D CEO recently caught up with Richard Joyner, Managing Director and Head of Central U.S. for AlTi Tiedemann Global, a global multi-family office and wealth manager with deep roots in the Dallas market. Richard shares his perspectives on what keeps his clients up at night, where he sees the Dallas wealth management market going and what may be on the horizon when it comes to serving ultra-high-net-worth families.
D CEO: You joined AlTi Tiedemann Global about 6 months ago to lead the Dallas family office team. What made you choose AlTi?
Richard Joyner:
Having lived in Dallas for 3 decades and spent over 40 years in this industry, it was important to me to find a firm that understands the unique Dallas market, and at the same time has a global footprint that allows me to bring the most interesting and compelling international investment opportunities to my clients. AlTi fit this bill: through its USWM subsidiary Tiedemann Advisors, LLC, it has been serving clients in Dallas for over two decades and now has over 20 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Most clients with significant wealth also want to work with a firm that can provide a comprehensive and full range of services including estate and wealth planning, investment advisory, trust and fiduciary, family governance, and values-aligned investing. There are high expectations that come with the delivery of services like these and having technical experts across a variety of areas to deliver excellent client service was critical to my decision.
Ultimately, I chose AlTi for its culture of service and collaboration. I have never seen a firm where colleagues work so collaboratively with each other, pushing to find the best ideas and doing so in partnership with our clients’ other advisors, all for the benefit of helping clients achieve their goals. AlTi’s clients are truly ‘clients of the firm’ – being able to benefit from our global perspectives, expertise and resources, while also getting focused attention and insights from the local team.
D CEO: Having been in this industry for decades, what changes have you seen in the Dallas wealth management market, and how have clients’ needs evolved?
Richard Joyner: Texas, and Dallas specifically, embodies a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. As the city grows, it continues to attract more entrepreneurs keen to pursue opportunities here. The local ecosystem is highly receptive to business growth, and entrepreneurial ventures, and we are seeing a growing number of transitions from business owners to wealth owners.
Significant wealth brings both tremendous opportunity and responsibility. We see a strong need for advisors who can partner with clients to serve as a guide throughout their ‘wealth journey’, navigating regulatory, tax, and market changes while ensuring the wealth has a positive impact on those it’s intended to benefit.
Among our large multi-generational clients (many of them who own and manage businesses), I’ve observed a growing need for clearly defined transition and succession planning. As business founders age, this is a trend we see nationally as well. We recently conducted a family office study in partnership with Campden Wealth, surveying 98 family offices, and found that only a little over half of them had a succession plan, with many of these plans being incomplete or informal. I’ve found it’s essential to have an advisor in place who understands the process needed for the family to create a robust succession plan, which includes defining leadership roles, establishing clear governance structures and providing education opportunities to prepare the younger generation of leaders, owners and stewards for their future roles and responsibilities.
Finally, we are witnessing a growing desire for families’ financial decision-making to be more aligned with their values and goals. For many families, ‘making money’ just isn’t enough, and decisions about managing a family’s wealth need to reflect their values, meaning and purpose.
D CEO: What are some of the primary pain points families encounter as their wealth evolves and expands?
Richard Joyner: Money tends to be a magnifier. As wealth grows, so does complexity. Over time, families also tend to grow in size which adds to the diversity of opinion and objectives. Multi-generational ultra wealthy families can benefit from having a sophisticated team that has expansive experience helping clients navigate the unique opportunities and challenges that arise with significant wealth.
Common pain points include determining when and how to discuss wealth with kids, educating and preparing the next generation to ensure their wealth is a blessing rather than a burden, structuring and implementing a framework that enables effective shared decision making and having a “just in case” plan to prepare for transitions.
The integration of these services is where we really add value. The goal is to have a unified plan; it’s the outcome families are focused on, not just the individual pieces. We help enhance family cohesiveness through facilitated multi-generational communication, navigating the impact that money has on relationships and effectively managing conflict in a proactive manner. However difficult it may be to have these conversations, being intentional is so important and can go a long way to sustaining both wealth and family relationships now and in the future.
In some cases, being a newcomer to the wealth landscape can also be challenging. In the face of newly created wealth, it can be very difficult to know whom to trust or even where to start. We promote a collaborative community of families and professionals to share best practice with the purpose of ensuring wealth both grows and supports the family’s enduring values.
D CEO: What’s ahead for the wealth management industry?
Richard Joyner: Although there is a lot of focus on AI and other new technology, I am confident that the demand for exceptional financial advice will never go away – we are a business based on human connections. There is a huge opportunity, however, to leverage technology to better serve clients. For example, wealth aggregation platforms that can provide full up-to-date picture of a family’s wealth at the push of a button. Advisors that are deploying leading-edge technology will continue to stay ahead of the pack.
While technology is an important factor for the future, I believe the greatest shift in our industry is in mindset. Today’s inheritors are receiving the greatest generational shift of assets in history, with trillions of dollars moving into their hands. Traditionally, success has often been defined purely in financial terms, but now, protecting and growing wealth is often just the starting point, to be considered alongside the broader purpose of wealth and alignment with a family’s values.
Richard Joyner has more than four decades of experience delivering comprehensive advisory services across investment management, estate, and income tax planning and trust administration to families and entrepreneurs. Prior to joining AlTi Tiedemann Global, he spent 20 years at Tolleson Wealth Management, where he led the strategy of the firm’s Private Wealth Management Group in his role as president. He also spent part of his career in public accounting, most recently as a partner at Ernst & Young. He is an alumnus of Wake Forest University where he studied accounting. Joyner has received numerous professional awards during his career, including multiple recognitions by Barron’s magazine. He is an advisory board member of the Ultra High Net Worth Institute, a nonprofit educating advisors and families. For more information on AlTi Tiedemann Global, visit alti-global.com.
