Wednesday, March 7,
2018 05.32PM / Mondo
Highlights
Building on its commitment to help connect and empower
the global financial community by harnessing proprietary data and analytics
designed to add greater client value, Thomson Reuters today announced the
findings of its Digitalization of Wealth Management report 2018 in
collaboration with Forbes Insights.
According to the survey, key factors
defining today’s wealth management industry include keeping up with new
technology, staying relevant to the next generation of investors and finding
ways to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into investment decision making
as well as into the client-service process.
In order to better understand how
wealth managers are using data and technology to adapt to changing client
expectations, Thomson Reuters and Forbes Insights surveyed 200 wealth managers
from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Key findings of the survey include:
- 68% say learning about and
keeping up with new technology is the top challenge they face
- 69% are concerned about staying
relevant to a younger generation of investors
- 41% say advanced analytics and
cognitive technologies will have the greatest impact on the wealth
management industry over the next three years
- Only 27% currently have and are
happy with their mobile platform, even though they believe this is the
digital capability that clients value most
- 65% spend most of their time on
client acquisition and onboarding, followed closely by providing advice,
and client objectives and risk tolerance. Many believe technology can help
them become more efficient with each of these tasks
- 72% see AI as an opportunity
“There is no doubt that wealth
management firms and their advisors are now at a turning point, and have a
great opportunity to reinvent themselves in order to both deliver an
exceptional digital experience for the digital natives as well as to define a
new generation of high touch services,” said David Akellian, managing director
and global head of Wealth Management at Thomson Reuters.
“The industry challenge and the
opportunity, is helping ensure that wealth firms and their advisors are better
equipped with the AI, advanced analytics, insight and technology necessary to
meet their clients rapidly evolving investment and service needs.”
The report further notes that the role
of the financial advisor could change dramatically in the next few years. Not
only will many clients expect better tools of engagement, but advisors will
likely be serving even more clients and for lower fees. They will want to
“know” their clients with the speed and precision of machine learning. With
trillions of dollars’ worth of managed assets at stake, advisors are clear
about what they need from their technology going forward: Access to client
information on one screen, prioritized for current events; Meaningful
personalized advice at their fingertips or for their clients directly;
Automation to free advisors to spend more time with clients; Communication
tools for the next generation; and augmented decision-making capabilities for
advisors and their clients.
For a close look at the story behind
the report and its results, view David Akellian’s video here.
Data in the Thomson Reuters
Digitalization of Wealth Management report is based on a survey of 200 wealth
managers conducted during September through November 2017 by Forbes Insights.
All executives surveyed are directly involved in wealth management and work for
a broad range of firms, including wealth management firms, asset-management
firms, investment banks, private banks, family offices, online-only firms and
independent wealth management firms. Three regions are represented in the
survey in nearly equal proportions, with 30% from Asia Pacific (including 9%
from Australia), 30% from North America and 40% from Europe. Executives
surveyed work at firms that manage assets of at least $1 billion, but the
majority work at firms with assets under management of at least $10 billion,
with 44% coming from firms that manage more than $100 billion. Read and
download the full Digitalization of Wealth Management report here.
Thomson Reuters wealth management
solutions form part of the Financial & Risk division of Thomson Reuters. To
learn more, please click here.

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