• Over a third (38%) of wealth managers cite meeting customer expectations due to COVID-19 and defending against cybersecurity and fraud (37%) keys to success
• Report finds that over half (56%) of UK wealth managers reported increased client demand for digital products and services during COVID-19
• Over three quarters (79%) of wealth managers said that digital technologies have improved their customer engagement strategy and their experiences with clients (81%)
• Emerging technologies adopted by UK wealth managers
• Barriers to using ‘Wealth Tech’ still remain

2nd November 2021, London, UK: Today a report reveals that responding to COVID-19 customer expectations, defending against cyber threats and improving customer experience are top boardroom priorities for UK wealth managers. Over a third (38%) of wealth managers cite meeting customer expectations due to COVID-19 and defending against cybersecurity and fraud (37%) keys to success

The survey commissioned by Mobiquity and conducted by Censuswide of 100 wealth management executives in the UK, found that digital technologies are being used by wealth managers to respond to these challenges, improving client servicing and customer engagement. Over three quarters (79%) of wealth managers said that digital technologies have improved their customer engagement strategy and their experiences with clients (81%). Meanwhile, over half (56%) of UK wealth managers reported increased client demand for digital products and services due to COVID-19.

UK wealth managers are taking advantage of a range of digital technologies to improve client servicing. Almost half (47%) are using a client wealth management dashboard on a mobile portal, over a third (36%) are using video conferencing, almost a third (32%) are using open banking, and almost a quarter (24%) are using conversational chatbot AI.

Despite the benefits of using digital technologies in wealth management, the research found that barriers to adoption of ‘wealth tech’ still remain. Almost a quarter (23%) of wealth managers cite that they do not have plans to adopt technology in the future. The main barriers include privacy concerns (35%), risk and compliance (32%), technical issues e.g. software crashing, internet connectivity (31%) and technological implementation time taking too long (31%).

Commenting on the report, Matthew Williamson, VP Global Financial Services, Mobiquity, said: “The wealth management landscape has been ripe for digital disruption for some time. While challenges still exist in implementing digital technologies, the benefits outweigh the barriers. Recently, the sector has seen a paradigm shift, driven by changing client expectations, demographic changes, regulatory pressures and increased competition. 

“It’s great that in the UK wealth managers are getting ahead of the curve when it comes to harnessing digital innovation, to improve client servicing and respond to customer demand driven by a COVID-19 environment. Our research shows that UK wealth managers are using wealth tech for over half the working month, including video conference, artificial intelligence, open banking, client dashboard mobile, client dashboard web and conversational chatbots.

There’s also an opportunity for UK wealth managers to take advantage of emerging technologies such as virtual reality and conversational AI to optimise everyday operations. Compared to the rest of Europe, the UK is ahead of the curve along with the US. Surprisingly,  the data shows that The Netherlands and Switzerland in comparison are lagging behind – despite being known as the backbone of the wealth management industry – with wealth managers interacting with digital technologies less than 10 days out of the working month.

“As wealth managers continue to adopt technologies such as client wealth management dashboards, video conferencing and artificial intelligence, to improve client engagement, they must also ensure they have a robust security framework that keeps both company and customer data secure.”