New EY survey: Australian investors more likely to stick with their adviser, though shifting expectations are reshaping the wealth management landscape

• The 2025 EY Global Wealth Research Report finds Australians are less likely to switch wealth providers than global peers, but rising expectations are pushing wealth managers to modernise and personalise their services
• Despite lower-than-average trust in AI tools, over half of Australian investors expect wealth managers to use AI, highlighting its growing role in local wealth services
• Wealth managers need to understand the investment requirements of the next generation, with more than half of local inheritors planning to diversify their portfolio across different asset classes

AUSTRALIA, 20 May 2025. Investors in Australia show greater willingness to stay with their existing wealth provider than the global average, signaling deeper trust between local investors and their primary advisers, the new 2025 EY Global Wealth Research Report reveals. According to the sixth edition of the report, just 18% of Australia respondents say they are likely to change their primary wealth provider within the next three years, well below the global average of 29%.

Despite this, more than one in five Australian investors (22%) still plan to move more than half of their portfolio away from their primary wealth manager in the next three years – underscoring the continued need for wealth managers to continue to evolve their offerings. In addition, many (43%) are expected to increase the number of planning meetings in response to increased volatility in global markets, which will require increased engagement and carefully tailored advice from the advisor to retain trusted relationships. Advisors should be mindful that these conversations may be predicated on clients seeking to take additional discretion of the investment portfolio, with 56% of Gen X investors and 47% of millennials indicating that volatile market conditions lead them to increase control over the portfolio. Among baby boomers, 30% indicate the same.

The report surveyed more than 3,500 investors – ranging from mass affluent to ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), earning between US$250k to US$30m+ annually – across 30 markets globally, including Australia. The findings show Australian investors are more likely to use a private bank as their primary adviser (19%), higher than both global and Asia-Pacific levels (13% each) and second only behind full-service banks (23%) locally. Key factors considered by Australian respondents when selecting their primary wealth advisors include investment performance (70% identified ‘as a most important factor’), fee structure (62%) and recommendations from friends and family (29%).

Rita Da Silva, EY Regional Wealth and Asset Management Leader, Oceania, said: “Our survey suggests that Australian investors continue to value strong relationships with their wealth managers and advisers. Locally, our robust regulatory guardrails and the work the sector has done to build trust following the Financial Services Royal Commission has gone a long way to creating an environment where investors are less likely to be considering a shift in primary providers. However, with client expectations continuing to evolve in the face of greater market volatility, and the potential impacts of the Quality of Advice Review on the local industry yet to fully play out, it is essential that wealth managers keep pace with these changes if they want to maintain their advantage.”

Changing asset allocations

For Australian investors, real estate continues to dominate as the most popular alternative investment class, with 68% of survey respondents including it in their portfolios. The top area where local investors plan to increase their overall portfolio allocation over the next three years is cash holdings with 31% of respondents expecting to weight more heavily into this asset class, in line with the global average of 30%. However, they were less likely to say they would increase their portfolio allocation of managed funds, passive investments such as ETFs, fixed income and digital assets, than the global average.

Interest in alternative assets is gaining momentum though, with Australian respondents who do not currently invest in them saying they are considering investing in asset classes such as global hedge funds strategies (28% of respondents), secondaries (28%) and private credit (21%). In the digital asset space, 49% of Australian respondents reported investing in crypto and other digital assets, with a further 30% expressing interest in this area.

Sustainable investing is also gaining traction among Australian investors, with 23% of respondents already investing in transition-focused financial products, and another 44% showing interest in doing so. A deeper dive into the motivations behind value-based investments revealed that performance returns were the top driver, followed by a desire for clearer risk and return profiles, as well as more transparent performance reporting.

Interestingly, the survey findings highlight a potential opportunity for local wealth managers to engage more with their current clients about a range of products, with 28% of Australian respondents who indicated they were interested in learning more about different types of wealth management products saying their financial adviser had not yet discussed any of these products with them. This is significantly higher than the proportion of global investors who reported the same (19%) and may be in part driven by the use of approved products by Australian advisers.

Next generation planning

In looking at post-inheritance plans, only 35% of local wealth inheritors plan to keep their assets invested as they currently are by their donor. With 51% intending to stay invested but planning to diversify across other asset classes, this signals an opportunity for advisers to better engage with inheritors in order to deepen their understanding of their individual goals and encourage retention across generations.

To do this, the research indicates that the top three factors inheritors say would encourage them to keep working with their donor’s wealth manager are: providing a clear and transparent fee structure (56%); presenting a strong understanding of their specific financial goals and needs (54%); and building trust through open and honest communication (53%).

“The report also found that digital capabilities are more important among younger generations of local investors,” Ms Da Silva said. “Thirty-eight per cent (38%) of local Gen X and 31% of Millennial respondents consider access to advanced digital tools and technologies as one of the most important factors when choosing a wealth provider, compared to just 19% of Boomers. So, this should be an area wealth managers are focusing on as they prepare to transition to the next generation of investors.”

Demand for AI adoption

Fifty-six per cent of local respondents expect their wealth managers to use AI in some capacity, similar to global adoption rates. This is even more pronounced among younger Australian clients, with the 72% of local Millennial investors and 60% of Gen X investors expecting their wealth managers to use AI.

However, overall trust in these tools is lower among local investors, with only 29% of Australian respondents saying they trust AI-powered tools as much as, or more than, human advisors – in contrast to 38% globally. In addition, 46% of Australian respondents said they were not comfortable with AI-driven financial planning without a human advisor. While this rate is similar to that of the US and Canada, other regions across Asia-Pacific indicated higher levels of trust in AI tools. In examining factors impacting trust in AI, over half (52%) of local investors say they have concerns with data privacy and security, as well as accuracy (51%), and the lack of human touch (51%).

“While portfolio performance is still a priority, wealth managers need to look beyond traditional models and embrace a more agile, technology-enabled approach that aligns with evolving investor priorities—whether it is access to alternative assets, ESG transparency, or AI-powered advisory. Firms that resist change may risk losing key clients in a competitive marketplace,” Ms Da Silva said.

A full copy of the report is available here.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Methodology

The EY organisation worked with market research consultancy Savanta to conduct a broad survey of nearly 3,600 wealth management clients in 30 geographies to research client sentiment, needs, preferences and opinions along with clients' actions, plan and intentions - allowing us to track key developments in demand and shifts of assets. The survey was open for responses between October 30th and December 24th, 2024.

EY profiled clients not just by traditional segments, such as age, gender, wealth and country of residence, but also by risk appetite, life stages, profession, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity and psychographic profiles.

Geographic coverage: North America including the US and Canada; Latin America including Brazil, Chile and Mexico; EMEA including France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, and UK; Nordics including Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Middle East including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE; Asia-Pacific including Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore and ASEAN including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Media Contact: 

Rebecca Aley
rebecca.aley@au.ey.com
0418835849