Even so, players in the wealth management sector seem to be oblivious to their technology inadequacies. Some rate themselves as digitally sophisticated, when the only service offered to clients is a website.
Two-thirds of wealth relationship managers globally don’t consider robo-advisors a threat to their business. Moreover, they state that their clients don’t want digital functionality.
Only 34% of HNWIs in Asia Pacific are likely to recommend their current wealth manager to others. This falls to 23% among US$10 million+ clients worldwide.
Vilaiporn said the industry is acutely vulnerable to digital innovation from FinTech** incomers who can offer wealthy clients slick and highly personalised ways to manage their assets, and leverage real-time data continuously to make better financial decisions.
PwC’s report finds that ‘investment performance’ and ‘range of products and services’ are the most important aspect for all clients.
However, ‘rapport with advisor’ is much less valued, at 41% in Asia Pacific versus 50% globally. Some 77% of clients in the region rank ‘investment performance’ as the most important, against a global figure of 62%.