Objectway were proud to have recently presented at the Industry event focused on Customer Experience organised by Arena International and attended by senior managers from Wealth Management firms and Financial Institutions in general in London.
The topic is a particularly pertinent one and the importance of customer experience and a hybrid wealth management offering was firmly under the spotlight during the pandemic as wealth managers saw an uptake in digital engagement of more than 10X from their customers (Oliver Wyman, Global Wealth Report, 2020).
This level of attention and digital engagement continues and according to Gartner, more than 8 out of 10 Financial Institutions will compete mostly or solely on the basis of customer experience. This makes CX a critical competitive differentiator in 2022 and beyond.

Objectway’s recent research with senior executives from financial firms showed that improving the customer experience was particularly high on the agenda in terms of digital transformation projects over the coming 12 months.
For example, firms were committed to improving suitability with a view to ensuring portfolios matched the clients’ requirements and risk levels, and having the ability to make real time investment recommendations based on these customer preferences. At the same time, customers expressed a strong desire to improve their current hybrid offering.
They stressed the need for a more dynamic portal and personalised interactions with their wealth managers. Digital transformation could enable the Wow factor for customers in a number of ways. For example, by making hyper personalised reports/educational information available on the customer portal, automating many back-end processes to allow more time for the Investment manager to actually add value to their customer.
Compeer’s end customer data shows that three quarters are actually more likely to speak to their wealth manager as technology improves, again stressing the importance of an effective hybrid wealth management offering between digital and face to face components. The data also offers a stark warning for firms who do not react and get this right as up to 60% of customers will look for another provider within 12 months if improvements are not made. This is also echoed by E&Y who predict a third of clients leaving their incumbent wealth management firm over the coming 3 years as part of the intergenerational wealth transfer and the desire to move to a more digital savvy personalised firm.

So, what are the main hurdles for firms to be able to offer this effective hybrid solution, one which is easy to use and enables a personal service?
The current legacy IT architecture which most firms are burdened with, does not lend itself to efficient processes, let alone adding a personalised element.
There is often too much re keying of data, reliance on multiple disparate systems and resulting manual errors and significant time wasted on administrative tasks by people who could be adding value to their clients, if only these tasks were automated.

The outlook here is actually a positive one and the scenario should change in the near future as Objectway’s discussions and many industry reviews show the majority of firms, 7 out of 10, are currently changing their systems opting for a more modern modular open architecture.
Effective integration and STP are an important driver for this which will ultimately enable a better experience for the end customer.

The market is also looking at changing front end, client facing technology to introduce more functionality and attempting to provide a more personalised experience.
To mention, integrating a state of the art portal with their investment management solution and uploading information based on the clients preferences. Again, based on a customers’ ESG preference, education on the latest green bonds, news on projects to reduce carbon footprint, invites to webinars on the impact of ESG etc. can be made available. The use of data and analytics was mentioned and discussed at the event and although firms have made a start in this area, there is still a long way to go and improving the IT architecture certainly takes priority for now.
Customers have made it clear that they must have a better experience or else they will leave to find it somewhere else. Firms have recognized this and are using technology change to enable a better experience. Objectway concluded by discussing a case study to demonstrate the impact technology change is having on customer experience and shared insights on what is possible. The future outlook for improving customer experience is positive although a lot of work lies ahead.

If you would like to find out more about our presentation please get in touch writing at mktg@objectway.com or read the full research “Forecasting the Future: Technology And Investment In Wealth Management”.