In the late 1990s "there was this sense that money could be made hand over fist without much thought," says Carlos Torre, sales manager of Merrill Lynch's Coral Gables office. "There was a question as to whether you needed an advisor." Now he and other wealth managers work day and night to leave no such question in the minds of their richest clients.
Despite the lush trappings of the job, managing money for wealthy people became a relatively thankless job in 2001 and 2002, as the ...