Ignore the wishes of young clients ‘at your own peril’

Ahead of the Adviser Innovation Summit 2024, gold partner DASH Technology Group head of distribution Tim Rogers warned that advisers who ignore this would do so “at your own peril”.

“Millennials are discerning consumers. If they don’t get information the way they want, they’ll find someone that will give it to them that way. They vote with their feet pretty quickly,” Rogers told ifa.

The underlying principles and processes of financial advice operation, research, and delivery are uniform across generations. Advice must be concise and relevant, regardless of whether it is being presented in-person, on printed paper, or digitally.

However, the younger generation likes to receive this information differently compared to their older counterparts, Rogers said.

“While the Baby Boomer generation would largely prefer to meet their adviser face to face every six or 12 months, the younger generation is too busy for that,” he said.

“They expect to receive information immediately because they’re used to having information at their fingertips. They also want the advice sessions recorded so they can consume it in their own time.”

Relevance is also key because the younger cohort wants advice tailored to their goals and objectives rather than generic financial information.

“They want to know how the advice relates to their circumstances, what the recommendation is, and how it could improve their financial position,” Rogers said.

He noted that the younger generation is sourcing financial information from non-traditional avenues such as social media platforms because of the widespread availability and timeliness of the information.

Furthermore, he encouraged advisers to utilise digital advice tools to service multiple clients simultaneously.

For example, advisers could send them statements of advice, records of advice, strategy plans, templates, and fee disclosure statements in a digital format.

“Getting to 10 different people in 10 different areas at the same time is physically impossible in the traditional face-to-face method,” Rogers said.

“But digital advice allows advisers to use AI avatars and display formats to present their advice to the younger generation. Having said that, advisers need to continue to hold that initial meeting and build a personal relationship with clients.

“But whatever can be presented in the digital format should be done so.”

Advisers can use digital tools to extract data in real time and create interactive charts, graphs, and tables that reveal trends and patterns, and tell a story about the clients.

“We’ve got advisers using our digital dynamic document technology to create AI avatars of themselves and develop and deliver digestible information,” Rogers said.

“The beauty of this is that the charts and graphs aren’t static. They’re dynamic. They sell the outcomes and benefits of the advice to clients far better than any paper-based documents.”

At the Adviser Innovation Summit, Rogers will explore the unique financial perspectives and values of Gen X, Gen Z, and Millennials, and how advisers could leverage technology to engage with them.

Commenting on the partnership between the summit and DASH Technology Group, he said the core tenets of the company aligns with the objectives of the event.

“The Adviser Innovation Summit espouses that advisers are trying to find ways to deliver high-quality advice efficiently,” Rogers said.

“This is the perfect fit for us because we provide financial planning software and an investment platform for advisers. We’re in a new era of financial advice. DASH takes client data at a single point of entry and constructs and delivers that advice through the ecosystem. We value innovation and the use of technology to change the traditional way of doing things.”

To hear more from Tim Rogers about how you can build strategic relationships with different generations of clients, come along to the Adviser Innovation Summit 2024.

It will be held on Tuesday, 4 June at Telstra Customer Insights Centre Sydney, and Thursday, 6 June at Zinc at Fed Square, Melbourne.

Click here to buy tickets and don’t miss out!

For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.