Speaking and engaging in a language and via technology they understand
The greying of asset-rich baby boomers should be spurring a marketing push by financial advisers looking to build a pipeline of millennial prospects now in the wealth-accumulation phase. Attracting the next generation of client now, even if their net worth may be puny, is key to the long-term survival of all financial service providers in the future.
Generation X and Generation Y
The way financial advisers communicate with Generation X and Generation Y needs to be different from how they relate to wealthier clients in or near retirement. Marketing to these generations successfully means speaking and engaging with them in a language and via technology they understand.
Ask yourself this critical question: how can I build an important connection to the next generation of my clients’ children?
Transformation of other industries
With the rise of Artificial Intelligence and automation, robo-advice will increasingly be the next logical step in the evolution of the advice your clients’ children seek. These Generation X and Generation Y clients have new thinking patterns, standards and expectations. They think about advice differently from previous generations and expect to interact with their adviser in a different way.
Technology is poised to change the nature and delivery of financial advice in some significant ways, much as it has transformed other industries such as tax preparation, taxi booking and accommodations, to mention just a few, it’s also possible to claim for R&D tax credits and there are services out there to help with that, for example see these R&D tax credit examples for more information.
Leveraging client survey data
The reality is that the younger generation of clients are changing the way they obtain advice and how they discover products, thanks to these new technologies, innovative business models and disruptive brands. Whether we like it or not, robo-advisers are growing in popularity with these generations and have gained traction in the marketplace.
In the last five years, a number of robo-advisers have emerged. These firms are leveraging client survey data into complex algorithms that produce customised financial plans and asset allocations. They are also helping investors find relevant research within an ever-growing universe of studies, interviews and market commentaries.
Shift from human-based, person-to-person advice
Some firms have also pioneered tools and methodologies that generate real-time trade and investment recommendations tailored to individual investors’ history and preferences. Once the models and algorithms have been built and tested, investing and trading tools can be made available to clients with limited human intervention, emphasising the shift from human-based, person-to-person advice to science-based, model-driven advice and these tools can be found in sites like day-traders.net.
Paradoxically, many clients’ lives have become increasingly more complicated, and the investment environment has grown more uncertain, creating a need for more face-to-face advice, not less. For instance, as they try to achieve multiple goals (for example, sustaining a certain lifestyle, buying a second house, paying for children’s education, retiring with confidence and ease, funding rising healthcare cost of ageing parents, etc.), they will need personal advice on how to fund these multiple goals over time, how to make trade-offs between them, and how to use the full strength of their personal balance sheet and manage to the right mix of assets and liabilities over time.
Trends, challenges and opportunities
The traditional financial services industry model is acutely experiencing these trends, presenting many challenges – and opportunities – to a wide array of service providers, from firms with rich legacies to innovative new entrants who are out to change the very definition of the industry.
At Goldmine Media, we’ve seen a major shift to holistic, goals-based advice and measuring performance based on achieving clients’ goals within agreed time frames rather than beating market benchmarks. This has also broadened the range of advice financial advisers have been providing, from investment to wealth management, and escaping the commoditisation of investment advice.
Know what clients want and when
A 2019 wealth management survey from EY highlighted findings that clients are moving to capture better value. They see the highest overall value for financial advice during major life events and as their wealth and level of investment knowledge increases. They tend to value the different parts of the wealth management relationship fairly evenly across an array of dimensions, but there is nuance within demographic breakdowns of each dimension.
The wealthiest and youngest are least loyal
The research also showed there is significant movement of clients underway: one third of clients moved money in the last three years, and one third plan to move over the next three. With no one provider able to solve their varied needs, they are maintaining an average of five different types of provider relationships. They are moving to smaller, more nimble providers that can solve their unique needs – specifically independent advisers and FinTechs, who can offer more tailored solutions to meet individual needs.
Solutions are more important than products and services
Clients reported they wanted more advice and planning, but many are holding back because offerings are often fragmented, and fees are too high or complicated. While specific client segments do value specific products highly, most clients want simple, clear and connected solutions over individual products and services.
Digital assistants are in increasing demand
The move to mobile applications has happened more quickly than many predicted. Now, digital and voice-enabled assistants are emerging at the same pace as a preferred platform for wealth management clients. According to the research, more clients are also starting to use chatbots not only for basic, transactional activities, but also for managing wealth and receiving financial advice.
Rethink payment strategies to build trust
Many ultra-high-net-worth clients reported they did not trust that they were being charged fairly by their provider, and a majority want to change their payment method, as the common percentage-of-assets fee model becomes less and less popular. Leading providers have a big opportunity to build trust by pricing transparently and predictably.
Building multi-generational relationships
As the financial services industry moves into the 2020s, the two major demographic shifts that will impact the financial services industry in the coming decade are the ageing of advisers, with many approaching retirement age, and the transfer of wealth from baby boomers to their children. Both trends are likely to result in a massive dislocation of existing adviser client relationships. In other words, assets will likely change both owners and advisers.
The ageing adviser is likely to be a significant issue for the industry as a whole. It will be essential for firms to meet this by building multi-generational relationships with their clients and their families – and by adapting to meet the expectations of their new clients.
Are you combining relationship building with consistent nurturing to create clients for life?
A clear opportunity exists to make financial advice more effective and impactful by better aligning to what clients truly value. As the industry grapples with new entrants, new technologies and ever-changing client expectations, financial advice providers must make the necessary changes to retain their existing clients and win over a new generation of clients. Key to this will be combining relationship building with consistent nurturing to create clients for life. For more information about how Goldmine Media can help your business, talk to a member of our Business Development Team on 0845 686 0055, or email: findoutmore@goldminemedia.co.uk.
