With the growing movement toward mobile trading apps and advisors use of options for their customers’ portfolios comes a new study that shows an intertwined aspect: clients and wealth managers’ use of technology for investment advice.
According to a SEI (NASDAQ:SEIC) study, while the world’s “up-and-coming wealthy” are mostly satisfied with their wealth managers’ technology use on a transactional and reporting level, they are not when it comes to using technology to show them how to invest their money.
In a new report surveying 3,477 global respondents, “The Futurewealth Report: Helpful Investment Technologies,” it disclosed with their average $1.9 million in net worth, they want their wealth managers to take the client experience up a notch through technology as a way to show their expertise (and value).
Joseph P. Ujobai, Executive Vice President of SEI, said of the results via a press release,”Integrating technology into their core service offerings will help wealth managers better satisfy the demands of their clients and prospects. The biggest impact of technology integration to date has been behind the scenes, in the middle and back office, where enhancements simplify the ease of transactions and minimize operational overhead. But investors want to experience these technology advancements themselves, and wealth managers need to prioritize giving investors digital access to the decision-making processes that inform managers’ suggested strategies. Wealth managers who use digital technology to pull investors into this discovery phase will stand out among competitors.”
Other highlights from the survey included the following:
- 59 of respondents globally are satisfied with the technology used to execute financial transactions but 40 percent are satisfied with the technology wealth managers use to demonstrate portfolio strategies.
- Satisfaction is highest in the Americas, where levels were 10 percent and nine percent higher than the global figures (mentioned above), respectively.
- Regardless of region, investment technology must move from mechanical capabilities to where investors can digitally access their advisors’ opinions on current trends, industry developments, and recommendations.
- While “previous personal experience with the firm” is the most influential factor when deciding to work with a particular financial provider (62 percent), the Futurewealthy are double- and triple-checking information digitally.
- Tools including “ratings and reviews of firm’s products and services” (50 percent) are most important, followed by “firm’s website” (47 percent), “news articles about firm and products” (46 percent), and “price comparison sites” (44 percent).
- Respondents ranked a firm’s social networking presence and blog posts as the least important factors when evaluating a financial provider.