Wealth Management Industry Outlook

Spreading the Word and the Wealth

On the last morning of August at Waddell & Reed’s impressive Johnson County campus, some 25 industry leaders met for Ingram’s first ever Wealth Management Industry Outlook. 

So much good information was so naturally exchanged that it left us wondering why it had taken us at Ingram’s six years to schedule this assembly. The interdependent players in this industry picked each other’s brains to get a grasp on a broad range of strategies for dealing with the future.

Chairing the event were Hank Herrmann of Waddell & Reed and Tim Thomas of Bank Midwest. Bank Midwest and Waddell & Reed graciously sponsored the event, one more chapter in Ingram’s ongoing series of economic growth in the greater Kansas City area.

Managing the Baby Boom

“Let’s start off with the bubbles coming into the market,” said Tim Thomas, “the baby boomer.” He asked how best to handle this population swell as its members near retirement, many of whom have paid little attention to the markets or their money.

Doug Lockwood from American Century Investments saw a real challenge in shifting the mindset of people from wealth accumulation into the realm of wealth utilization. “We’ve been remiss in providing the guidance and tools, the products that will help them do that,” said Lockwood. “People are at a loss in doing that on their own.” As a result, American Century is now focused on coming up with product offerings, tools and guidance to turn those assets into payments.

(front row, left to right)

Dan Dechant, Morgan Stanley

Tom Taylor, Shughart Thomson & Kilroy

Mark Dunker, Bank Midwest (Co-sponsor)

Hank Herrmann, Waddell & Reed (Co-chair/Co-sponsor)

Debra Schmidt, Waddell & Reed (Co-sponsor)

Cindy Dwyer, Mayer Hoffman McCann/CBIZ

Tim Thomas, Bank Midwest (Co-chair/Co-sponsor)

(second row, left to right)

Nick Karabas, Enterprise Bank & Trust

Tom Freeman, UBS Financial Services

Rick Homuth, Merrill Lynch

Michael Thomas, The Resource Group

Bill Greiner, UMB Bank

(third row, left to right)

Joe Price, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne

Jim Schier, Security Benefit

Wayne Starr, BKD

Bob Rippy, Robert Baird & Co.

Doug Lockwood, American Century Investments

Bob Mulleedy, Haake Companies

(fourth row, left to right)

Brad Perry, INTRUST

James Lutz, Lewis Rice & Fingerish

Claude Thau, Target Insurance Services

Steve Soden, Country Club Financial Services, Inc.

John Meara, Meara, King & Co.