Your IndustryDec 19 2016

How to provide generational advice for Millennials

  • To understand how millennials think.
  • To gain an understanding of how to speak with them.
  • To learn how they will interact with advisers.
  • To understand how millennials think.
  • To gain an understanding of how to speak with them.
  • To learn how they will interact with advisers.
pfs-logo
cisi-logo
CPD
Approx.30min
pfs-logo
cisi-logo
CPD
Approx.30min
twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
pfs-logo
cisi-logo
CPD
Approx.30min
How to provide generational advice for Millennials

You have heard of baby boomers, perhaps you are aware - or even one - of Generation X but the market of the future for any business here for the long term are the millennials. 

These are the people born between 1980 and 2002.

They are vitally important for UK financial services and we need to understand what makes them different.

BNY Mellon worked with a research team at Cambridge University to explore millennials’ understanding of the financial choices available to them; their educational and product needs; and their attitudes to social finance. 

This report is entitled Generation Lost: Engaging Millennials with Retirement Saving. I would urge you all to read a copy. 

The report surveyed millennials (those born between 1980 and the turn of the century) across six key markets - Australia, Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.

The researchers engaged with a broad range of millennial populations: in emerging and emerged markets; in countries with a collective approach to retirement and those relying on a unit-linked system; and those with access to compulsory and voluntary pension schemes.

Why are millennials different?

The key finding was that many millennials face a less comfortable retirement than their parents and their grandparents as a result of demographic, political and macro-economic trends.

Conversations about multi-generational planning begin with the first generation. However, true generational advice is all about the creation of an estate plan.

Yet many are unaware of the realities of the future that awaits them. Their lack of understanding of financial matters appears to be as much a result of a lack of education and information as any lack of interest.

Their buying habits, preferences and biases have been driven by the environment in which they have grown up. They have witnessed a period of rapid change, including huge technological leaps.

This is the generation who have never used a pay phone, and where smartphones have become an extension of their body and perceived as essential for their lives.

This world has shrunk faster than witnessed by any other generation as globalisation allows shared experiences and norms across cultures and countries.

The great events of this generation have been climate change and economic upheaval, which have shaped their social responsibility and how they now view and respect finance.

The UK findings are particularly insightful: 

PAGE 1 OF 5