Building client trust beyond the advisor’s office walls
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MassMutual’s Kelli Stanko explains why digital hyper-independence cannot replace the trusted, human relationships that high-net-worth clients demand, and how advisors can rebuild genuine community
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FOR YEARS, wealth management has been adding more doors. Clients can log in from anywhere, open accounts online, sign documents electronically, and even ask AI to explain tax strategies in seconds. Every improvement has made advice easier to reach and has slowly changed what clients need an advisor for.
The same technology that lets advisors move faster also lets clients do more without them, raising the bar for what an advisor has to offer over do-it-yourself wealth management options. Yet by most measures, demand for human financial advisors has not fallen. It has kept climbing, even as the tools available to clients have gotten better.
McKinsey’s research on the US wealth management industry found that the share of investors seeking more holistic advice grew from 29 percent in 2018 to 52 percent in 2023, and that clients are increasingly willing to pay a premium for advice delivered by a person rather than an algorithm.
This is how Kelli Stanko, head of private wealth consultants at MassMutual Private Wealth, thinks about advisor growth. Stanko believes advisors now have a different opportunity: to create the kinds of relationships and communities technology cannot replicate.
Before joining MassMutual three years ago, Stanko spent
For 175 years, MassMutual has stood beside generations through life’s defining moments, guided by a clear, enduring purpose: We help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. What began in 1851 as a bold idea rooted in neighbors helping neighbors has grown into one of America’s largest mutual life insurance companies, serving more than four million customers with over $1 trillion in life insurance in force and $584 billion in assets under management, all built on a foundation of more than $34 billion in capital strength.
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From third place to client experience
The idea of the “third place,” introduced by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, describes the community spaces where relationships are built outside home and work. Stanko sees those environments as an overlooked opportunity for advisors to earn trust before business begins.
“I do not think that wealth management is only about investment results. It is about instilling confidence in a client’s financial plans and providing that through the human element”
Kelli Stanko,
MassMutual Private Wealth
years as a wholesaler at Northern Trust Asset Management, where MassMutual was one of her firm’s top focus accounts. The role gave her an understanding of the company’s advisor culture before she ever joined the team.
“I do not think that wealth management is only about investment results,” Stanko says. “It is about instilling confidence in a client’s financial plans and providing that through the human element.”
Clients continue to seek out human advisors because they do more than provide financial guidance. They create a space where clients can think out loud, test ideas, be held accountable, and talk through decisions with someone who understands both the numbers and the person behind them.
Information is everywhere; perspective is not
Every advisor eventually has a meeting with someone who’s already spent hours researching online. They’ve read articles, watched videos, and asked AI a few questions, and they arrive ready to compare what they’ve found with a professional’s perspective. The depth of information has changed; clients can now compare strategies, model scenarios, and form with well-supported opinions.
Stanko calls this “digital hyper-independence.” The phrase may sound like another piece of industry jargon, but it describes a behavioural shift that most advisors are already seeing. Clients have never had easier access to financial information and they often come to meetings equipped with pre-planned strategies.
For advisors building a book of business solo, without a firm’s resources behind them, the job has almost split into two. They are not just providing information anymore − clients can find plenty of that on their own − but interpreting it, catching what is incomplete or simply wrong, and doing that for every client, with no one to lean on. That is a hard service model to compete on alone.
What a firm like MassMutual offers instead, Stanko says, is not just technical support but a community-like culture built into its client service model: a dedicated home office of specialists, including JDs, CFAs, and CFPs, standing behind the advisor the same way the advisor stands behind the client.
“During most important financial decisions, clients are not looking for another pie chart put in front of them,” she explains. “They’re not looking for another dashboard or another line item. They need someone that can provide perspective and break down the complexities and provide options and considerations that include both upsides and downsides of various decisions.”
The clearest examples, Stanko says, come when clients are making major financial decisions. In her experience, as wealth has grown more complex − through business exits, the oft-cited multigenerational wealth transfers, and family governance decisions − clients often value pairing a trusted network of specialists with their own research, rather than relying on either one alone.
Trust plays a role too, as confidence in digital sources remains low compared to a bench of subject matter experts that clients can tap into. Six years removed from the pandemic, clients have not lost their appetite for sitting across from another person.
The value of a third place
The opportunity, Stanko argues, isn’t simply to meet more prospective clients. It’s to become part of the communities where trust develops naturally.
That is where the idea of the “third place” comes in. Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, the term refers to the spaces people choose to spend time outside home and work. That’s important because trust tends to develop differently there. Instead of being earned through a presentation or a pitch, it grows gradually through familiarity, consistency, and shared experiences.
“It just goes to show that humans are always going to crave that intentional connection,” she says. “If you’re looking to acquire new clients, make that personal connection, or establish meaningful relationships, finding the third place is key.”
advice than many assume, building those relationships early becomes even more important. “There hasn’t really been a large focus on getting to know the next generation within the family,” Stanko says, “and that is something that absolutely needs to change.”
For advisors looking ahead to 2027, Stanko believes it’s worth stepping back to evaluate how they’re building relationships, whether their brand reflects the clients they want to attract, and whether their growth strategy still matches the way trust is earned today.
Stanko expects technology to become an even more seamless part of advice. Clients may arrive with more information than ever before, but they’re still looking for confidence, perspective, and someone they trust. Her focus is helping advisors build practices rooted in conversations, communities, and trusted relationships so they can deliver the perspective and connection clients will continue to seek, regardless of how sophisticated technology becomes.
Published August 24, 2026
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“During most important financial decisions, clients are not looking for another pie chart. They need someone that can provide perspective and break down the complexities and provide options and considerations that include both upsides and downsides of various decisions”
Kelli Stanko,
MassMutual Private Wealth
Foster client-to-client connections, not just advisor-to-client relationships.
Replace one-off events with ongoing community experiences.
Build familiarity through regular touchpoints beyond portfolio reviews.
Create spaces where conversations extend beyond financial planning.
Make your practice feel like a trusted community, not just a professional service.
Information has become abundant, while perspective remains scarce. Clients often need help filtering noise.
Beyond digital hyper-independence
MassMutual believes technology has raised client expectations, but it hasn’t reduced the need for trusted human advice.
AI can accelerate research, but trust develops over time. The strongest relationships are built through consistent human interaction.
Community creates context; shared experiences often reveal goals, concerns, and opportunities.
The “third place” offers opportunities to build authentic relationships.
Advisors who invest in connection will be better positioned for the next generation of clients.
According to Stanko, finding a third place means identifying a space tied to a genuine interest, hers or her clients’, and showing up there regularly enough that relationships form on their own terms rather than being forced. Stanko found that place in a yoga sculpt class she attends four to five times a week. “It’s not only been a place for me physically that has allowed me to pour into my own cup and feel really healthy, but also from a mental standpoint,” she says. “I’ve met a lot of new friends. People that have impacted my life and have really shaped what I want the future to look like.”
The intention here is not to create a new networking event but rather to spend time where clients already enjoy being.
To help advisors approach that more intentionally, Stanko developed what she calls the chameleon mindset. The framework encourages advisors to identify the communities where they naturally belong and build relationships through authentic participation. Over time, through those relationships, advisors are better positioned to pull clients out of hyper-independent thinking.
Furthermore, they’re able to understand clients’ values, priorities, and concerns more deeply, making their guidance far more personal than any digital experience can offer. That trust becomes increasingly valuable when clients are bombarded with information yet still need someone who can bring perspective, help clarify competing priorities, and give them the confidence to act.
Looking beyond the client in front of you
One assumption Stanko is particularly keen to challenge is that Gen Z wants a purely digital relationship. A 2025 PYMNTS Intelligence survey found that although Gen Z prefers digital channels for most financial transactions, 46 percent still want in-person interaction when seeking financial advice.
Advisors often focus on the client sitting across the table and tend to pay too little attention to the next generation behind them. If younger clients place more value on face-to-face
MassMutual Private Wealth is a marketing name for MML Investors Services, LLC and MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust, FSB, both subsidiaries of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). Securities and investment advisory services are offered through qualified representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SIPC. 1295 State Street, Springfield, MA 01111-0001. Trust and estate planning services are offered through MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust, FSB, a federal savings bank.