Expert: Emily Jones, KPMG. Facilitator: Shelley Doorey-Williams
Headlines:
- Embedded finance presents the opportunity for consumers to access wealth management services via or from a non-financial provider.
- Embedded finance streamlines financial services for clients, making it easier for them to access the solutions they need in one place, at the right time.
- Embedded finance has the potential to revolutionize wealth management, specifically the financial wellbeing provider space, through offering personalised, timely product suggestions to consumers.
- In an age of seamless integration and optimized user experiences, clients will increasingly expect the same seamlessness when engaging with their wealth manager and expect integration with other areas of their life.
Discussion points:
KPMG’s Future of Wealth Management report highlights the following themes shaping the rapid evolution of the Wealth Management industry globally:
- Expanding, diversified customer base with rising expectations
- New ways of working, powered by technology
- Fast regulatory change, forcing rapid evolution of processes
- Geopolitical volatility and uncertainty
- Aggressive new entrants with efficient business models
According to KPMG’s research, three key business models are emerging for wealth managers, driven by the evolving needs of consumers and industry disruptors:
- The financial wellbeing provider: A digital-first, mass-market, wealth management model helping price-conscious clients achieve life goals
- The domestic wealth manager: Targeting relatively sophisticated high- to ultra-high net worth clients, managing multi-generational wealth via personalized relationships supported by digital capabilities
- The global investment expert: A global suite of customized services for the ultra-wealthy, with leading experience from trusted advisors with worldwide reach and reputation
Attendees re-iterated the importance of tailor-made, personalised offerings for wealth management clients, and were supportive of the theory behind technology that could enable that, but flagged the importance of ensuring clients didn’t feel they were being ‘upsold to’.
Attendees discussed the importance of taking a ‘client-centric’ approach: ensuring client experience and client needs are at the heart of everything. Ensuring differing communication needs and channel preferences across clients could be accommodated was discussed as highly important.
Even though technology advancements were key to staying abreast with other industries, attendees stressed that being able to provide meaningful, individual advice to clients (either face to face or via phone) remained hugely important to the industry, due to the reassurance that it provided to clients.
In times of uncertainty or stress, clients continued to look for a reassuring call with their advisor, rather than to self-serve or to read guidance online.
Top of mind for attendees were talent shortages that are plaguing the industry, preventing them from hiring the right quality of relationship managers needed to provide the required levels of support and guidance to clients.
Key takeaways:
- Participants wanting further knowledge on the concept of embedded finance – and how it could be incorporated into their future strategies – should read the KPMG Future of Wealth Management research report
- Any firms that would like an additional working session on the findings and the applicability to them can contact Emily Jones (jones2@kpmg.co.uk)
