Wealth management is huge. Some experts estimate that there are more than $74 trillion in assets under management around the globe. You got to admit: that’s a whole lot of assets.

Today, we’re going to talk about some of the trends in the wealth management industry. And who better to help us discuss the trends than Bobby Gill, a Magic Circle legal alumni, serial entrepreneur, turned Private Wealth Strategist.

For more than a decade at this point, Mr. Gill has run a Private Wealth Strategy firm in London, UK. During that period, he has advised hundreds of high net worth individuals, businesses and  companies on strategies they could deploy to protect cashflow, assets and personal wealth.  

Without further ado, let’s dive into the first wealth management trend.

1. Modern Business Owners

The face of the business world is getting younger by the minute. Gen Z-ers and Millennials now drive the business world, and their investment style, knowledge, and ambitions differ greatly from the preceding generations. Around 67% of them see technology as an integral part of the investment process.

The best way for a seasoned wealth manager to connect with their younger clients is to become familiar with new tools, use online channels, and utilize social platforms when needed. Furthermore, wealth managers need to know how tech stocks and crypto investments work to attract younger clients.

Having worked with such innovators as Citibank in the past, Bobby Gill is fully cognizant of the fact that technology advancements are crucial to the success of any business. By being able to use modern platforms, managers will be able to help their clients diversify their portfolios more easily.

2. Adoption of Agile Development

If you’re not familiar with it, agile business development is an approach that combines business management techniques with the principles of agile development. It helps an organization stay flexible and adaptable to any sudden market changes.

Agile business development but the experience of your users at the center of the work strategy. Your wealth management firm can achieve this through the following three principles:

• Allowing your workers to be flexible and encourage them to have a growth mindset

• Making communication between different teams easier allowing them to react quickly

• Ensuring that every individual your organization is willing to adapt to the new structure

As Gill explains, the adoption of agile development models will enable wealth management companies to access new client bases and react to sudden changes. In the post-COVID-19 world, the ability to react to market fluctuations will be crucial for the survival of your business.   

3. Data-Driven Advising

Earlier this year, the University of Indiana published a study that concluded that in the long run, robots make better stock market predictions and give better recommendations. This study, while not end-all, be-all on the matter has a lot of people convinced about the effectiveness of AI.

Making data-driven decisions is what the current generation loves doing. Wealth managers that want to appeal to this generation of investors need to know how to gather, process, and make use of data they have available. If not, they are running the risk of being replaced by machines in the next few years.

As someone who provided wealth management services over $1 billion in the last decade, Gill knows that while data-based investments are vital, sometimes, you have to trust your instincts.

4. Goal-Based Management

Whether you’re advising an individual working all on their own or someone spearheading a major corporation, you need to establish the importance of goals. Gill notes that failure to set clear goals always leads people to lose focus on their work, falling behind the competitors, and losing money.

Setting clear goals is one thing, however, explaining the same goals to your colleagues and workers is a completely different beast. Making sure that everyone understands what the goals are is especially important in large organizations, where people often find themselves unmotivated for work.

Some studies suggest that as little as 7% of workers understand the goals of their company and its business strategies. In the future, this lack of understanding should be eliminated almost completely if individuals and organizations alike want to keep their workers motivated, engaged, and productive.

5. Streamlined Client Onboarding

Client onboarding is the process of getting new clients familiar with your organization, the way it operates, and the goals you have in common. The onboarding process is there to show your clients that they’ll be able to work with your firm seamlessly.   

For most companies, no matter the business sector, a large piece of revenue comes from existing clients. Client onboarding has always been a major problem for new wealth management firms, according to Bobby Gill. But as he explains it, there’s a way to improve and streamline the whole process.

New onboarding solutions such as Doxim and Appway can show them how your company will handle their investments. Not only that, but these solutions can also automate most of the information entry process and make things easier for your managers, as well.

Wealth Management in the 2020s

This is an interesting time for the wealth management industry. The outbreak of the coronavirus stopped the global trading circuit four times in the last two months. While the stock market is slowly recovering from the pandemic, as Bobby Gill points out, a lot of people have still been worried about its future.

Of course, no one can predict the future with 100% accuracy. But guys like Bobby Gill who have lived through two global crises are aware that this market crash isn’t any different than the previous ones.

Even though the age gap between new investors and seasoned advisors is quite big, in this situation, experience trumps innovation, so we can expect to see many veteran advisors prosper. Only after the crisis is over can we expect to see young wealth strategist starting to re-shape the industry.