Advisers Are Focus of Asset Manager Innovation

A new DST kasina study, “Increasing Advisor Engagement with Online Personalization,” finds asset managers are creating rich datasets about financial advisers, along with increasingly sophisticated technologies to leverage the data.

Yet, many of the platforms and websites through which advisers access and utilize asset manager services “still present a one-size-fits-all experience for new and unknown advisers.” While some firm’s get better at personalization and depth of service as the adviser relationship grows, the front-end drag is problematic because “capturing the attention of increasingly elusive advisers is one of the most significant challenges [asset managers] face.”

“Because advisers have more product choices than ever, asset managers have to capture prospects early in the customer journey with relevant content and personalized experiences,” explains Julia Binder, head of strategic marketing research for DST kasina. “And since that journey typically begins online, the website is a critical starting point for demonstrating that the manager is anticipating and responding to each adviser’s needs, interests, and preferences.”

In the end this is likely a positive set of industry pressures from the advisers’ perspective, the research finds, because increased asset manager competition will almost certainly spell a more seamless and flexible adviser experience. For example, survey responses show that nearly all firms already have the data and the technology they need to begin personalizing online experiences for advisers, and many are taking steps to do so.

“We see a real opportunity for asset managers to recommend content, products, and next action steps on their sites, experiences that advisers readily have elsewhere on the web,” Binder adds. “A majority (52.4%) of advisers would use asset manager sites more if content and products were recommended for them.”

While 92.3% of asset manager websites already collect adviser data on website use, sales transactions and product use, just 11.5% use it to make real-time content recommendations on their websites.

More information about DST kasina research is at www.kasina.com.