Advisers must work harder to satisfy digital consumers and engage with potential clients, a report has argued.
The 24-page Iress report, Data, Disruption and the Digital Consumer, warned that the industry had not fully adapted to the internet, and that there should be more customer support and engagement, detailed information and guidance made available online.
The report noted that online banking was popular but added: “There are still areas of financial services that have not yet been adopted as internet friendly.
“Pensions, mortgages and stocks and shares have been purchased online by only a comparatively small number of consumers.”
This comes as an eight-page study from US consultancy Greenwich Associates, found that more wealth managers were using social media to interact with clients. However, Dan Connell, head of market structure and technology for the consultancy, said: “Even the most social-media savvy asset manager will see little success if the content they distribute – and ultimately their fund returns – are sub-par.”
Last week, Martin Dodd, partner for Wolverhampton-based Midlands Investment Agency, said that if IFAs did not use social media more wisely, they were “missing a trick”.
Adviser view
Philip Calvert, founder of adviser social network LifeTalk, said: “Google has said financial services is the industry least engaged with the internet. The idea that advisers should not think about things like social media is quite bizarre.”
