FactSet Research : Accelerating Advisor Efficiency to Drive Client Engagement

Accelerating Advisor Efficiency to Drive Client Engagement Wealth Management

By FactSet Insight| February 18, 2021

FactSet's Greg King, Senior Director of Wealth Management and Digital Solutions Strategy and Product Development at FactSet, recently participated in a FactSet-sponsored webcast hosted by Asian Private Banker entitled, 'Accelerating Advisor Efficiency to Drive Client Engagement.' Greg was joined by Albert Chiu, Executive Chairman, Asia Pacific Region for EFG Bank, Alex Sim, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of UOB Private Bank, United Overseas Bank Limited, and moderator Andrew Shale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Asian Private Banker.

The participants discussed the challenges faced by private banks over the last year, specifically in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The COVID-19 pandemic has put APAC wealth clients to the test on many fronts; no financial institution has been immune to its effects. Face-to-face client engagement has been severely reduced due to travel bans and limitations on physical bank visits. Recent surveys suggest that more than half of high net worth (HNW) respondents plan to spend a lot more time managing their portfolios from home. In addition, these investors have drastically cut their spending on travel and luxury products. This suggests that there needs to be increased focus on advisory excellence.

Two Strategies Being Pursued by Private Banks

A recent FactSet survey of HNW individuals shows that 82% of them continue to see the disruption from the pandemic as the greatest challenge for their individual portfolios. In response, private banks are doing two things to reassure their clients. First, they are providing their advisors with more detailed oversight of their entire book of business. Not one client at a time, but the whole book. They are also looking to provide better insight into some of the market conditions that are likely to drive performance and risk in their clients' portfolios.

The live poll of webcast participants reflects this shift. When asked what tools would improve advisor efficiency most, customer relationship management (CRM) integration was cited by 35% of participants, closely followed by tools to evaluate the impact of market events on client portfolios (30%).

The second piece that has been happening for some time now is that forward-thinking private banks are trying to improve the tools available to their end clients. Specifically, they are focusing on the development of intuitive investment and trading dashboards connected to communication channels. High net worth individuals are understandably anxious these days and they want to be reassured that they have real-time updates of the impact of this or any other global crisis on their savings and investments.

When webcast participants were asked what information they would like to have available for their clients to access via client portal or mobile devices, an overwhelming 57% responded personalized insights for trading ideas.

When heading down this path, banks need to keep in mind the importance of data consistency across those two channels. That has proven to be a challenge for firms as they work to connect the dots between advisor workflows and the end client experience.

Listen to a recording of the full panel discussion here.