Those surveyed had seen increased demands that technology and robo-advice play a greater role in the wealth management, with HNWIs looking to wealth managers and banks to invest in technology to de-risk investment management and tailor advice to individual needs.
Wealth managers believed that delivering highly personalised services would be essential to achieve a competitive differentiation, but a third were unable to use personalised services to the degree they wished.
The report highlighted three “pathways to success” that would define the next generation wealth manager: customer experience enhanced by digital client services and personalisation; insight gained through artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics; and new markets defined by the mass affluent and alternative investments and operational efficiencies.
Among the top findings of the report:
- 64 percent of wealth managers said digitisation was essential for communications and service enhancement, up from 52 per cent in 2017 and 25 per cent in 2016;
- 83 per cent of HNWIs believed senior management needed to commit greater resources to technology investment;
- Acceptance in digitization among HNWIs had significantly increased over the past three years (up to 87 per cent);
- 86 per cent of wealth managers saw AI as important in data analysis and personalised insights compared to 67 per cent in 2018; and
- Technology should unlock more active portfolio management, provide insights driven by AI and reveal new opportunities in alternative investments.
