Survey reveals Gen Zs and young millennials are far more likely to log into client portals daily
Clients are taking greater advantage of access to online portals offered by their financial advisors than they were two years ago, especially younger clients.
A new survey from Advisor360 reveals that 69% of clients say they are checking portals more often with three quarters doing so at least weekly and 33% of Gen Zs and younger millennials logging in daily.
The survey was conducted among high-net-worth and mass affluent respondents (aged 20-83) to discover how they use technology to engage with their financial advisors and how they rank the digital tools available for them to do this.
All respondents had at least US$250k managed by their advisor and average assets of more than $568k.
While the importance of advisors offering the ability to access their accounts online is clear – 82% of respondents said their advisors offer a client portal and 91% are happy with them – most do not want to switch to DIY investing.
Those whose experience o the portal offered was most positive said that access to real-time portfolio information was most important while just 10% said that their advisor’s offering met expectations for educational content and market research.
“Our survey confirmed that individuals who hire financial advisors want the professionals to do their jobs and are not interested acting as their own investment managers,” said Rich Hart, Advisor360°’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. “Although they want to be connected to their advisor and their assets, clients rely on their advisors to do the heavy lifting.”
Advisors achieve goals
Across both the HNWI and mass affluent respondents the top metric for judging their advisor is how well they help them achieve their financial goals.
To maximise the client-advisor relationship, they are willing to provide a comprehensive picture of their financial situation. However just 40% of respondents said their advisor knew their complete wealth profile.
Those in the oldest age groups (Baby Boomers and above) are less likely to want to share details of all their financial information including assets, liabilities, investments, insurance, real estate, and bank accounts (just 22% would do so, rising to 34% with certain restrictions).
However, among younger cohorts, almost half already share this level of information and 21% would do so without conditions.
“It makes sense that the generations who are already sharing the most about their lives online would be the least likely to have issues providing their advisors a complete and comprehensive picture of their financial portfolios,” said Hart.
Face-to-face or online chat?
Although face-to-face is the preferred engagement option of poll participants, the ability to also connect online is important with most saying that access to their portfolio online increases engagement with their advisor.
More than half (52%) of older Gen Z and young millennials want the ability to text or chat online with their advisor, the most of any generation.
The survey also revealed that not having good tech could cost advisors clients, especially among younger investors who would be more likely to switch advisor if the technology offered wasn’t good enough.
“Technology is changing the way that advisors connect with the inheritance generations, but it is not eliminating the need for strong interpersonal connections,” concluded Hart. “If anything, technology reveals the gaps in their clients’ wealth experience. It is up to advisors to provide ways to facilitate a more meaningful and collaborative financial planning experience for clients of all ages.”
