LinkedIn recently produced some interesting research in conjunction with Greenwich Associates about the next generation client journey in wealth management.
HNWI’s look to their wealth advisers to keep them updated on what’s going on in the markets and for recommendations on what they should do next. These needs are relatively consistent regardless of investable assets, but some generational differences do exist.
When market volatility increases, so does frequency of contact, although less than initially expected. Only 6% of all HNWI’s expressed the desire for daily contact, while 60% wanted contact at most on a monthly basis. Millennials, however, are driving some change here, with 15% interested in hearing from their wealth adviser daily when markets get rocky. Younger investors place greater importance on news updates from their wealth manager. At first glance this might seem odd, if we assume that younger generations are more connected to current events via electronic channels. However, this food of information makes it hard to weed out news that could ultimately impact a portfolio. Wealth managers can act as a human filter, alerting millennial clients when an economic event should matter to them. In contrast, the research shows that Generation X is much more apt to read financial news and can interpret the impact of the market on their investment portfolio. As a result, Generation X is less interested in updates from their advisers on broad market happenings.
Email was the preferred method of contact for such ongoing updates, trumping even in- person meetings that were so popular among HNWI’s in the early phases of the client journey. Millennials continue to show their demand for newer methods of delivery, such as mobile apps and social media. For those millennials who said their contact preference had changed in the past year, over 70% said they wanted more electronic communications.
According to the survey respondents, the following are the most valued social media interactions with wealth managers:
- Staying informed about timely news updates
- Receiving more frequent communications/outreach
- Participating in or listening to discussions regarding financial topics
- Engaging in interactive conversations via screen-sharing/Webex/messaging
