A growing number of organizations are hosting incentive challenges to drive innovation, and creating collaborative digital platforms meant for idea sharing and input gathering. Why not capture the insights of clients in a similar way?
Defining value in the 21st century
Collaboration with customers can also help firms answer one of the industry’s most pressing questions: how to define “value” for the next decade.
There’s growing acknowledgement of the need to measure value in a way that captures the impact of investments on our planet and our society. EY’s involvement in the Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism is a case in point. This collaborative project represents an important opportunity to transform the way businesses measure and report on the value they create for stakeholders, ultimately aiming to restore trust in today’s society and build a sustainable future.
That is an example of a broader business initiative, but there are steps investment firms can take now to reap the benefits of community input. For example, global interest in sustainable or ESG investing is greater today than it’s ever been. Community collaboration can play a role in solving challenges such as defining more consistent sustainable investment metrics, an extremely complex task given its inherently subjective nature.
The growing ability of digital platforms to foster engagement is giving investment managers a new way to engage clients on their views and preferences. Toniic, which dubs itself a “global action community for impact investors,” offers an online platform for its members to learn, invest and engage, while Ask the Circle provides a platform for wealthy families to share co-investment opportunities and communicate with a global network of peers. Certain financial services organizations are even creating their own social media platforms to enable high-net-worth individuals to partner on investments, philanthropic ventures and deals.
Firms that create their own version of a moderated online forum can boost interactions with their clients and the broader investment community. This type of forum can in turn yield a range of valuable behavioral insights.
Summary
Consulting with current and potential customers, along with employees, can help investment firms attract new ideas, refine their decision-making and test their thinking with important stakeholders.
