1.1. Current status & challenges
In recent years, private banks and wealth management firms have been adopting technology primarily to address efficiency and compliance issues. Historically client-focused, these institutions have been satisfied with the personal relationships they maintain with HNW and UHNW clients and have devoted less attention and effort to technology-enabled improvements in client engagement and digital experience.

The more recent wave of generational, behavioral and attitude changes among clients, along with the disruptive invasion of new fintech players into the wealth management field, are significantly changing this equilibrium. Demand for digital engagement is additionally amplified by external events such as the current coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. It is becoming sorely apparent that wealth managers’ digital transformation is incomplete, capabilities are suboptimal, and radical fast action to fill the gaps is now imperative as customers who do not feel properly served in these emergency times, will soon start looking elsewhere.

1.2. Impetus to change & potential benefits
A new model of client engagement is not an option anymore but needs to be considered as a mandatory capability and the new regular practice.

There is a clear call for a re-definition and re-shaping of current practices introducing new engagement approaches, to have customers more loyal and more open to new opportunities and business propositions. Those that won’t, will fail to meet the strong demand of change coming from the generational, behavioral and attitude shift among clients and will lose market share.

The clear areas of suboptimal practices are (a) insufficient adherence to structured planning and disciplined documentation of all interactions for analysis and action, and (b) capability gaps in opti-channel communications, engaging interfaces and respective experience designs, seamless transfer between channels (and stakeholders) and a single complete view of all this.

1.3. Opportunities & actions
This new model of engagement must be based on a new regular rhythm of personalised, relevant and timely communications and interactions. The new approach needs to leverage on technology to be successful.

Take, for example, a market event - such an abnormal movement in a certain asset, which impacts some investors (but not all). This needs to be communicated to those affected and eventually discussed to provide adequate advice and assurance to the client. Most experienced advisors would know who those clients are, possibly their personality and expected reactions. Most of the time they ‘get it right’ but relying on their personal knowledge (and memory) leaves gaps and chances to miss a person or a discussion point. What a difference it makes when the firm has equipped clientfacing personnel with dedicated tools, where alerts and interaction suggestions are automatically generated based on client profiles and portfolios. In best-practice cases the profile contains extra tags for behavioral and emotional attributes, in addition to the regular risk tolerance and appetite and suitability factors. Alerted in such manner, by an AI-driven technology, the adviser is able to engage in a most personal manner, demonstrate empathy and invoke trust.

Take this further to the ability (provided by relevant tools) to conduct a live two-way dialogue, share information and jointly view data in near-real-time, with the ability to deliver best advice and act upon respective client preferences. Structured, reliable and based on rich decision supporting data, such interactions are a far cry from the traditional phone call that many wealth managers still rely upon (and not much more than the ‘data’ in their head).

Many more examples exist, and it should be emphasised that the relationship with the clients and their real engagement start from the early stages of the lifecycle and a bad initial experience can make them hostile and not open to the value proposition. Therefore, the client on-boarding phase is a key element in building an engaging relationship (where paper processes taking weeks or months to be completed can be compared to the nearly instant, intuitive and inspiring digital alternative).

This can create a feeling of efficiency and proactivity which will positively mark the relationship and make the customer receptive to subsequent offers and opportunities presented.

Consider the significant difference it can make if, once on-boarded, clients can see their portfolio updates on their smart watch, rather than having to open a computer or wait for a printed report in the mail. Or the ability to change with a few clicks their reporting preferences or personal data, all in a paperless and friction-free client experience. All such examples are not about technical gimmicks and gadgets, they are about a client-centric business model and the right engagement strategy.

Objectway has been enabling better Wealth Management for 30 years, and is always at the forefront of technology developments, serving evolving business needs. We can help this transformation by supporting in defining a strategy of digital client engagement, updating the information architecture to ensure it supports the digital engagement strategy by adding components to enhance client interactions, insight gathering and analysis, process and lifecycle management, client acquisition, retention and value development.

Access part 2 here

Click here to access and download the pdf version of this article: 
https://docsend.com/view/ip34ut43dk9b5hkx

This article was originally part of The Wealth Mosaic's WealthTech Views Client Engagement Report. You can access and download the full report here: 
https://docsend.com/view/baq2fkehzrqy56x4