Wealthy Millennials Prefer Frequent Adviser Contact

A new Spectrem Group report, “Effective Communication Techniques,” breaks down affluent clients’ communication preferences by generation, finding some surprising evidence about the preferences of Millennial millionaires.

The analysis contends that the “traditional ways” in which financial advisers communicate with their clientele may not be resonating with wealthy Millennial investors—as nearly four in 10 Millennial millionaires (37%) expect their adviser to initiate contact at least once a week. This is significantly higher than the number of wealthy Gen X (3%) and Baby Boomers (3%) clients who expect the same.

“Failing to grasp this trend may have real implications for advisers, who are more likely to be fired for perceived lack of communication than they are for lackluster results,” Spectrem researchers warn. “While this seems like a simple concept, it grows increasingly difficult when an adviser must manage expectations across multiple generations and levels of wealth, each of whom have unique preferences about how they want to be contacted and the frequency with which it takes place.”

When it comes to client-initiated contact with advisers, returning phone calls promptly should be a main point of emphasis for every firm, the research suggests, as more than six in ten (63%) millionaires and seven in ten (71%) ultra-high net worth investors indicate that not doing so is cause for adviser termination.

While they expect frequent adviser-driven contact, affluent Millennials’ level of comfort with modern technology provides avenues for communication that older investors are less likely to embrace, according to the report. For example, when asked whether they would like their adviser to text them, Millennials were more than twice as likely as Baby Boomers to indicate that this would be acceptable.

“The results were similar when video-chatting was discussed,” researchers note, “greatly increasing the touchpoints available to an advieor with youthful clients.”

Additional information is available at www.spectrem.com.