How a Wealth Manager Builds Her Practice With Research

Wealth manager Taunya Villicana has been in the business since Morningstar research came mailed in binders. She knew what it took to build personalized client plans.

But as investing options ballooned over the years, she needed more from her tools. Villicana wanted independent data and research to validate her advice.

Villicana’s firm custodies with LPL Financial, one of the largest independent broker-dealers in the United States. Through LPL, she can manage her firm efficiently with platforms like Morningstar Advisor Workstation.

Villicana’s team uses Advisor Workstation to dive into investment research, analyze portfolios, and create proposals. Today, Aspirational Wealth Management has over $100 million in AUM.

One of Villicana’s long-time clients worked as a chief financial officer at a manufacturing company. He came to her with a complex portfolio and a keen interest in the numbers. As an experienced investor, it wasn’t enough to take Villicana’s word for it—he wanted to talk through the data behind her recommendations.

In each meeting, Villicana presents her vision with a live dashboard in Advisor Workstation. She can show past performance and surface the facts that inform their plan.

Her approach worked. Today her client has been retired for four years. He told Villicana, “I never felt like I had to look back,” she remembers. He said, “I felt like you staged retirement for me.” Villicana stays on top of market trends with just-in-time research in Advisor Workstation. She strives to discover small- and mid-size companies before they become household names. As Villicana develops strategies, she delves into analyst commentary with a range of perspectives on investing.

In the 1990s, Villicana got her start in the financial services industry in operations. She cold-called prospects and filled seats at monthly seminars. In one event, she realized that only two of the wealth managers there were women.

It was a lightbulb moment. Villicana had grown up on the south side of Tucson, where her mother sometimes had to pawn jewelry to pay a bill. What if investors had access to wealth managers like her, who could relate to their efforts to save and invest?

Villicana knows that for her clients, money means more than a number in the bank account. She has met many clients volunteering in the community with the Red Cross or the local school district.

Her team helps clients dig for deeper goals: how do they spend their free time? How comfortable are they with investing? Do they have a budget, a will, or charitable giving plans?

Backed by personal information, her team can analyze portfolios and their positioning with Advisor Workstation. The data and reports flow through LPL platforms for easy use, including:

• Client relationship management tools
• Investment planning tools
• Portfolio management and monitoring tools
• Research and due diligence modules
• Integrations with ClientWorks, Albridge, eMoney, MoneyGuide Pro, and RightCapital

Advisor Workstation comes with over 60 FINRA-reviewed report options. Villicana’s firm uses Workstation to win over prospects with concise proposals. Her favorites are Portfolio Snapshot and Portfolio X-Ray.

The Portfolio X-Ray report illustrates how her recommended portfolios line up against client aspirations.

At a glance, clients can review their top 10 holdings against a benchmark and understand how diversification across asset classes, style, sectors, and more is likely to affect performance.

Aspirational Wealth Management has not received any cash or non-cash compensation from Morningstar, directly or indirectly, in exchange for this client success story.