Top-Ranked UBS Team Responds To Clients’ Request To Teach Children

Forbes-SHOOK Best Idea winner Patrick Schaffer says his UBS teammates get some of their best ideas from clients.

This past January provides one example. That’s when Schaffer and his team reached out to clients about their personal list of goals for 2024. “What should we being doing to help you meet your goals in 2024?” they asked.

Clients replied: Please teach our children about wealth management.

“Parents wanted us to spend time explaining how markets work, how portfolios are managed and how the money is invested on their behalf,” Schaffer said.

Schaffer and his partner, Ryan Bristol, co-manage the Los Angeles-based Legacy Multi-Family Group. Together, they oversee a 13-person UBS team ranked by Forbes-SHOOK as a Top Private Wealth Management Team.

Schaffer said the team, which manages assets of $3.2 billion, works closely with multiple generations when it comes to estate planning. The details often require explanation.

“We encourage families to talk openly about money so there aren’t taboo topics that create resentment over time,” Schaffer said.

But the January outreach highlighted something deserving greater attention.

“Clients told us they were seeking deeper engagement on financial matters with their children,” Schaffer said. “They wanted our help.”

The idea of asking clients for a list of 2024 financial goals was something the UBS team cooked up at the end of 2023.

“It was a clever way of asking for feedback without making it seem like it was call for suggestions,” Schaffer said.

Forbes-SHOOK judges also liked the idea. They picked Schaffer’s team as a Best Idea Winner at the 2024 Forbes-SHOOK Top Teams Summit in Miami Beach.

Schaffer added: “Listening to what people had to say was really helpful to us as a firm.”

Clients also shared some unexpected news about changes in their families, a fact that helped the team better service those clients.

“In one instance, a client’s daughter was getting married and there was an irrevocable trust that had been set up for her 10 years ago,” Schaffer said. “I realized it was time to redo the terms of that arrangement.”

“We seek to create much deeper and more meaningful relationships and this process was a step in the right direction,” Schaffer said. “I have learned a lot about myself and life through working with our clients.”