Vonnegut: Wealth Management's Biggest Losers

Summary: It's time for the client's annual portfolio review--and time to take market share, the advisers think. They know the client, a wealthy family, spreads its assets around the Street. And their firm's results have been exceptional this year. So they bring out the spiral-bound pitch books. They load up the PowerPoint slides. Then one after another, with confidence and steely-eyed gravitas, they extol their investment performance on the overhead projector. As the meeting ends, a member of the family says, "Our other adviser made its presentation on iPads." Thud.