Julian Smith
Baby boomers are a new investor category that behaves much like a traditional fund manager, and are not well served, according to financial services provider Opes Prime.
Director Opes Prime Julian Smith believes this new ‘mid market’ is blurring the traditional definitions between institutional and retail services, with ‘baby boomers’ taking control of their investments and requiring the same services as any other fund manager.
“They seek advice when they need it, act alone when they want to. This is making the distinction between institutional and retail investors blurred, if not disappearing fast,” Smith said.
“This is the biggest shift in the investment advice and financial services sector in over 20 years. It has been evolutionary however, and the financial service providers have been slow to react.”
According to Smith, the growth in family investment money is also part of the trend with “many families having $10 million of assets and many have up to $100 million and above. They are a mini institutional investor.”
Smith said this new ‘mid market’ has created demand for investment tools previously only accessed by institutional investors, and that the industry needed to adapt by bringing institutional level products and services directly to this market.
