How to Target Affluent Clients Online

Millennials have about $1.4 trillion of investable assets, according to Deloitte. Although they are probably most advisors’ idea of the typical digital user, they can be seen as two distinct groups.

“Newcomers,” as the paper dubbed them, are tech-savvy and feel less entitled to “white-glove and in-person service.” This group of approximately 18.5 million households has a household income of less than $75,000 and “can be served in a nearly-entirely digital manner,” according to the paper.

“Highly interactive mobile applications and digital platforms are a must, and over 65% want the ability to review/adjust their portfolios themselves, digitally and 24/7,” Deloitte wrote.

The “up and comers” segment of the millennial demographic “want to take ownership of their financial lives,” the paper wrote. They believe they should have access to the same financial opportunities as wealthier clients, and once committed to a wealth manager will “demand a combination approach between high-touch interactions and digital.”

The largest segment identified in the paper is the “modestly plateauing” subgroup of Gen X clients. Accounting for about 36 million households, and with a net worth of less than $250,000, these clients are less confident about their financial skills and highly emotional. As such, human interaction is important to these clients. Although two-thirds want some digital interaction, just 28% said they want their primary method of contact to be online.

“They want to feel enabled to access their account themselves, but secure that someone will keep them from making the wrong decision,” Deloitte wrote.

Wealthier Gen X investors (those that fit in the $250,000 to $1 million mass-affluent range) are more confident and want personalized service combined with digital tools. Over half would consider a fully automated digital provider to manage their wealth, the report found.

Lower income baby boomers are less likely to trust the financial services industry because they haven’t been very successful in it, the report noted. That could create an interest in digital tools, but as a group, they’re unfamiliar with high-tech tools and indicated the lowest demand for them. Just over a third want to be able to adjust their own portfolios online.

Mass-affluent boomers have transitioned their financial goals to focus on preserving wealth for heirs, the report found, and consequently have an emotional attachment to money. That makes them more interested in human interaction than digital, but 58% still indicated they would like to be able to interact with their wealth manager online if they wanted to.

— Read How Robo Technology Will Take Independent Advice to the Next Level on ThinkAdvisor.