There are over half a million wealthy older Australians considering advice and research from Netwealth has detailed the best way to target them.
Receiving over 1,600 responses, Netwealth’s Advisable Australian 2022 Report – The Established Affluent surveyed Australians aged 18 and over from 28 October to 3 November, 2021.
To help advisers understand the industry they operated in, the report segmented the sample into four groups based on age and wealth, with this year’s report focusing on wealthy older Australians which Netwealth referred to as the ‘Established Affluent’.
The Established Affluent were defined as those over-45 with parameters including, but not limited to, personal income greater than $100,000 or household income greater than $150,000.
Representing 2.8 million people holding $4.1 trillion in household wealth, almost a quarter of wealthy older Australians had household incomes of $200,000 or more, while one in 10 had incomes of $250,000 or more.
Over half of million people in this demographic were considering financial advice, the report said, while 1.1 million were already using an adviser.
The best way to target them, according to the report, was to understand buyer intent and to focus on both channel/referral networks and key messaging.
With 43% of Established Affluent saying they had found their adviser or intended to find their adviser through a friend, family member or accountant compared only 10% through online review sites, professional referrals and word of mouth were a significant source of new business.
Speaking to Money Management, Andrew Braun, Netwealth marketing general manager, said: “Almost four in 10 (39%) use a financial adviser, seven in 10 (69%) use an accountant or tax adviser, 47% get legal advice and 20% have a mortgage broker. Financial advisers should recognise that as a result there is an opportunity to build out a referral network with these trusted advisers. In fact, of those considering advice, 43% would typically go to an accountant for a referral, with a further 24% asking their lawyer”.
Netwealth presented five focus areas for key messaging to those considering advice: communicate value, experience and qualifications, technology prowess, authenticity and social purpose.
That was because only one in three of those considering advice said they could justify its value or see its benefits, 76% said the credentials of a firm were most important and one in three said technology experience would sway their experience.
What is more, 36% said they were attracted to brands that exuded intelligence, experience and collaboration while 40% said they were after authentic, compassionate and environmentally minded brands.
Of those who were unlikely to seek advice, the most-popular reasons were they could manage their own financial affairs, they would rather do it themselves and they lacked any specific needs.
