Wealth management means the set of all financial savings management services on behalf of third parties.
It is a service offered by banks and asset management companies (SGR) or securities brokerage companies (SIM).
It is defined as stock asset management (GPM) if you invest in "classic" financial instruments (shares, bonds, government bonds); while if the assets are allocated in units of collective investment schemes, we speak of asset management in funds or SICAV (GPF/GPS).
The client with mandate provides his financial resources to a financial intermediary, the latter in compliance with some more or less binding guidelines is called to administer the client’s resources by investing and disinvesting in securities at in order to achieve a capital revaluation and optimize its profitability taking into account the risk profile indicated by the client.
In Italy there are two different management methods:
- upstream management (mutual funds)
- individual management (management of investment portfolios)
The main difference is that individual asset management is located halfway between upstream management - typical of funds and of a collective nature - and self-management by the individual.
The individual management consists of a personalized service, therefore subject to higher commissions, where the client’s liquid resources reside in a current account with the name of the same and the securities in the portfolio are in a securities deposit in the name of this ’last. The operator has freedom of access to it according to the provisions of the contract.
For further information: "Is asset management convenient?"
