Presented by Envestnet
We talk with Andrew Stavaridis, Chief Relationship Officer at Envestnet, about how advisors can better serve high net worth clients. Andrew highlights Envestnet’s investments in UMA, tax overlay, planning tools, and data analytics to help advisors scale, stay compliant, and deliver a more personalized, holistic experience.
He stresses that winning and retaining high net worth clients requires deeper relationship-building, advanced planning, and access to a broad product set—including alternatives. As fee compression continues and DIY platforms grow, Andrew sees a key opportunity for advisors to differentiate through high-touch service and expert guidance in today’s complex, volatile markets.
Recorded at Envestnet Elevate 2025
Resources: Envestnet
Related: Balancing Innovation and Human Touch in Wealth Tech with Molly Weiss
Disclosures:
The information, analysis, and opinions expressed herein are for general information only. The views expressed herein reflect the judgement of the speakers as of the recording date and are subject to change at any time without notice. Information obtained from third party resources are believed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Nothing contained in this document is intended to constitute legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment, nor a solicitation of any type. Investing carries certain risks and there is no assurance that investing in accordance with the portfolios or strategies mentioned will provide positive performance over any period of time. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Doug Heikkinen: This is Advisorpedia's Power Your Advice podcast, and I'm Doug Heikkinen. We're at Envestnet's Elevate Conference and we're joined by Andrew Stavaridis, the Chief Relationship Officer at In Envestnet. Welcome to the podcast, Andrew.
[00:00:13] Andrew Stavaridis: Thank you for having me. . .
[00:00:15] Doug Heikkinen: What do you see as the most significant trend shaping the financial advisory landscape for 2025?
[00:00:21] Andrew Stavaridis: Well, one of the biggest areas that we're seeing is really in high net worth, right? In personalization around how advisors can help clients be more efficient in their portfolios and really go upstream in terms of wallet share. Envestnet has been investing heavily in our technology as it relates to our UMA, tax overlay, DI, and our reporting. Specific to the UMA, we're investing heavily in ways that advisors can either manage these high net worth portfolios for themselves, or leverage the network of our partnerships with asset managers or Envestnet for a more discretionary approach.
[00:01:02] Doug Heikkinen: How are the evolving regulatory changes, such as updates to fiduciary standards or compliance requirements, impacting the way financial advisors operate?
[00:01:12] Andrew Stavaridis: I think financial advisors today are feeling that pressure of the regulatory environment. They feel that going it alone, managing these portfolios alone is hard to do. They are leaning in heavier to an Envestnet platform that allows for them to leverage third party managers and capabilities that can help them with the regulatory environment. The oversight that we provide, the compliance, reporting that we can provide for them.
Advisors are not able to scale their business in a way that they used to, doing it on their own, and leveraging parts of our platform that really scale up their business and protect them from the fiduciary and regulatory environment are what they're looking for and why they're looking at our platform.
And also just to add to that, home offices and enterprises really what Envestnet brings to the marketplace. Because when they're dealing with three-four thousand advisors, the only way that they're able to navigate this complex fiduciary environment is to have a platform like in Envestnet that can help them scale that.
[00:02:18] Doug Heikkinen: Clients today want more than just investment advice. They're looking for personalization, holistic planning. How is Envestnet supporting RIAs in delivering that kind of white glove experience to their wealthiest clients?
[00:02:29] Andrew Stavaridis: Yeah, this is part of the investment that I was mentioning before around how we're leaning in, not just in the technology around the UMA, but we're also leaning in terms of our integration, with our planning, capabilities, integrating our vast data and analytics capabilities for advisors, and then bringing that down through to outputs in terms of product solutions and in services that we provide to the advisor, that they then can take and apply that to their client's portfolios. Clients today are looking for not only traditional types of investments, but they're starting to lean into private alternative investments, alternative type funds, interval funds. Envestnet is starting to bring those capabilities to the platform, not just from an actual platform technology perspective, but a reporting output perspective as well for those clients.
[00:03:26] Doug Heikkinen: What are high net worth advisors most focused on right now when it comes to products, and are you helping them meet that demand?
[00:03:33] Andrew Stavaridis: I think a couple things. One, I think it's access to many different products that are provided by a lot of our partner asset managers.
The Envestnet platform access and network that we have in the marketplaces to asset managers in the SMA, mutual fund, ETF marketplaces, allow advisors to get that access. And as we start to connect to these alternative type products and solutions through our platform. That's why advisors today are looking at our platform as a way to bring a vast, product set to their clients.
[00:04:10] Doug Heikkinen: How should advisors adapt their services to attract and retain high net worth clients? It's getting so competitive out there.
[00:04:18] Andrew Stavaridis: I think part of it is understanding the client's goals, and uncovering assets the client is not necessarily showing to them. You can't really support a high net worth client without really leaning in on what those clients' goals are and what ultimately they're trying to serve. And generally it could be family money, it could be assets, art, it could be other things that this client is interested in terms of their high net worth investing and how they invest downstream. So advisors today really need to lean in and really understand what are the goals of that client over the next five to 10 years, and that's how you get more wallet share, and that's how you start to gain more high net worth clients.
[00:05:00] Doug Heikkinen: So let's keep going on that similar vein. Are there services that they can offer to stand out from their competition?
[00:05:08] Andrew Stavaridis: Well, clearly from a planning perspective, I think that's one where, surprising that many advisors still don't provide financial planning capabilities to their clients or even take the deep dive with clients around, again, goals. Where are they looking to leave their money? To heirs? These are the types of questions that they need to find out with their clients. , Where do they really want to protect their assets. And planning is key to that. And Envestnet obviously has tools around financial planning that really help leverage that access to partner up with that client and understand where they're going.
[00:05:45] Doug Heikkinen: As fee compression continues, how can advisors target high net worth clients and rethink their value proposition while elevating service quality?
[00:05:55] Andrew Stavaridis: Look, fee compression is an issue in the industry today, no doubt. But fee compression is, where advisors really aren't adding the value that they need to add in order to charge the fees that they should be charging for their services.
In the high net worth space, it's not just about selling a product, you're building a relationship. You're sitting with the client to understand, again, what is it that they need? What is it their goals are? And by building a relationship and understanding that, you're going to get more fees from those clients because you become a trusted advisor versus an advisor that's selling them a product.
And that's going to be critical over the next several years, especially those advisors that want to really go upstream and get more wallet share and deal with more high net worth clients. Clients are willing to pay more if they know that advisor is really helping them navigate the complex world we're in today.
[00:06:48] Doug Heikkinen: Yeah. Last one for you. What do you think are the biggest opportunities and threats for financial advisors over the next five years, and how should they prepare?
[00:06:58] Andrew Stavaridis: I think the speed at which technology is coming into the financial markets, where end clients have access to information, and trying to do it on their own.
But I think this is also a ripe area for advisors to step in. Because ultimately clients aren't able to truly navigate the complex financial world that we're in today. Look at the craziness of the tariffs that are going on today and where the markets, the volatility over the last week or so has really created such an environment where clients don't know what to do.
In an up market, clients are the smartest people on the planet. Buy, buy, buy, and they feel like they can do it on their own. This is where, in these types of markets, where advisor's value is important, and their technology and their relationship building is where they can steer clients away from the threat of them doing it on their own and accessing markets through some of the technology that's being put into the marketplace.
Whether that's a few years ago, some of the robo firms out there. But some of the larger firms out there in the marketplace are providing do-it-yourself services. And I think that's a threat, but I think this is also where smart advisors will step in and help clients navigate these tumultuous marketplaces.
[00:08:25] Doug Heikkinen: Andrew, great stuff. Thanks so much for being with us during your busy busy conference.
[00:08:30] Andrew Stavaridis: Thank you for having me.
[00:08:32] Doug Heikkinen: For more information, please visit Envestnet.com. Please follow us on X, LinkedIn and Facebook all @Advisorpedia. For everyone at Advisorpedia, our producer Tory Miller and the Power Your Advice Podcast team, this is Doug Heikkinen.