European High-Net-Worth Investors Want Digital Services from Their Private Banks, Accenture Survey Finds
July 22 2015 - 3:03AM
Business Wire
Nearly half are early adopters of
technology
High-net-worth investors are avid users of digital technology
for managing their finances and, despite often being older than the
average investor, are just as likely as younger investors to demand
digital wealth-management services, according to a new survey of
high-income, digitally savvy European investors by Accenture
(NYSE:ACN).
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The survey showed that the vast majority (83 percent) of
high-net-worth investors already use digital technology for
financial services, two-thirds (67 percent) are weekly users of
social media, and 41 percent consider themselves early adopters of
technology. These high-net-worth investors are not only active
and engaged users of digital, they also are motivated by new
technology and willing to explore its newest offerings.
“Our findings did not align with conventional wisdom, which
paints high-net-worth investors as merely casual users of digital
services, generally reluctant to invest digitally and reliant on
advisors for wealth management,” said Owen Jelf, global managing
director of Accenture’s Capital Markets practice. “On the
contrary, their responses were similar to those that we got from
younger investors, although high-net-worth investors tend to prefer
going online using their PC rather than mobile devices.”
The research shows that high-net-worth investors seek a unique
and sophisticated experience from advisors and place higher value
on channel options and online features than other investors. In
fact, respondents listed 10 unique financial technology tools, such
as education on long-term goals, 360 account views and auto asset
allocation, as difference makers that high-net-worth investors use
to drive decisions – all of which support advanced learning,
planning and other long-term investing objectives.
While high-net-worth investors still expect – and prefer –
face-to-face contact for discussing long-term planning and their
future financial needs, they said they are very comfortable using
digital technology for basic investment tasks such as account
transfers, product research and scenario analyses.
Three-quarters (75 percent) of the high-net-worth investors
surveyed said they were confident that digital technology would not
limit face-to-face contact time or the quality of relationship with
their financial advisers. And while two-thirds (65 percent) said
they still want face-to-face contact, as many as one-third
(35 percent) said that with digital tools, they could work
perfectly well with their financial adviser without ever being in
the same place.
“High-net-worth investors are very savvy about using digital
channels and see digital as an essential part of the service they
expect from a private bank or financial adviser,” said Alfredo
Avila, managing director for Accenture Wealth and Asset Management
Services in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. “And
while the majority still want face-to-face contact, they are much
more comfortable and confident in the value digital technologies
bring to managing their portfolios and communicating with their
advisors.”
Methodology
Accenture commissioned an online survey of 1,200 middle- and
high-income, tech-savvy investors located in the United Kingdom,
Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Turkey regarding
their relationships with financial advisors as part of an
integrated quantitative and qualitative study of investor attitudes
and behaviours. Thirty percent of respondents qualified as
high-net-worth individuals, with an average of US$1.4 million in
investible assets (excluding property) and an average median income
of US$225,000. This is a follow-up to Accenture’s 2013 Generation D
study and 2014 Generation D Europe study, both of which are about
the impact of digital tools on the behaviours of U.S. and European
investors, respectively.
Read the full report to learn more: www.accenture.com/GenD
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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AccentureDamon Leavell, +1
917-452-4083damon.leavell@accenture.comorFrancois Luu, +33 1 53 23
68 55francois.luu@accenture.com
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