Seven years ago, Shawn P. Fowler left RAF Financial Corp. in Denver, where he specialized in institutional fixed-income and portfolio management, to join Morgan Stanley and focus on wealth management for ultra-high-net-worth clients, mostly business owners and chief executive officers.

From the start, he set out to form a team. "That was clearly where the industry was going, and what I felt was the most effective way of getting—and keeping—the type of clients I was seeking," the 38-year-old Fowler says. "I felt they could get superior advice from advisors who specialized in different areas of wealth management—all within one group."

Fowler has headed a five-member wealth management team at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's downtown Denver office for five years. With a total of $1.2 billion in assets under management, a 12-month trailing production of $3.5 million, 56 family accounts and clients with an average net worth of $45 million, no one would argue that this team works. In February, Barron's named the group to the list of "Top 1,000 Financial Advisors in the U.S." in 2008.

Fowler's experience mirrors the rise of advisor teams, which has become a dominant force in the industry over the last decade. In stark contrast to the classic "eat what you kill" mentality of years past, advisors and their firms are well aware that joining, or creating, wealth management teams can have an incredibly positive impact on their businesses.

In a survey of 1,000 advisors across different channels last year by Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates and the Financial Planning Association, 80.7% of financial advisors polled cited improved efficiency as a very important advantage to working in a team environment. Another 52% pointed to greater assets under management, while 51.3% said access to higher-net-worth clients were very important advantages.

First and, perhaps, foremost, being part of a team offers much greater workplace efficiency because it allows an advisor to delegate the more rudimentary, time-consuming tasks and spend more of his time generating revenue. Joining forces with reps with complementary areas of expertise lets him focus more time on his own specialty while making the team more attractive to a much broader array of clients and prospects.

"By combining assets, reps increase their bargaining power with asset managers and service providers," says Scott B. Smith, a senior analyst at Cerulli Associates. "Once they exceed $100 million in assets under management, team members begin to expect institutional-quality services." And, Smith says, "for the most part, they end up getting them."

But there are plenty of caveats to consider, too. No one wants to devote precious time and resources to creating something, which, in the end, simply doesn't work. With 58% of advisory teams being together for more than five years, according to the Cerulli survey, these work relationships can rival marriages for time actually spent together. Meshing different personalities, work styles and business cultures is a daunting proposition, which requires plenty of analysis and good solid planning.

In fact, good chemistry among team members may be even more important than the array of specialties they offer.

"You need to make sure everyone's rowing to the same place," says Chip Roame, managing principal of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. "It sounds so basic, but it's often overlooked," Roame says. For example, he says, you may have a 40-year-old and a 60-year-old deciding to team up. Both want to build a thriving business. But the younger advisor may feel the best way to do that is by spending money to hire more people, while the older is more concerned about maximizing his retirement funds-and more conservative about spending. "If these things aren't spelled out at the start, you'll have two people using conflicting methods to attain success-which can only equal disaster," Roame says.

Fowler says he deliberately sought to create his team from handpicked former interns; people he could groom for specific roles, rather than joining up with veterans who had already built their businesses and had their own way of doing things. "That was the most effective way, in my opinion, to get everyone on the same page," Fowler says. "We were all coming from the same place."

For instance, in 2004, Fowler, the team's chief investment officer who handles everything from asset allocation to fixed income, made advisor Maxwell Bull, his junior partner. Bull started out as intern and now he handles ongoing business development with CEOs of publicly traded companies. Bull is also a specialist in concentrated equity positions, restricted stock and Rule 144 issues.

With a wealth analyst and a client services expert already in place, the team officially began. Then, last year, Julian Kidd, another former intern who attended the University of Denver Law School with the intention of joining the team afterward, came aboard to manage businesses with CEOs of private companies, foundations and endowments. Kidd also conducts due diligence of approved alternative asset strategies.