“Money is given management, and advice is given to individuals or families.” Carlos Bach, managing partner of Abante in Barcelona, ??asks to separate concepts. Management focuses on where the money is invested –whether in a fund or other assets–, while the second responds to why and for what it is done.It involves discovering some objectives and vital plans where the city office seeks to make a difference, with continuous support for the client.
From the couple who plans how to distribute the inheritance among the children, to the businessman who seeks to turn his professional career around or retire, answers are given to all kinds of assumptions. The Barcelona office serves some 900 clients with a team of 11 professionals. Established in 2009, in the last five years it has grown at an average annual rate of 20%, details Bach. “Where there is more growth in clients is in family offices and family groups”, he continues, cases in which transfers of power also enter.
Abante has a “global proposal for financial, property, real estate and corporate advice” and access to all types of markets and assets. With this offer, it reaches 800 million managed and advised.
When talking about heritage, Bach argues that the approach is often wrong. “Money is a means and not an end. The focus must be placed on the person ”, he insists. That is why when a new client arrives, the first thing that is done is a “biographical project”. Knowing what you want in life, in the future, job aspirations and standard of living, what you will leave behind for your children… “If you come, we are going to ask you to park your money for a few weeks and let’s talk about you first. And what is important to you? It is a first “self-knowledge” with which a more appropriate and personalized plan is achieved.
It is then referred to the financial and estate planning department. There we already talk about figures, about how much you have and how much you can save in the future. It is presented as a different approach: “A bank makes an investment proposal based on whether you are more conservative or risky, without really knowing what is needed,” he compares.
There is no shortage of challenges here. “Many times people don’t start to worry until they are close to stopping work,” he warns, and there is less margin. In part there is “fear” to imagine being 20 or 30 years older or in tricky situations. The ideal is to launch “as soon as possible”, so that there is room to adjust plans if things change. Another factor is that now the terms grow: “You live longer after retiring, we are more active, and that must be financed.”
The group does not break down business figures by branch. The one in Barcelona is part of a network in nine cities that advises 11,000 million euros from 11,300 clients.
