinion. Merrill’s new lending unit comes shortly after the private bank announced the launch of an alternatives program that allows high- and ultra-high net worth clients to invest in institutional-grade private market funds. Basically, Merrill doesn’t want their top-tier clients looking anywhere else for any reason.

If you’re going to bring on new clients, you’ve got to nail the Q&A.

Building trust with clients takes time and effort. While investment returns remain central, today’s clients also want connection and understanding from their advisors. That trust starts with asking the right questions, especially during discovery meetings where potential clients are hoping to learn more about the services advisors provide. By asking open-ended questions, advisors can give clients space to reflect on goals in ways they may never have before.

“Don’t think of discovery conversations as a way to discover something about the client, but as a way the client will discover something about themselves,” said Lawrence Smith, president of ELS Vision Wealth Management.

Silence is Golden

Advisors, especially women and Black wealth managers, may feel pressure to showcase all their knowledge during discovery meetings, but dominating the conversation often overwhelms clients, Smith said during a session panel at the Association of African American Financial Advisors conference in Washington last week. “It’s a habit to be a salesperson — don’t do that,” he said. Instead, ask open-ended questions and let silence do the work. For example, asking how a client would feel about an ex-spouse inheriting family wealth sparks reflection, without requiring immediate answers.

Between the Lines

Asking the right questions first requires listening, said Cassandra Stiff, an advisor with Lady Insurance and Financial Services who was also on the panel. During one meeting, a client kept saying she didn’t want to lose money, and Stiff eventually discovered the phrase was guidance from her brother, not the client’s real concern. Once they clarified her actual goal of building wealth, Stiff crafted a more aggressive plan with a focus on adding risk. “Although the brother still advises her, she trusts me, and she’s still making money,” Stiff said. Other pointers include:

• Asking questions like “what’s your monthly expenses?” that are simple and necessary.
• Keep in mind, certain clients might not respond because they don’t know the answer, they’re embarrassed to say, or in some cases, it’s painful to discuss.

“I’ve got to take it at [their] pace versus my pace,” Stiff said.

Flip the Script. Not every client responds to the same prompts, and advisors must be able to adapt in real time. “If you walk in with a pre-loaded script of what you’re going to say, you’re going to miss something,” said Brandon Dixon-James, president of Resilient Wealth Management. Additionally, jargon phrases like “alpha,” “beta” and “standard deviation,” are likely going to turn clients away. “If someone looks at a watch to know what time it is, they don’t need to know how the watch works,” Dixon-James said.

Women investors aren’t a monolith, but there are meaningful ways advisors can cater to them.

That’s because women stand to inherit trillions of dollars over the next two decades with about $54 trillion getting passed down to widowed spouses, the vast majority of whom are women, according to Cerulli. Yet four in five widowed women will leave their advisor within a year of their husband’s death, and nearly half have reported feeling patronized by them. But by training both men and women on how to discuss everything from divorce to inheritance, firms can improve retention across the board, said Jillian Berry, senior director of RFG Advisory’s StrongHer Money program.

“As advisors are taking that training, they really can implement it into their practice,” Berry said during a panel session at the Future Proof conference in Huntington Beach, California. “Through that, they’ve gained resources, both for themselves, for their toolkits, sales enablement, marketing… and also for their clients.”

Gripping the Purse Strings

Because women are brought up to be “savers” rather than investors, they still invest 40% less than men, despite consistently earning higher returns, according to Ranie Verby, director of practice management at Plancorp. Even though many women handle the day-to-day, and experience decision making fatigue as a result, long-term investing often goes untaught.

“I was not socialized to invest as a child,” she said. “Anybody 50 and up, your husband did the finances… These things are changing rapidly in front of our eyes, but you have to be empathetic to the person across the table from you.” The opportunity is there for all advisors, however, because women don’t have a preference for male or female advisors, according to Berry. Women are also 2.5x more likely to refer when served well, she added. The most important things to consider when winning over women, per the panelists, are:

• Women’s financial decisions often occur alongside caregiving, divorce, entrepreneurship or widowhood.
• Women often make decisions communally and may internalize financial setbacks as letting down their community.
• Before a prospective client hops on Zoom, she’s already checked your LinkedIn, said Lacy Garcia, CEO of Willow. Advisors should ensure their online profiles reflect their values, trustworthiness, and relevance to women’s experiences.

Not A Monolith. It’s important to remember that women aren’t a homogenous population. Not every woman has gone through a divorce — or was ever married to begin with — and many are primary breadwinners. “Not everybody’s a mom. Not everybody has five children that they’re running around after,” Verby said. “Everyone wants different things, so it’s all about the connection you’re building.”