Signature Wealth CEO Embraces 'Opposite' of AI: Concierge Service

Artificial intelligence is starting to boost the efficiency of many financial advisory practices. But the emerging technology has nothing to do with cultivating heartfelt relationships with clients.

That’s where concierge service can come in, Chip Munn, CEO of Signature Wealth, says in an interview with ThinkAdvisor.

The firm even has a concierge at the ready to serve clients virtually around the clock.

“Concierge service is a little counter-culture. … It’s just the opposite of artificial intelligence,” says Munn, a Raymond James independent. “You can’t automate it or reproduce it because it’s real, honest and human-centered.”

Mann, who with his longtime partner went independent in 2016, attributes Signature’s expansion from a three-person firm to a Southeast regional group — headquartered in Florence, South Carolina, Signature manages assets of about $2.6 billion — in no small part to concierge service.

The concierge handles tasks as varied as helping traveling clients out of big jams and accompanying widower clients to events after their spouse’s passing.

In the interview, Munn, a veteran advisor who was with Wells Fargo and its previous iterations for a number of years, he notes that Signature’s clients “want to be able to live life today” rather than focus solely on retirement. 

Here are excerpts from our conversation: 

THINKADVISOR: Why is concierge service important for financial advisors to offer?

CHIP MUNN: It’s just the opposite of artificial intelligence. You can’t automate or reproduce it because it’s real, honest and human-centered.

Concierge service is a little counter-culture to the idea that everyone wants to be efficient and automated. 

Relationships aren’t efficient, and life is messy.

Tell me about your firm’s concierge service. 

About seven years ago we hired a woman who is literally our 24/7-available concierge-service person. If folks have a need at any time whatsoever, they call her. She can help marshal the resources of our entire network.

We want to be a trusted advisor, not just a trusted financial advisor. It’s about being accessible and available at a moment’s notice.

Why did you hire someone just for concierge work?

We call our concierge service “The Third Call.” We adopted [former Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz’s [goal] of making Starbucks [“The Third Place” after home and work]. 

We want to be that Third Call after the client’s spouse or either their parents or kids for whatever they need.

How do you go about doing that?

It comes down to being intimately involved in all the things our clients have going on in their lives and whether it’s about their kids, grandkids or pets.

We’ve found, particularly with our high-net-worth clients, that post-pandemic, what they really value are experiences and service-oriented things more than [many] material things.

We’ve worked really hard to optimize our services to meet the demands of the younger generation but to also continue to serve all of the family.

To what extent does your concierge service focus on retirement?

A lot of people, particularly the ones that we serve, aren’t only looking at retirement someday. They want to be able to live life today. 

Being able to help create some of those experiences is incredibly important.

What’s a big part of your concierge service?

Travel. We help clients who are out of the country and lose their passports to get all the documentation they need.

One client had all their belongings stolen from their car — documents, credit cards, clothing — while they were on vacation in the Caribbean.