The past three years have delivered more than a few changes for the wealth management industry. Despite a general return to normalcy, some finer points of the advisor-client relationship are still in flux.
In our recent survey, How Can Advisors Better Communicate with Clients?, we examine how advisor-client relationships have changed since Covid-19. In particular, we asked 670+ clients if their advisors are communicating with them enough.
A key takeaway: clients want more frequent touchpoints with their advisor, especially those with more assets under their advisor’s management. Further, the overwhelming majority of surveyed clients strongly consider their advisors’ communication frequency when deciding to retain and recommend his/her services.
How have advisors adjusted their communication strategies since 2019?
21.9% of surveyed clients said they are currently contacted “very frequently” by their advisor, which is three percentage points lower compared to pre-Covid levels. Just over a third of clients say they are contacted “infrequently” or “rarely or never”.
While it should be noted that advisors have at least maintained pre-Covid communication levels, the recent responses highlight that little to no improvements were made during a critical time frame.
88.2% of surveyed clients would consider their advisors’ frequency and style of communication when deciding to retain his/her services, while 9 out of 10 respondents do so when recommending an advisor to family or friends. Both of these figures are even higher for clients with $500,000 or more under management. What consequences might be avoided if advisors act to improve their communication strategies?
Do clients long for more communication from their advisors?
About half (47.1%) of surveyed clients wish their advisor would contact them more. Drilling a layer deeper, an even greater percentage of both the higher net-worth (53.4%) and under 60 demographics (55.8%) wish their advisors contacted them more frequently.
These numbers align with the rates at which the two groups switched or considered switching advisors in the past three years, further emphasizing the importance of ensuring clients feel supported.
Responses also hinted that firm size and resources are benefits to Wirehouse and Broker-Dealer advisors in this area. 54.8% of RIA clients say they are contacted frequently or very frequently, while no less than 70% of clients with a Wirehouse or Broker-Dealer advisor reported the same.
This article was originally published on YCharts.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
