Consulting firm PwC claims that many in the wealth management seem to be oblivious to their technology inadequacies. Some even overestimate their firm’s digital capability.

The new report titled «Sink or swim: why wealth management can’t afford to miss the digital wave,» which pulls from interviews with wealth relationship managers, CEO's and FinTech innovators, together with insights from a survey of 1,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in Europe, North America and Asia, reveals just a quarter of wealth managers offer digital channels beyond email.

Globally, wealth management is one of the least tech-literate sectors of the financial services industry. What is currently on offer is sharply at odds with what HNWIs, expect.

Asian Demand is Different

Over half of HNWIs surveyed believe it is important for their financial advisor or wealth manager to have a strong digital offering – a proportion that rises to almost two-thirds in Asia. HNWIs in Asia Pacific value investment performance and range of products & services more than their global counterparts. Investment performance tops the chart as the most valued aspect of wealth managers as seen by the majority of HWNIs.

«HNWIs in Asia Pacific are more at ease with technology as compared to their global counterparts. Firms that embrace and seize the digital opportunity now are in a powerful position to deliver propositions of real and sustainable future value which combine the very best of technological and human capital,» said Justin Ong, Asia Pacific Asset and Wealth Management leader at PwC.

Furthermore unlike their global counterparts who rate a strong relationship with their advisor highly, clients in Asia Pacific place more value in the range of products and services offered by their wealth managers.

Local Innovators

«Over the past year, we've seen a number of the local wealth management players start to make inroads into better use of technology and analytics to enhance client experience and improve account penetration,» said Julia Leong, Private Banking leader at PwC Singapore.

PwC says that HNWIs in Asia Pacific are more at ease with technology as compared to their global counterparts. Firms that embrace and seize the digital opportunity now are in a powerful position to deliver propositions of real and sustainable future value which combine the very best of technological and human capital.