Family Wealth Report spoke to the president of KAMSouth, which has just rolled out a new financial planning service for young elite professionals.

KAMSouth, a wealth advisor based in Atlanta, GA, recently launched a fee-only financial planning service to help young professionals navigate the challenges and opportunities they may encounter when trying to build their financial future.

The service – which costs $600.00 per year – is called YP Elite Wealth Planning and is aimed at young professionals between the ages of 30 and 40 living in the Buckhead area.

The move is part of a wider industry trend whereby firms are increasingly seeking business with high-potential Millennials who are entering their wealth-creation years and have the potential to become high-value clients.

In February, for example, Indiana-based Midwest Wealth Management unveiled YP Access Program, designed to “bridge the gap” between the beginning work life of high-trajectory professionals and the opportunity cost that’s spent building a long-term relationship with a financial advisor. Meanwhile, last September NextGen Wealth opened its doors in Kansas City to tap the US' growing cohort of young, successful business owners and entrepreneurs.

Family Wealth Report spoke to Christian Koch, president of KAMSouth, about the rationale behind YP Elite Wealth Planning and why the Buckhead area is the perfect place to execute it.

“The majority of my clients are fairly old, in their mid-sixties/seventies,” Koch said. “So, over time, I thought it would be important to focus on young professionals in terms of that market opportunity.”

Atlanta is home to a growing population of young professionals, particularly in the Buckhead area, which adds around 10,000-20,000 individuals a year from sectors including accounting, engineering, commercial real estate, law, healthcare and technology.

“So I thought, why not have a unique pricing model where – kind of like a gym membership – these young people can have access to a financial expert to walk them through the issues they may be facing,” Koch said. “They can come into the office initially so I can get to know them, and they can get to know me. Then it's up to them to pick up the phone anytime they need.”

The sort of things that the program offers help with are how to invest a 401(k) plan, how to protect against a potential market downturn, and how to reduce tax liabilities. Koch said he tends to meet many young professionals through the Rotary Club of Buckhead and through being a member of the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta.

“The opportunity is there to meet young professionals every week,” he said. “Then it's a question of are they aware of their needs? A lot of young professionals think 'I can Google this' or 'I can get all the information I need online.' But I think having the opportunity to have someone 'on call' that will give you good advice is a step above just getting information online.”

He added that it's still early days for the program in terms of headcount, as he is trying to make it “very elite and exclusive.”

“It's less about volume and more about taking on high-quality, high-caliber individuals,” he said.

The main goal of the program is of course to help them where they are now, but he is also very mindful that by the time they reach the age of 40, for instance, hopefully they will have accumulated substantial wealth and could well be longer-term clients at KAMSouth.

Earlier this year, TD Ameritrade said individuals who are entering their peak earning years could be a great boon to an advisor's business. Overall, however, this group is “mostly overlooked by financial firms,” creating a possible opportunity for the RIA sector, it added.

“Advisors can’t wait until this next generation is wealthy before they start rolling out the red carpet. This transition is happening now,” said Tom Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional.

“Our latest research shows RIAs would be well-served pursuing young investors who may not have great wealth yet, but who have high earnings potential and are eager to work with a professional advisor,” Nally said.

Given recent noise about how lucrative the next generation of clients has the potential to be, and how some traditional players may need to re-think their overall offering and client acquisition strategy in order to win business from these individuals, having a solid strategy in place to work with this (no longer "niche" population) of individuals doesn't seem like bad idea at all.