William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

Texas A&M University School of Law announces the launch of its revolutionary online graduate curricula in Wealth Management  — developed as an important part of the public university’s mission.  Delivered completely online, the Wealth Management curricula is built around the needs of wealth advisory professionals to become versed in the legal and planning aspects of financial analysis, high net wealth taxation, portfolio management, family office, charitable planning, retirement and executive compensation, securities and market regulation, and insurance/annuities. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike will take a deep dive into the intricacies of managing wealth and its associated risks, critical in a rapidly evolving workplace climate.

Texas A&M law professor William Byrnes, who conceptualized both curricula and pioneered online legal education 20 years ago, quoted an industry research report, “industry research from analytics firm Cerulli Associates uncovered that 43% of all financial advisors are either at or are approaching retirement with one-third of advisors between 55 to 64.  Advisory firm Edwardes Jones, with 12,000 locations and more than $900 billion assets under management agreed with the Cerruli report that 237,000 new financial professionals are needed to keep up with the demand of retiring baby boomers.” Says William Byrnes, “Yet universities remain stuck in a silo approach to education, with graduates unprepared for the financial advisor requirements of these firms and their clients.  Firms must be fearless pushing universities to fulfil their role for educating and training graduates for employment outcomes.”

Ernst & Young’s Tax Insights magazine, distributed to its clients and through the Financial Times,  stated “Texas A&M University is among the pioneers of change in tax education. In 2013, the State of Texas not only established a new law school at the university but also gave it carte blanche to create a new education model.”

“Very few law graduates that my company interviews studied advanced planning and thus can’t sit down with clients to address these tax and financial advisory questions,” added Robert Bloink, an attorney who has advised on over two billion dollars of insurance premium.

“For complex modern families with multiple marriages and various children, a properly educated wealth manager knows the questions to ask, then how to research and analyze the legal and financial issues associated with non-probate assets”, interjected Dr. George Mentz of the American Academy of Financial Management which is mentioned as an industry professional association for financial analysts on the Department of Labor website.

“A client-centric wealth management approach  requires that the education model be developed and taught by multi-disciplinary academics and professionals.” explains William Byrnes. “A Texas A&M graduate will be able to evidence career preparation as a financial advisor or financial analyst wealth manager with an industry tailored wealth manager curriculum that includes aspects of the Series 7, wealth, and legal planning.”   According to National Law Journal (May 20, 2013), “No one in legal academia has more experience with online master’s degrees than William Byrnes.”