7/28/2019 World Wealth Reports: Worth their weight in gold or wearing thin amidst a waterfall of wisdom

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/world-wealth-reports-worth-their-weight-in-gold-or-wearing-thin-amidst-a-waterfall 1/5

Worldwealthreports:Worththeirweightingoldor

wearingthinamidstawaterfallofwisdom

WiththerecentreleaseofBCG’sGlobalWealth2013todevourandtheRBCCapgeminiWorldWealthReportdueto

followsoon,SebDoveytakestimeoutofthewealthreport

seasontoquestionthechangingroleofsuchpublications.

“Whatifaperson’snativeor

learnedabilitiestoprocess

informationsensiblycouldbewarpedbyfeedingjunkintothementalmachine?”

-ClayJohnson,TheInformationDiet:ACasefor

ConsciousConsumption

7/28/2019 World Wealth Reports: Worth their weight in gold or wearing thin amidst a waterfall of wisdom

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/world-wealth-reports-worth-their-weight-in-gold-or-wearing-thin-amidst-a-waterfall 2/5

RonaldReaganoncecalledinformationthe“oxygenofthemodernage”because

it“seepsthroughthewallstoppedbybarbedwire,itwaftsacrosstheelectrifiedborders.”

Fastforwardtotodayandthewallshavecomedown–bothliterallyand

metaphorically–andinformationflowsfasterthaneverbefore.IfyoustackapileofCD-ROMsontopofoneanotheruntilyoureachthecurrent

globalstoragecapacityfordigitalinformationitwouldstretchabout80,000km

beyondthemoon.

Thedemocratizationofknowledgecansavelives

Ontheonehand,moreinformationisfantastic.Enabledbyonlinetechnology,

thedemocratizationofinformationhasboosted,andwillcontinuetohelp,the

developmentofemergingeconomiesandthespreadofgenuinelylife-enhancingmessagesabouthealthorhumanwell-being.

Butthedangerliesinthefactthatinformationalonehardlyeverequals

knowledge.

Butlivescanbewasted…wadingthroughworthlessinformation

AccordingtoIDC,75%ofdigitalinformationisgeneratedbyindividualssohow

doweknowwhetherthoseindividualsarequalifiedinanywaytofilterorcollatetheinformationtheygenerateandshare?

ClayJohnson,who’swordsbeginthispiece,wroteawholebookurgingustoconsumeinformationmoreconsciouslyor,ifyouwill,toputourselvesonan

informationdiet :“garbagein,garbageout.Weknowwe’retheproductsofthe

foodweeat.Whywouldn’twealsobeproductsoftheinformationweconsume?”

Whatdowealthyinvestorswant?

Toillustratetheglutofinformationthatthreatenstooverwhelmus,IranaquickGooglesearchonultrahighnetworthinvestors,tappingin“whatdoUHNW

investorswant”:

7/28/2019 World Wealth Reports: Worth their weight in gold or wearing thin amidst a waterfall of wisdom

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/world-wealth-reports-worth-their-weight-in-gold-or-wearing-thin-amidst-a-waterfall 3/5

Igotplentybackformytime.

AccordingtotheRBCCapgemini2012WorldWealthReport therearec.100,000

ultra-HNWIglobally,representingatinyfractionoftheestimated7billion

peopleintheworld.YetdespitethesmallsizeoftheUHNWsegment,plentyof

peoplearewillingintostepinandexplainwhattheseUHNWinvestorswant.210,000resultspopupinGoogle(onesuggestionperUHNWIandsomeleft

over)buthowmanyoffervaluableknowledgeasopposedtoquestionable

information?Googleitselfactsasapartialfilter,rankingresultsusingitsownalgorithms,butthat’sstillalotofinformationtowadethrough.

Takeitastepfurtherandtapin“whatdoHNWinvestorswant?”andsome

1,530,000resultsemerge.Giventhatthesame2012WorldWealthReport

suggeststhattherearec.11mHNWIthroughouttheworldthat’sabetterratio,ofresultstoindividualsbutstillratheralotofcompetingopinions.

Dataalonedoesn’tequalinformation

Knowledgebeginswithdataandhistoricallydatahasbeenthemainprizeonofferfromworldwealthreports.

Rolltheclockbackevenjustafewyearsandtheaccesstodataaboutglobalwealth,aboutUHNWI,aboutassetmanagers,aboutanyandeveryaspectof

wealthmanagementwasinmuchshortersupplythanitistoday.

Backthentherewasagenuineneedforsoliddata.Forfacts.

7/28/2019 World Wealth Reports: Worth their weight in gold or wearing thin amidst a waterfall of wisdom

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/world-wealth-reports-worth-their-weight-in-gold-or-wearing-thin-amidst-a-waterfall 4/5

Now,weoftenhavemoredatathanweknowwhattodowith.

So,howdoesdatabecomeinformation?

Informationisdatamadeuseful

That’salinethatjumpedoutatmerecentlywhenIreadAttenzi:ASocialBusinessStory,afictionalstory,writtenbyPhilipSheldrake,aboutaCEO,Eli

Appel,whotakeshisfirm,Attenzi,onajourneytobecomingasocialbusiness.

ToborrowfurtherfromEliAppel:

“Wemerehumansdonotreadilydigestorunderstanddata.Rather,wedealin

information;thatisdatamadeuseful,maderelevant.Acollectionofdataisnot

information–forthatitalsorequirescontextandunderstanding.

Howdoyoudeterminethevalueoftheinformationandknowledgepriortothe

translationofdataintoinformationandknowledge?

Perhapsthebestwecanachieveissimplytohaveagoodguessatwhetherthepotentialinformationandknowledgewemightunearthwillmakeanyoneacton

it.

Orperhaps,moreprecisely,willanyonechangewhattheywouldhavedone

otherwise?”

It’saninterestingquestiontolevelatworldwealthreports.Weknowthatthereisalargeindustryofwealthmanagementprofessionals

eagertolearnwhatinvestorswant.Weknowthatthereisalargecontingentof

UHNWIwhodon’tfeelwellservedbycurrentwealthmanagementmodels?

Butdoworldwealthreportsdoanythingtochangethat?

Doesthedata–orinformation–theycontainmakeanyonedoanything

differentlyoraretheyactuallyindangerofbecomingPRmachinesthatgivetheworldandhiswifeanexcusetoquoteapressreleaseorsharesometopical

stats?

Informationisappliedusinginsight

Ithinkthemissinglinkisinsight.

Knowledgecomesfromturninginformationintoactionableinsightsthatcanhelpwealthmanagerstakeconcretestepstowardsgrowingtheirbusiness,

attractingandretainingassetorengagingwithwealthyclients.

R.O.I(returnoninformation)

7/28/2019 World Wealth Reports: Worth their weight in gold or wearing thin amidst a waterfall of wisdom

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/world-wealth-reports-worth-their-weight-in-gold-or-wearing-thin-amidst-a-waterfall 5/5

Scalingbacktheinformationyouconsumeandfocusinginonworldwealth

reportsthatofferinsightiscertainlyonewaytoa.reduceinformationoverloadandb.createabetterreturnfromtheinformationyouturnyourmindto,but

there’sstillthequestionofwhototrust?

There’sprobablynoeasyanswertothatone,butIwillofferupsomestandardsIthinkallwealthrepotsshouldmeet:

3rulesforinsightledwealthmanagementintelligence

1.  Wealthreportsmustuseinsighttoturndatatoactionableinsight

2.  Thatinsightshouldbegatheredbyexpertsusingamixtureofquantitativeandqualitativeresearchmethodology

3.  Thoseexpertsshouldhaveaccesstotime-seriesdataandadepthof

experiencethatallowsthemtoseparatethewealthtrendswith

longevityfromred-herringsthatemergefromspuriousdataspikes.

Ifworldwealthreportsfollowedthoserules,Ithinkmorepeoplewouldgenuinelychangewhattheywouldhavedoneotherwise.

Ifmorewealthmanagersappliedsimilarrulestotheinformationtheysharewith

clientsandchallengedthemselvesinthesamewaytoprovideinformationthat

cangenuinehelpandinfluencetheirclientsthenthey’dprobablyseemoreinvestorschangingwhattheywouldhavedoneotherwisetoo,andthatchange

mightjustinvolveaboostinclientretentionorassetsundermanagement.

 Abouttheauthor:

SebastianDoveyisManagingPartneratScorpioPartnershiptheleadingconsumerinsightand

strategyconsultancytotheglobalwealthindustry.15yearsago,SebhelpedsetupScorpio

Partnershiptorealisehisvisionofaglobalstrategythinktankfocusingonprivateinvestor

benefitsinwealthmanagement,provingthatthereisadifferentwaytobeaknowledge-based

managementconsultancy.

Overthepast15yearsthefirmhasworkedwithover125institutionalandindividualclients,

wonnumerousawardsincludingarecentawardforoutstandingthoughtleadershipinAsian

wealthmanagementandnowboaststhelargestdatabaseofUHNWI.

Sebhasabackgroundinpublishing,includingathree-yearstintatmanagingeditorofthe

InstitutionalInvestorpublicationandregularlypresentsatglobalwealthmanagementevents.