Wealth Management Apps for HNW Clients Proliferate

Other wealth managers in the study were ABN Amro, Barclays, BNY Mellon, Charles Schwab, Coutts, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, First National Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ING, Investec, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, OCBC, Pictet, RBC, Standard Chartered, TD Bank, Unicredit, US Trust, Vontobel and Wells Fargo

The analysis found several weaknesses among the available mobile apps. For example, just 11 out of 30 wealth managers’ apps offered interactive tools for portfolio analysis, and less than half allowed direct contact to a personal advisor. Moreover, features for customer retention and marketing proved wanting. Only eight wealth managers offered access to an exclusive customer magazine, and seven out of the 30 provided personalized, targeted push messages.

“Many wealth managers struggle to offer state-of-the-art apps,” Rosalia Engchuan, an analyst at MyPrivateBanking Research, said in a statement.

“They cover basic requirements, but still do not differentiate themselves from retail apps and fail to offer their wealth clients a valuable and personalized digital journey.”

The report recommended that wealth managers develop an app that offers wealthy clients extra value and is different from the retail experience.

This begins with an exclusive design and color scheme, a personalized greeting at login, direct access to an advisor and access to relevant content.

In addition, they should build a remote channel for client and advisor interaction. Wealth managers should avail themselves of the technical opportunities arising from the digital revolution, and embrace the possibilities for interacting with clients on a whole new level.

Finally, wealth managers should develop an omnichannel strategy that will allow clients to choose how they will interact with their advisor. Infrastructure to enable such an experience would, for instance, integrate social media platforms and mobile apps.

“Wealth managers should watch the robo-advisors revolution,” Engchuan said. “What sound like distant future scenarios to many are already a reality for new fintech providers that are also beginning to penetrate the wealth management market.”

She said sophisticated wealth apps should provide tools to build hypothetical portfolios and receive product recommendations based on clients’unique financial situation.