With millennials quickly becoming the largest client group in the market, many advisors are beginning to assess their business models and how they interact with clients in order to appease the new demands and expectations that come with working with Gen Y. Deloitte, one of reigning ‘Big 4,’ recently wrote an article, “Millennials and Wealth Management: Trends and Challenges of the New Clientele” which discusses the belief that millennials are influencing the wealth management industry.
Here are our biggest takeaways:
Personal Values
Millennials’ behavior is significantly different than that of previous generations. According to Deloitte, 75% of millennials value authenticity and refuse to stray from family or personal values. These come with things such as a focus on social responsibility, a lack of trust toward social security systems, and a demand for transparency. For advisors, the downside of the newfound focus on personal values is learning how to market toward these individuals, and adjust operations in order to meet new preferences. On the other hand, this also gives rise to a new line of product offerings that, when adopted early on, can enable advisors to protect market share and keep their leading position.
Digital Services
Millennials prefer to be self-directed in their investments. Now, this isn’t to say that they don’t value the advisor-client relationship, but rather, they prefer a marriage between the technology and the human. They want the support of a wealth manager, if needed, supporting them to make investment decisions by themselves. Things like technology communication platforms and the use of SMS over email are now a necessity. Millennials check their phones on average 150 times a day, so leveraging SMS and technology communication platforms is vital to growing your business.
Looking to the Future
Realistically, the average age of advisors nowadays is 50-55. When this group of advisors came into the business, the teaching model was, “Here’s how to sell, now go and make a lot of money.” But with millennials taking up 40% of the adult market, that model isn’t going to fly. As things evolve, the client is more educated, more demanding, and more affluent as they come into inheritances from baby boomers. We sat a group of seasoned advisors down to talk about the next generation of clients and advisors. Here’s what they had to say about the new wave of advisors as they break into a business serving millennials:
Looking for a technology that will help you manage the next generation of clients? Introducing Benjamin. Benjamin works as an assistant, helping you effectively communicate with your clients through text and email to schedule meetings, send reminders, and follow up about important paperwork. Reach out to us here and we’ll get you started with a free demo right away!
