Credibility now comes with a supporting cast

Clients rarely walk in with a question about asset allocation and nothing else. An inheritance turns into a tax question, an estate-planning conversation and a family negotiation, sometimes within the same phone call. A business sale, a divorce, an aging parent tend to unfold the same way. Issues that extend well beyond the portfolio itself.

On September 30, 2026 at 2 p.m. ET, MassMutual Wealth Management will host a live webinar featuring chief investment officer Daken Vanderburg, to looks at why so many advisor conversations begin with a personal or family situation rather than an investment question.

MassMutual’s approach is built around having a network of specialists available when the situation calls for it, including estate attorneys, CPAs, trust professionals, long-term care specialists and business succession experts.

Vanderburg argues that advisors need to think differently about where their role begins and ends, “Preparation starts with recognizing that modern wealth management is increasingly about coordination rather than specialization alone,” he says. That means spotting “the moments in a client’s life that may have financial implications beyond investments” by asking broader questions and watching for connections between family dynamics, taxes, estate planning, insurance and long-term goals.

Attendees can expect to come away with:

• A clearer sense of why tax, estate and planning specialists need to be part of an advisor’s regular toolkit, not a last resort
• How technology can support an advisor’s credibility rather than replace it
• Practical approaches to conversations with clients navigating a period Vanderburg describes as one of ongoing uncertainty

The session will also cover what Vanderburg considers a more lasting change for the industry: advisors positioning themselves as “the coordinator of expertise, not simply the provider of investment advice.” That is what will “strengthen relationships, deepen client trust, and create a more differentiated value proposition in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

Register here for the webinar to hear Vanderburg discuss how advisors can build that network, recognize when specialist expertise is needed and make collaboration a more deliberate part of the client relationship.

This article is produced in partnership with MassMutual