How to reach unadvised clients

But like generations that have gone before them, the millennials and gen Z’ers have a different set of needs and expectations:

• Many of them work in the “gig economy” so their earnings fluctuate, probably more now than ever due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
• They are tech savvy because they have grown up with technology and so that is their preferred medium of communication 
• They typically, but not always, have a greater focus on environment and sustainability issues than those before them.
• For those that have been to University in recent years, the impact of tuition fees and student debt can be a burden when trying to plan financially for the future. 

So, when considering tapping into this large potential market it is important to consider that the business model applied needs to be flexible and the approach needs to be technology driven and human enabled. 

Technology driven, human enabled

Given the needs and wants of the clients of the future, it is important that as a collective profession we consider what we can do to support the financial advisory and financial education needs of the unadvised clients of the future. 

Client journey

In recent months, the Covid-19 pandemic has created the need for businesses to adapt and change to embrace technology more to be able to continue to service the needs of their clients.

It is often said that we have seen five years’ worth of change in five months. 

However, for many businesses this change has been implemented to meet a short term need driven by the pandemic, whereas, instead it is important to be considering how technology can support the end to end client journey – the client journey needs to be technology driven.

Various research suggests that within the next five years, millennials and gen Z will comprise 75 per cent of the workforce.

Often when technology and the client journey are talked about together there is the perception that it is all about robo-advice.

Robo-advice, I am sure, has a part to play for a proportion of clients with great solutions provided in this space by the likes of Scalable Capital and Wealthify to name just a couple.

However, for many of the unadvised market robo-advice does not go far enough. They are looking for a hybrid approach where technology supports the client journey and compliments human interaction. 

Research suggests that many of the clients of the future do not only want robo-advice because in the main they do still want to talk to a human from time to make sure that they are on track.