Improving ease for clients is vital for growth and success in the financial services industry, Schwab CEO Rick Wurster told advisors last week, citing a "bull market for convenience."
"I believe the bar on convenience across every industry has been risen. It impacts how all of us consume. For me, I see lots of brown packages from Amazon every week. I'm sure many of us will hop on a Lyft or an Uber to the airport, and 40% of Americans had groceries delivered to their house in the last week. Things have gotten more convenient," he said at Schwab's Impact conference in Denver.
"Yet in our industry, the average 50-year-old has seven financial services relationships in their life that they are asked to manage. That has a lot of complexity and the opposite of convenience. And I think one of the reasons this room has thrived and succeeded is because you all as trusted fiduciaries bring convenience and peace of mind to your clients. You're able to tell the client, 'You only have one relationship to worry about. I've got this for you. I've got ownership of your financial life. I'm going to help you navigate it.'"
Schwab is making moves to boost convenience, Wurster added.
"We've made 400 changes to our policies, to our technology, to our tools to get easier for you. We know we still have room to go and we're going to continue to invest heavily in that, but we're making strides. ... When we sit here in five years, it's my expectation that the winners in the room are going to be those who stand apart on ease.
"Just as we've seen many RIAs today win because they can package tax, trust, estate, financial planning, investing all in one place," the president and CEO said. "In order to continue to stand apart and outgrow the industry, we're going to need to raise the bar on convenience and ease in our industry."
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