As digital engagement is now non-negotiable in the wealth industry, a Refinitiv report highlights both the demand for innovation and the invaluable role of the advisor.
- Investor demand for digital engagement has been propelled by the demand for mobile apps to access their account information.
- Refinitiv’s latest wealth report uncovers key insights from over 1,500 investors around the world, highlighting the demand for mobile engagement.
- Both advisor-led and hybrid investors greatly value recommendations from advisors as their top source of reliable information.
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Now, more than ever, digital innovation in wealth management is a necessity.
We have witnessed a permanent shift in how digital innovations impact our day-to-day lives, across almost all industries. Videocalls, chat features, research and news distributed via social media have replaced a culture of quarterly meetings in a conference room, and investors wish to see these innovations streamline and enhance their experiences in the wealth space.
Our latest Refinitiv report takes an on-the-ground look at digital engagement across the wealth industry from investors themselves and concludes that, when optimally employed, technology complements human engagement in the wealth space.
Download our latest wealth report to discover key insights and trends from over 1500 investors
Humans and technology: better together
Our research shines a light on the valuable opportunity presented to wealth managers who leverage digital innovation and evolve their offerings.
Contrary to the belief that increasingly sophisticated technology threatens the role of the advisors, digital innovation offers wealth advisors the chance to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive environment.
When asked which sources of investment information are seen as being the most valuable, we found that 58 percent of all advisor-led investors and 62 percent of all hybrid-advisor and self-directed investors view “advisor recommendations” as their most reliable source.
Even generally tech-savvy millennial respondents value advisor-investor relationships, with 38 percent selecting recommendations from their advisor or broker as their chief source of investment ideas.
Platforms for reliable information
Millennials do, however, value social media nearly as much as advisor-led input as the most reliable source of investment information.
This might seem unsurprising to those more familiar with finance-focused social media, but the influence of online content creators and the information they distribute via social media has grown dramatically.
Our research found that 35 percent of the millennial demographic value social media above all other sources of investment information, which highlights the increasing power of the social media machine and can tell us a lot about market sentiment.
We cannot speak on digital engagement through social media without discussing the importance of mobile engagement.
There is great demand for mobile apps when accessing account information and our survey results support this. Nearly half (46 percent) of all investors say they access account information via a mobile app, and this figure rises sharply to 72 percent among millennial respondents.
Going forward, mobile engagement is set to take centre stage as investors desire easy, on-the-go access to portfolio information, real-time data, trading tools, tax documents and more. These capabilities are fast becoming non-negotiable for successful client engagement.
Future-proofing advisor-led business
Given these insights and looking ahead, successful wealth managers should continue to employ a mix of human and digital engagement to build valuable relationships but should also focus on:
- Ensuring that they offer clients enhanced mobile access to their portfolios
- Developing and enhancing their social media presence, because these media platforms cannot be overlooked given the significant power they now wield in terms of driving market sentiment
- Employing technology to streamline investments into a single view
These conclusions present wealth industry participants with some golden opportunities to optimise their client engagement models; enhance their services and stand the best chance of attracting and retaining market share in the years ahead.
