Ensuring adequate income is no longer the number one financial goal of investors, falling from 64 per cent in 2021 to 27 per cent, according to research.
Instead, protecting wealth against losses and inflation had become a top priority for Australian investors at 58 per cent, compared to 38 per cent in 2021.
This was followed by growing investment returns (46 per cent) and wealth transition (28 per cent).
The new EY Global Wealth Management Research survey of over 2,600 wealth management clients across 27 geographies observed that market volatility and global uncertainty continued to change the way people invested.
Reducing taxes had almost doubled as a goal among Australian respondents in the past two years (23 per cent in 2023 compared to 12 per cent in 2021), though it remained well below the 2019 survey result of 63 per cent.
The research also found that over a third (37 per cent) of Australian wealth management clients thought managing their wealth had become more complex over the last two years.
According to the survey, Australians displayed an increasing desire for advice and expertise to navigate market shocks. Almost half said they were looking for investment advice (46 per cent) although they fell below the Asia-Pacific average of 56 per cent.
At 57 per cent, affluent clients signalled the clearest appetite for more advice on investment services.
Scott Glover, EY Oceania’s financial services strategy leader, said: “There is an appetite among Australian investors for more advice and for finding new ways of accumulating and protecting their wealth. Interestingly, it seems that investors are increasing the breadth of what they consider advice and how they choose to consume it.”
“Given ongoing market volatility, investors have a lot of questions right now and they are hungry for advice. Continued market stress is amplifying their defensive stance as well as their appetite for both switching and adding to their portfolio,” said Rita Da Silva, EY Oceania’s wealth and asset management leader.
Displaying a strong appetite for wealth management providers, two in five Australian respondents said they planned to add a new provider, move money to another provider, or switch altogether in the next three years.
This extended to fintech, with such clients expected to more than triple (from 8 per cent to 28 per cent) by 2026. The growth in Australia was significantly ahead of the global average, which was expected to double from 9 per cent to 18 per cent over the same period.
Da Silva added: “Investment has become more complex, and wealth managers will need to manage the associated operational challenges — including the rise of digital assets and ESG funds and how investors are being influenced by market trends and economic uncertainty.”
“This sentiment, coupled with thinking around new advice models stimulated through the Quality of Advice Review, suggests the time is ripe for wealth management participants to lean into opportunities to assist Australians to grow, protect and enjoy their wealth beyond traditional concepts of financial advice.”
