Telstra research reveals a new generation of Digital Investors turning to technology

A new research report has highlighted that Australia’s rapid uptake of mobile technology will soon bring about enormous changes to the wealth management and financial services industry, transforming the way customers interact with their wealth managers and advisors.

The Digital Investor, a report produced by Telstra on the future requirements of the wealth industry, outlines that technology has become key to coping with the biggest inter-generational transfer of wealth in history.

The report indicates that by 2030, 70 per cent of Australia’s financial assets will be held by Generations X and Y, groups that are technically savvy, but lack confidence in managing their finances. Less than 17 per cent of Generations X and Y surveyed expressed strong confidence in dealing with current wealth management practices.

The report found a significant opportunity for wealth management and financial service providers to generate confidence in the next generation of investors, by making better use of personalised digital and mobile tools.

The research identified that Generations X and Y, referred to as ‘Digital Investors,’ have significant appetite to use video technology to better manage their finances, including communicating with advisers directly, watching financial education content online and using alert services to track market investments on-the-go.

The report’s author, Telstra Group General Manager, Industry Executive, Rocky Scopelliti, said that the report illustrates an overwhelming demand for online, collaborative and social connection giving savvy managers and advisors the opportunity to deliver growth through improved customer service.

“The wealth management industry is enduring a time of particular change. Not only is it facing the greatest inter-generational transfer of wealth in history from baby boomers to Generation X and Y, but it is also required to develop value propositions for an audience that has grown up in an age of technology,” Mr Scopelliti said.

“However, despite their digital mastery, 54 per cent of both Generation X and Generation Y do not feel confident managing their finances.”

John Brogden, CEO of the Financial Services Council, an industry body for Australia’s superannuation, funds management and life insurance industry, said of ‘The Digital Investor’ report, “Digital and mobile technology is putting personal financial management control into the hands of consumers like never before. This presents the financial services industry with a major opportunity to harness technology to create financial services that are dynamic and interactive, empowering everyone to actively and easily oversee their finances.”

The research demonstrates a significant level of appeal for digitally enabled wealth management tools, including:

• Technological developments such as the use of video are seen as game changers as they can fundamentally improve the client experience, productivity and reach of advisers.
• The most popular concepts with Digital Investors were educational videos online (47%), alert services to track your investments or the market (44%) and online collaboration with an expert using chat, video or voice (38%).
• Almost three quarters (74%) of respondents said the digital experiences appealed when presented as a combination of five service concepts.
• More than one in two Digital Investors prefer smartphones (59%) and tablets (54%) to access these concepts, and;
• An overwhelming majority of four in five Digital Investors (80%) prefer the online channel to access these concepts-a third (31%) of which prefer to connect to them through social media.

Mr Scopelliti continued: “The results of this survey clearly outline the need for change, as well as the huge benefits available. Carefully choreographed technology solutions can deliver wealth managers with growth through optimised customer service and loyalty, improved productivity as mobile solutions and skillsets are exploited, and the creation of new personalised, context aware, predictive experiences.”

The report has also recommended new customer experience solutions to deliver these benefits:

• The creation of Digital Ecosystems embody personalisation, collaboration, contextual awareness and predictive analytics can be orchestrated through cloud-based ICT like unified communications, multichannel IP contact and content management, and integrated messaging.
• Similarly, emerging ideas like Virtual Agents and Intelligent Personal Assistants act as logical extensions of current offerings, bringing suites of technologies together in a single, natural interface.

“The findings show that in recent years, mobility and video technologies have significantly changed advisory practices and the wealth management services investors expect. This is resulting in much deeper and more loyal customer relationships while also improving productivity with workers who are increasingly mobile,” Mr Scopelliti said.

Telstra’s core IP networks, enterprise Unified Communications and Collaboration platforms provide Australia’s leading network coverage, performance, reliability and security – enabling the digital investment experience for all Australian wealth managers and advisors.