APAC wealth management industry changes and challenges #
Changes in the APAC wealth management industry are redefining customer expectations and putting pressure on APAC Asset Managers to radically rethink their approach to the entire client journey. But many organizations are struggling to transform their digital customer experiences.
The Asia-Pacific region (APAC) is home to 4.3 billion people. That’s 60% of the world’s total population. As Capgemini Financial Services Analysis, 2020 revealed, it also has more High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) than any other region on the planet.
HNWI Financial Wealth by Regions (USD Tn), 2012-2019 #
--Capgemini Financial Services Analysis, 2020
APAC is home to global innovation and fintech hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore. And young, wealthy investors are entering the market in rapidly increasing numbers.
These tech-savvy affluent consumers are looking for financial products and advice at lower price. Which puts pressure on fees and margins. And, it also requires traditional advisors to find ways to add increased value to their clients. Those who do not risk disintermediation by digitized offerings.
Technology Changes in APAC are disrupting client expectations #
As the APAC market becomes increasingly competitive, investor expectations continue to rise. Asset managers, relationship managers and advisors need to find the right technology solutions to enhance their value proposition.
The emergence of robo-advisors and born-digital competition has drawn clients away from traditional wealth management relationships. Not only do these data-driven technology solutions provide quicker service, they can often construct more optimized portfolios and personalize customer interactions in real-time.
If a robo-advisor is able to provide more personalized service to a client than an advisor because it has real-time access to their data—you have a problem.
Passive investment products like ETFs offer low-cost alternatives to managed, structured products. Faced with this competition Asset Managers have to work harder to attract and retain customers. They are looking for ways to offer more value and enhance the client experience. Especially, at a time when margins are shrinking and investment in new initiatives is carefully controlled.
At the same time, client expectations have been ratcheted up by regulatory pressure to create greater fee transparency. Customers increasingly want to know what they are getting for the fees the pay. They expect more than past generations did—especially if product performance is not as strong as they hoped for.
Customers are frustrated by companies that still follow an old-generation client journey model. They have no time for that is largely manual, sometimes paper-based processes.
When a client can get a mortgage approved online in under 30 seconds—what does that do to their appetite for the meetings, calls, forms and weeks required to on-board with a financial advisor?
Defining a new customer journey—from their POV #
Traditional on-boarding, data discovery, portfolio analysis and service is broken. The processes are too slow. Too manual. A new, next-gen vision of the client journey is needed—one that is built on experiences the client desires, not the activities companies require because of their legacy technology and workflows.
Only by adding value and removing friction throughout the client journey will companies be able to deliver superior digital customer experiences.
If your customer experience isn’t designed from a customer POV—it’s costing you clients.
Forward- thinking asset managers and their relationship managers re-evaluate each step in their workflows to ensure they are client-centric. The central question they ask is always, “Is this meeting or exceeding customer expectations?” If not, the step should be automated or eliminated entirely—and that requires implementing the right technology solutions. Ultimately, these solutions provide an integrated and streamlined, customer-centric journey from on-boarding to data discovery to portfolio analysis to service.
Digitization of the customer journey creates superior customer experiences #
To implement a customer-driven workflow, asset managers can provide their relationship managers and advisors with a suite of integrated tools. These solutions reduce friction for the client and advisor all along the journey. They automate and accelerate every stage in the wealth planning process.
Relationship manager solution #
Ultimately. the best portfolio management software solution would include a sales acceleration platform featuring guided investment product positioning and analytics. It would be specifically designed to enable relationship managers to transform into exceptional business consultants to their advisors.
Advisor solution #
If would also feature a comprehensive asset allocation and wealth analysis tool for advisors, with flexible data aggregation and automated recommendations, specifically designed to enable advisors to deliver enhanced service to their clients. Top portfolio management software also includes digital client self-serve portals. These solutions automate many onboarding and service functions, removing client headaches and speeding the client journey.
Key features of a platform that helps streamline the end-to-end client journey include:
Client onboarding #
Desirable features include things like intelligent forms bundling and auto completion, as well as electronic signatures.
Digital discovery #
The right solution should be able to efficiently assess a client’s current situation and future financial needs. It is able to efficiently collect client financial information, set client goals, and create investor profiles. It would include the ability to quickly capture client data and feature automated data aggregation of all investment products.
Analysis and recommendations #
Platforms that deliver world-class customer experience include data-driven, fully-automated financial and insurance planning tools. This software can access all client data and all available fact sheets on all funds—aggregated and accessible in real-time. They are able to easily generate fund comparisons. They create clear benefit statements and presentations based on the analytics that reveal why each product is the best fit for the portfolio
Client service #
Asset allocation for financial advisors should automate many of the time-consuming prospecting, data capture and servicing tasks usually performed by financial professionals. Like: easily view portfolio overviews, activity, performance and financial goal status.
It also enhances customer engagement and can deepen client relationships. Regular performance reviews and fund re-balancing activities provide advisors with more high-value client touchpoints on an on-going basis. Advisors will be able to uncover new client needs as they evolve--and have excellent up-sell/cross-sell opportunities that benefit the client.
Leverage asset allocation software for financial advisors to succeed in the evolving APAC wealth market #
Thriving in the competitive APAC wealth management market requires creating world-class digital customer experiences that differentiate asset managers and relationship managers from their competition.
The world’s largest group of HNWI are looking for powerful, digital solutions to their investment needs. They want to work with the tech-enabled advisors who use end-to-end integrated technology solutions.
They want the benefits of faster, less frustrating on-boarding. Better portfolio performance through portfolio optimization. And, they need streamlined data discovery and world-class digital customer support.
Modernizing your wealth planning process from the point-of-view of the customer is a necessity. It will reduce the mounting pressures from fee transparency, increased client expectations and competition from low-cost alternative products. The integration of the right portfolio manager tool into your workflows can set you apart from your competition.
