(Envestnet) Cutting-edge client experiences are hallmarks of highly successful wealth management firms (and, consequently, their highly satisfied clients).
Custom goal setting, life planning, and financial wellness guidance–it’s all made possible by data and data analytics, which in turn allows for extreme personalization, the new standard of service across many industries. And as more people expect custom, data-driven services, more wealth firms must scale up their approach to analytics in order to retain clients, secure generational wealth, and sustain growth.
Personalization is the new normal
One-size-fits-all service models are outdated, especially in a world where so much data is available as a means of tailoring customer experiences.
Take, for example, entertainment: media streaming companies use data to offer personally relevant recommendations about what to watch or listen to next, as well as serve relevant products and services to different demographics. An analytics strategy like this is a win-win: customers are more satisfied with their experiences, and streaming providers have a better understanding of their audiences’ needs and how to serve them. In fact, McKinsey estimates that by 2030, up to 80% of new wealth management clients will want to access advice in a Netflix-style model—that is, data-driven, hyper-personalized, continuous–and potentially by subscription.
But entertainment isn’t the only industry that’s wise to the personalization game. Clothing retailers, vehicle manufacturers and dealerships, and grocery stores are just a few of the verticals integrating themselves in customers’ daily lives with custom service, offers, and other content. Wealth management firms have an opportunity to embrace this phenomenon and create relevant experiences for their investors as well–experiences that satisfy, delight, and facilitate stronger relationships ahead of the “great wealth transfer” of our time.
Investor needs have changed
Investing has never been a one-size-fits-all process. Even now, up to 70% of clients choose their advisors based on the level of personalization they’re able to provide. But many wealth management firms have struggled to customize their services to investors–especially due to challenges around data and data analytics.
With millennials poised to inherit from their parents–a sum of nearly $70 trillion by 2042–wealth firms must understand what these younger investors want and pivot to deliver it. If not, they may find themselves out of a job; only 13% of investors choose to continue working with their parents’ firms. Wealth managers must be prepared to proactively guide such clients in purchasing homes, saving for their children’s college educations, and other major life events.
How wealth firms can scale up
The personalization revolution is not the future: it’s now. Deloitte discovered wealth and asset management firms that embrace digital transformation increase their productivity by 13.8%, AUM by 8.1%, and revenue by 7.7%. Wealth management firms must create relevant experiences for their investors as well–services that satisfy, delight, and facilitate relationships that stand the test of time (and inheritance).
Understanding investors’ changing needs and pivoting to meet them means making good use of your data. Making good use of your data means partnering with a solutions provider that empowers you to make data-driven decisions that benefit both your firm and your clients. Learn more about how to make this possible with Envestnet’s Wealth Data Platform (WDP).
Put your data to work.
Get more out of client data. The Envestnet WDP is an advanced practice management platform that provides over 50 KPIs in business, client, and market stability categories so you know where you stand (or how to get to where you need to be). Leverage pro forma financial projections, valuation and status views, firm details, and high performers at a glance, as well as planned and unplanned succession management tools.
Track your firm’s health.
Grow your firm by unlocking unrealized potential. With the Envestnet WDP, it’s easy to compare relative performance and make timely, data-driven course corrections. Unique peer benchmarking capabilities (through our Insights Engine and Truelytics products) show ranked advisor and firm reports using selected attributes. Plus, drive firm value, understand your firm’s health (and the competition’s), plan strategically, act on growth opportunities, and manage long-term succession with supercharged holistic data and analytics.
Offer relevant guidance.
Plan for your clients’ most relevant life events. Using models, the Envestnet WDP can help forecast the next steps for clients and suggest personalized conversation-starters that drive conversions. Looking to consolidate assets? Discover whether what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, too. Harness insights from other professionals’ track records–fund managers, vendors, and others–and use them to inform your approach with data-supported strategies.
An Intelligent Financial Life™ begins with Envestnet
Personalization may seem intimidating, but with the right partner–and the right data-backed financial wellness solutions–making the leap is more like taking a step in the right direction. Not just for your firm’s health, but for your clients’ financial wellness, too.
Data analytics will continue to play an ever-increasing role in how wealth management firms do business, and investors have already noticed when their advisors can’t or don’t offer the level of customization that’s become standard in most other facets of their lives. It’s no longer a matter of “when” (because the answer is “now”); it’s a matter of “how”–and Envestnet’s Wealth Data Platform is here to help.
