Steady as you go: wealth managers tout modest and tested instead of latest and greatest to clients who want investment strategies for the long term.

For each of the past 30 years, Jimmy Witherspoon has watched about 50 students earn trust and wealth-management degrees from Campbell University in Buies Creek, the only school in the country to offer such a program to undergrads. "It's a really specialized area of work," says Witherspoon, the program's director. "There are a tremendous number of older trust officers who are about to age out, so banks see a need of bringing in new talent with that skill set. It's managing property, doing very sophisticated financial, tax, estate planning, but at the end of the day, the people who do well in trust are very people-oriented." Recent financial crises have made investors wary and altered their goals. But as employer-defined pensions have been replaced by employee-managed 401(k) accounts, investors need advisers who can develop customized portfolios that manage wealth for the long term. That demand is why almost all of Witherspoon's students have jobs waiting for them upon graduation.

Steve Pike, president and managing director of Chapel Hill-based Investors Trust Co., which he co-founded 10 years ago, has seen retirement saving transition firsthand. Today, the first step is defining an individual's risk tolerance. "I think individuals increasingly have to take responsibility for planning for their own retirement. By not taking enough risk when you're young, you do face the possibility of not having enough funds for retirement."

Charlotte-based Carolinas Investment Consulting LLC has added resources to its financial-planning efforts, Director of Research Oliver Cross says. "We're going to have a whole lot of folks relying on a government that is less and less able to support them. That's what keeps me up at night." Employers should provide some financial education, he says. Banks are stepping up, and he would like to see it taught more in schools.

One lesson is the importance of bonds. "They're a nice way to build balance within a portfolio," Cross says. At first glance, their typically smaller returns aren't appealing. But alternatives such as equities, currencies or commodities increase risk. "It's our job to educate our clients on likely returns that they'll get from bonds. ... We're not in bonds for the excitement. We're in bonds for the stability." Clients need to build and stick to an investing plan. "Anyone that's been in the industry knows you can't predict this stuff month to month or quarter to quarter by...