The wealth management sector is rapidly evolving; the pace of change in terms of client expectations, service delivery, product offering, breadth of services and digitization is unimaginable.
COVID-19 was transformative for the industry, accelerating changes that were already in play, such as a digitized offering to allow for an omni-opti channel approach. It accelerated the need to provide a tailored and personalized offering to meet individual customer needs and exceed expectations. In addition to thematic trends such as the ‘Great Wealth Transfer,’ the move to ESG and private markets, and against a backdrop of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, wealth managers certainly have plenty to think about.
The role of technology in this mix cannot be underestimated – it serves to underpin and enhance wealth management offerings from all angles and is crucial in delivering what the service customers expect and in providing insights to shape the strategic agenda.
Accordingly, our survey of wealth management executives in partnership with Fintech Futures revealed a host of priorities and focus points. The aim was to get a feel of what wealth managers are experiencing in terms of their technology situation, current limitations, priority areas, and how the need to provide a better service level for the client and optimize the wealth manager’s time relying on solid technology tools.
The overall impression was that all respondents were keenly aware of the need to provide a high-quality and differentiated customer experience in terms of the actual service and investment proposition and the way that it is delivered. To deliver on that, wealth managers need to have robust technology in terms of both the architecture and the software.
It is no surprise then that technology strategy centers around software to support the wealth manager’s front-end and operations experience through enhancing data management and analytics capabilities. In terms of what wealth managers want to offer to the client, digital channels, collaboration tools, rich UX, digital and hybrid offerings, and front-office tooling are deemed essential and in high demand. Underneath the delivery mechanisms, the investment requirements of wealthy individuals are broad – they want to have access to the full spectrum of investment vehicles and expect to have regular communications as well as digital reporting in place. ESG was discussed as something that all firms now need to offer, given its importance to the next generation of investors. To that end, meeting not just the needs of today’s investors but also staying relevant into the future, wealth managers know that they need to invest in a robust architecture that will allow them to be flexible and deliver on product, service, and delivery – now and in the future
Respondents are conscious of the pressure to provide high quality and differentiated customer experience, and the key role that technology plays in meeting these expectations.
We are delighted to publish this report on technology trends within the wealth management community. The past few years have not only seen exponential advances in technology which enterprises can leverage but also in culture, as there is widespread acceptance in integrating digital and mobile technologies into the day-to-day lives of consumers.
Staying relevant to the client and providing a differentiated experience overall accounts for 61% of the respondents
Given the rise in general affluence across large sections of the global population, wealth management driven by advisory and self-service models is becoming an essential offering across the financial services spectrum, including retail banks. This enables and drives a 360-degree engagement with customers, resulting in a critical revenue stream for the industry.
With increasing uncertainties in geo-political situations and ongoing inflation, firms are seeing increased interest in wealth management services across all segments, including the mass market, mass affluent, and high net worth individuals. traditional investment advisory is actively being supplemented by hybrid and robo-advisory as the younger generation seeks more digital experiences and engagements.
Customer and advisor user journeys that leverage omnichannel models simplified user experiences, hybrid advice, and collaboration tools will continue to evolve as a priority. Core applications will aggressively adopt emerging technologies like AI-ML tools and cloud, among others, based on the use cases relevant to the business.
From the results of the survey described in this report, we see a clear need for wealth managers to take advantage of the benefits that technology can bring in terms of day-to-day efficiencies and improved customer experience. They can enhance their abilities to grow and scale and build a sustainable strategy for the future.
To know more about the report: https://www.fintechfutures.com/2023/12/report-trends-in-technology-for-the-wealth-management-community/