The wealthy have varying perceptions of different provider types. For the UHNW (who have at least $1M in investable assets), online brokers are seen as offering the most innovative products and services, whereas the overall Affluent (who have at least $500K in investable assets, not including the value of their primary residence) respondents felt this distinction belonged to mutual fund companies.

As expected, private banks offer the most personalized services for UHNW respondents, while the Affluent receive personal service from their accountant and their attorney. Investment Managers and Full Service Brokers are seen by both the Affluent and UHNW as having the most talented advisors. Investment Management companies are also considered experts in wealth management by the UHNW.

The UHNW believe Investment Management Companies to be experts in wealth management. For the Affluent, Independent Investment Companies hold that distinction. Accountants and Attorneys are considered Trustworthy and Objective by both groups. When ranking provider perceptions, both the Affluent and the UHNW (feel they are most likely to increase their usage of discount/online brokers in the next twelve months, per a Spectrem study. Interestingly discount and online brokers were presented as separate categories, yet still ranked in the top two.

What does this mean for providers? The old school providers, such as private banks, would be best served to freshen up their images in order to compete with accountants and investment managers. Previously considered somewhat task oriented rather than whole picture focused, they have quickly become the provider of choice for some members of the wealthy community.

In addition, online brokers, who are automatically associated with cutting edge technology, provide a good role model for firms who strive to offer the latest and most innovative products because these attributes were seen as going hand in hand. In this day and age, firms who consider themselves as having a conservative image need not sacrifice this in order to offer the latest in products and services. Continuing education may be the key to reassuring existing clients that they will not lose the services they have grown to rely on, but will gain access to an abundance of ideas. Perhaps due to the fact that those in the Affluent segment do not have as large a portfolio as their UHNW counterparts, they may not receive personalized service from their financial providers. Because an attorney/client relationship is personal in nature, the Affluent may consider it their most trusted one-on-one financial affiliation.

The Affluent market could be considered a neglected segment of the wealth population for those providers, and with a large portion of the UHNW increasing in age, an opportunity for providers to gain new wealthy customers is being missed. While the ‘hard sell’ may not be right for everybody, advertising is no longer considered a desperate attempt to gain clients, and may resonate with the younger, next wave of wealthy individuals.

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