New guide to wealth terminology aims to better inform investors

A leading advisory group to the wealth management industry has launched a crowdsourced list of wealth terms it hopes will reduce confusion and marketing hype

A leading advisory group to the wealth management industry has launched a crowdsourced list of wealth terms it hopes will reduce confusion and marketing hype.

The Ultra High Net Worth Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving services to wealthy families and investors, recently unveiled its “Wealthesaurus” — a list of over 80 terms commonly used and abused in the wealth management business. The list, which will be continually updated and expanded based on input from wealthy investors and advisors, aims to define the new language of wealth management and create accepted standards for communicating with clients.

“There are a lot of garbage terms, a lot of marketing terms being tossed around,” said Jim Grubman, content and curriculum chair at the Ultra High Net Worth Institute and the founder of Family Wealth Consulting. “The motivation on a lot of this is to counteract some of the BS in the field.”

The need for a credible wealth Wikipedia follows an explosion of gimmicks, false labels and misleading hype in the business of managing the fortunes of the wealthy.

In 2024, households worth $5 million or more controlled an estimated $49 trillion in financial wealth, more than half of the nation’s total, according to Cerulli Associates. With assets growing fastest at the top of the wealth ladder, the competition for ultra-wealthy investors and family offices has grown fierce among private banks, wirehouses, registered investment advisors, private equity firms and boutiques. With that growth has come a barrage of inflated brand language.