Less than half of Singapore investors are satisfied with their wealth managers: Accenture
Alvina Soh
WHILE nearly 90 per cent of investors here met or exceeded their investment expectations in 2021, less than half or 43 per cent were satisfied with their wealth managers, a report by Accenture on Monday (Jun 6) found.
With more growth opportunities in Asia, investors increasingly seek more financial advisory services to meet a broader range of investment goals amid a more challenging market environment and heightened market volatility.
Local investors preferred advisory services from their wealth firm rather than a self-directed approach, where they make investment decisions themselves and use wealth firms for trade execution (41 per cent vs 34 per cent).
This may result in investors more likely to move assets to firms that offer robust advice offerings. The report found that investors who are satisfied with their advisory relationship hold, on average, 6 percentage points more of their assets with their primary wealth manager than those dissatisfied.
More advanced and accessible advisory services are needed to capitalise on growth opportunities in Singapore, the report revealed.
“Investors in the region can no longer be categorised primarily as self-directed. They want advice and to validate their decisions with their wealth manager,” noted David Wilson, who heads Accenture’s wealth management practice for growth markets.
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Another area local investors found lacking in support was that of digital assets.
While there is a strong demand for digital assets in Singapore – with 45 per cent of investors holding digital assets including cryptocurrencies and tokenised assets, and a further 24 per cent of investors expecting to follow suit by the end of this year – 67 per cent of wealth management firms have no plans to offer digital assets.
The report also found that 7 in 10 investors have invested or plan to invest in ESG-related (environmental, social and corporate governance) products or assets this year.
Yet, investors note that wealth managers would have to address top concerns including a limited selection of available ESG products, insufficient data and information, and the complexity of understanding ESG parameters.
To meet this demand, Accenture said firms will have to equip their advisers with more content, insights and solutions, of which 70 per cent of advisers found useful.
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