NEW YORK, NY, August 30, 2022 – Despite billions of dollars invested by wealth managers in digital tools and features, less than half (45) of individual investors say they are very satisfied with the offerings they receive today, according to research by the Money Management Institute (MMI) and Aon plc. The report titled ”Improving the Digital Experience through Simplification and Personalization” examines the digital experience through the lens of both the investor and the advisor.
“Investor and advisor views of the digital experience and tools offered by the financial services industry are shaped by the type of interactions they have grown accustomed to in other areas of their daily lives, such as e-commerce or media consumption,” said Craig Pfeiffer, President and CEO of MMI. “To satisfy their heightened expectations, wealth management firms must deliver digital tools that are simpler to use and understand and more customized to the individual user.”
“Advisors and investors agree on the need for simpler and better integrated digital tools so that information and insights are more readily accessible to help inform better decision making,” said Peter Keuls, Global Head of Wealth Management at Aon. “One way wealth managers can accomplish this is by making it easy to personalize the digital and content experience to just the features that are relevant to a particular investor.”
The study found that:
- Investors are significantly less satisfied with their digital tools than with their wealth manager overall. Only 45% of investors are very satisfied with the digital tools provided to them by their wealth manager vs. 59% who are very satisfied with their wealth management relationship overall.
- Investors seek digital tools that are easier to use and digest. 85% of investors and 94% of advisors favor greater simplicity and integration with other applications. Only 15% of investors and 6% of advisors desire more expansive features. Investors overwhelmingly prefer short-form content and easily digestible visualizations (71%) to the research reports with longer narratives that are more typical of research outputs.
- Utilization rates of digital offerings by clients and advisors are frustratingly low today. The biggest obstacle to adoption of tools is their complexity. Among investors who do not use financial planning tools to forecast retirement assets, only 36% feel that they do not need them, with the rest indicating that the tools are too difficult to use.
- Investors want personalized content, but advisors find it difficult to deliver. Nearly 70% of investors prefer more personalized content, as opposed to general market information. However, only 39% of advisors find it very easy to personalize content topics for their clients, let alone the format in which that content is delivered.
For more information, view the report here.
About Advisory Solutions: Expectations and Experiences:
Now in its third year, the Expectations and Experiences research is a three-part series based on a proprietary research program sponsored by the Money Management Institute (MMI) in association with Aon, that explores the gaps that have emerged between client expectations for investment advice and the solutions delivered by wealth managers. The research also explores how these gaps are undermining client satisfaction and wealth management firm performance.
About the Money Management Institute (MMI):
Established in 1997, the Money Management Institute (MMI) is the industry association representing financial services firms that provide financial advice and investment advisory solutions to investors. Through conferences, educational resources, and thought leadership, MMI facilitates peer-to-peer connections, fosters industry knowledge and professionalism, and supports the development of the next generation of industry leadership. MMI member firms are dedicated to helping individual and institutional investors, at every level of assets, plan for and fulfill their financial goals. For more information, visit www.MMInst.org.
About Aon:
You can learn more about Aon here.
Contacts:
Kelly Caporale, Money Management Institute, kcaporale@mminst.org, (646) 868-8514
Robert Elfinger, Aon, robert.elfinger@aon.com, (312) 381-007
