A survey conducted around the world suggests that there's a gap between what clients hope to receive in terms of digital communications, and what's actually happening at the business end.

Wealth managers struggle to keep up with their clients’ changing communication needs, a survey of more than 3,000 investors and 300 firms worldwide has found.

The study, produced by banking and wealth management technology firm Avaloq, notes that despite growing client demand for digital channels, most wealth managers still rely on traditional methods such as phone calls and in-person meetings.

“As our world continues to digitalize, client appetite for wealth managers who provide clear, concise communication through modern, digital channels will only increase,” Suman Rao, UK managing director at Avaloq, said.

Almost half of wealth managers (46 per cent) rarely or never use their own online portals, compared with a quarter (26 per cent) who use them often and a small minority (5 per cent) who so do all the time. Avaloq found that the picture is similar for mobile apps, with 46 per cent of wealth managers rarely or never using them, compared with just 24 per cent who often do and 6 per cent who use them all the time. 

The report comes at a time when there is much commentary about the impact of AI on the financial services sector (see here and here); parts of the industry aren’t as digitalized as they could be. 

Digital technology also affects business marketing and strategy for advisors and wealth managers, as explained here by Rosemary Denney, the founder of Wealth Matters Consulting, and in this interview that Family Wealth Report carried out with Ficomm Partners, a consultancy based in Irvine, California.

In other findings, email remains the dominant method of communication for wealth managers, with 88 per cent often or always using it to communicate with clients, followed by phone calls (79 per cent) and face-to-face meetings (68 per cent).

When asking investors about their preferred way of communicating with their wealth manager, online platforms rank only second (15 per cent) to email (26 per cent), having increased in popularity from fifth place in 2023 (when 11.7 per cent voted for them). Meanwhile, mobile banking apps are now clients’ third most popular communication method (cited by 13 per cent), a noticeable rise from 2023 when they came in at number six (when 9.5 per cent chose them).

By contrast, Avaloq found that traditional communication methods are losing favor among global investors. Face-to-face meetings, once the top choice as the most popular communication method in 2023 (18.2 per cent), have dropped to fifth place (11 per cent), and phone calls, second in 2023 (17.8 per cent), are now tied for third with mobile apps (at 13 per cent).