Former wealth management adviser spills

the beans on the super rich

October 27, 201510:50am

Extreme wealth is a ‘personality amplifier’.

Kai Peter Changnews.com.au

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FROM an air host on a private jet to a maid at a palace, there are countless jobs that
require ‘ordinary’ people to mingle with the ultra-rich on a day-to-day basis.

Users on question-and-answer site Quora wanted to know just what it’s like to be up
close and personal with the extremely wealthy. How does it make you feel?

Angel investor and start-up adviser Kai Peter Chang shared the inside scoop:

For a number of years, I worked as a wealth management adviser.

Photo: Kai Peter ChangSource:Supplied

Financial services is the “Concierge of Money” for the Plutocrat class; we were suit-and-tie
wearing mandarins of their largesse, who knew the details of our clients’ finances better than
they did; it was our job to anticipate their needs before it even occurs to them.

Establishing, managing and amending clients’ investments and trusts were the obvious and
most easily-described portions of the work.

Less obvious was the political and relationship-management aspects of dealing with
individuals whose Crosean fortunes can bestow upon them colossal egos and entitlement
mentalities; managing a massive personal fortune often means managing their dirty secrets.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: MONEY IS A PERSONALITY AMPLIFIER.

If you are a poor person who hates gay people/broken-English-speaking

immigrants/Republicans/whatever, your need for a paying job forces a level of decorum in
your conduct, and you learn to keep quiet your most objectionable opinions so you can get
along with your employers/customers.

On the other hand, if you are a poor person who has a benevolent heart and genuinely wishes
to help the less fortunate, your financial constraints will limit whatever level of help you offer
to very modest levels; your efforts may be invisible to most unless they are direct
beneficiaries of your generosity, or know you personally.

WEALTH REMOVES THOSE CONSTRAINTS.

A wealthy bigot can afford to be a raging terror to whoever he or she wishes, with almost no
consequences. I’ve witnessed multi-millionaires confidently drop shockingly racist/nasty
remarks about gays/disabled/[insert group] in casual conversations.

We were trained to go along with it — they are the client, and their accounts are worth
millions in fees over the course of their lifetime, so while we won’t join in the racist/bigoted
banter, we won’t object either; we are trained to nod politely and refocus the conversation to
the technical matters.

Being in the position to manage the finances of plutocrats, I’ve also been witness to
financial shenanigans and the dark side of humanity, unconstrained by budget or conscience.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?

• A wealthy married man can incorporate separate businesses/LLCs for the sole purpose of
buying property/spending money on the sly for his illicit lover(s).

• Control of financial trusts can used as chess pieces to manipulate family

members/dependants/beneficiaries to bend to the will of the owners of the capital.

• Errant adult children of the wealthy who find themselves incapable of earning a living on
their own, often find themselves in protracted legal battles with stepmothers their own age
(their plutocrat fathers, having paid a fortune to rid themselves of their first wives, marry
younger women who now vie for a piece of the dying man’s fortunes).

• Entitled heirs — with no irony or self-awareness — often speak of their fathers’ fortunes
and possessions as “my house,” “my boat” or “my plane.”

• If you put over US$100,000 on the table in any casino in Las Vegas/Macau/Monaco
(which you can either lose or win), an entire battalion of high-touch specialists employed by
the casino materialise to cater to your every whim, so long as you gamble at their tables.
They know your name, your favourite foods, your favourite entertainers (“free tickets for you
and your friends sir, and we can arrange for you to meet singer/rapper/comedian/magician so-
and-so backstage!”) and your favourite recreational drugs (if you’re into such things — they
will be discreetly tucked away in the bathroom of the penthouse suite of the hotel/casino
where you are staying).

Now that we’re done wallowing in sin and dysfunction ... observations on the benevolent
side:

While many wealthy philanthropists want to get credit for their contributions to
charities/foundations they support (seeing their name emblazoned on their former university’s
Major Donor walls, creating foundations in their names, etc.), I was surprised by the number
of people who wanted to remain strictly anonymous — the only entities who were aware of
their donations of these people was the IRS (for tax deduction reasons), the recipient non-
profit/foundation, and us, who facilitate/structure these large donations.

There are many who view their wealth as a blessing that they entrusted to be good stewards
during their lifetime; they take their responsibility seriously to leave the capital to the next
generation along with imparting their most cherished values.

Children of this second group are polite, respectful and thoughtful — they understand they
occupy a rare and privileged position in society and are very careful about not lording it over
others, and make sincere efforts to be worthy heirs.

As you can imagine, while the former type of client was far more interesting (and lucrative
for the firm, given the complexities of the layers of financial instruments deployed), the latter
was far more pleasant to interact with.

The most valuable thing I’ve learned is this: whether you are a rich dysfunctional bigot
dropping N-words in my office and throwing your financial weight around while bankrolling
mistresses through your shell companies, or a thoughtful philanthropist trying to quietly
change the world for the better with your largesse, being wealthy is a relatively lonely
existence.

The problems you encounter, while very real and very frustrating, will not elicit sympathy
from 99.999 per cent of the planet.

Like being an exceptionally beautiful woman, most of the people who approach you are only
after one thing, and that perspective warps your ability to connect genuinely with others —
one of the most quintessential human needs.

Almost everyone wouldn’t mind being a bit more beautiful or a bit more rich, but few can
truly appreciate just how alienating it is to have either in such abundant quantity, that they
become the object of desire/envy by everyone you meet.