Relationship Management interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about a difficult advisory or client decision you've owned.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why wealth management — and why now?
5. Which client segment would you want to serve, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's offering and edge for clients in your own words?
8. How does a wealth manager actually make money — and how is it changing?

Technical concepts to master

• The Investment Policy Statement (IPS)

  Ability vs willingness to take risk · Return objective · Constraints — TTLLU · Stress-testing the IPS

• Asset allocation + alternatives

  Strategic vs tactical allocation · Core / satellite · Alternatives + illiquidity premium · Liquidity reserve

• Tax-aware wealth planning

  Asset location · Tax-loss + gain harvesting · Gifting + the lifetime exemption · Concentrated stock + low-basis lots

• Multi-generational wealth + family governance

  The Great Wealth Transfer · Family meetings · Trusts + entities · Family governance + NextGen

• Fees, value articulation + the robo benchmark

  AUM fee schedule · Retainer + planning fees · Robo-advisor + fee compression · Advisor-alpha / behavioural-coaching value

Practical drills

• A $50m UHNW family spends $1.5m / year, wants to fund philanthropy of $500k / year, and has a 30-year horizon. (a) Size the cash / liquidity reserve. (b) Build a sensible strategic allocation in % and $ across public equity, fixed income, real assets, private markets, hedge / absolute return, and cash. (c) State the after-tax return objective you'd target.
• A client holds 60% of their net worth ($30m of a $50m balance sheet) in a single low-basis legacy stock (founder / inherited / vested executive comp). They're emotionally attached and tax-averse. Walk me through the diversification plan you'd recommend over 3-5 years.
• A HNW client has $5m total: $2.5m in a taxable account, $2m in a tax-deferred (IRA / 401k-rollover) account, and $500k in a Roth. Their target allocation is 60% equity / 40% fixed income. Recommend which assets go in which wrapper, and explain the after-tax logic.

Smart-question anchors

• Segment + offering - the firm's target client, the typical relationship, and where the offering is leaning (planning-led vs investment-led)
• Platform + specialists - in-house planning / trust / tax / lending / alternatives and how the RM coordinates the team around the client
• Sourcing + book growth - the typical sources of new relationships (referrals, COIs, niche) and how new RMs ramp the book
• Multi-generational + NextGen - the firm's approach to family meetings, NextGen engagement, and retention through the wealth transfer
• Fee + value articulation - the fee model, where it's heading, and the house framing of the advisor's value vs the robo / DIY alternative

Sourced from

Wealth Management Interview Guide — Top Questions · InterviewPrep — Private Banker Interview Questions · CFA Institute / AnalystPrep — Investment Policy Statement (Level III) · Kitces Research — Financial Advisor Fees (via NerdWallet 2026 summary) · Mergers & Inquisitions — Asset / Wealth Management interview canon · Redstone Search — Private Banking Interview Questions