How can today’s millennial investors drive tomorrow’s business growth?

Authors
Mike Lee

EY Global Wealth & Asset Management Leader

Spirited leader for wealth and asset management. Champion for change. Driven to produce better outcomes and simplify the complex. Passionate about family, friends and sports.

Jan Bellens

EY Global Banking & Capital Markets Sector Leader

Passionate leader on innovation in financial services, especially in emerging markets. Global citizen. Keen traveler.

Mark Wightman

EY Asia-Pacific Wealth & Asset Management Consulting Leader

Leveraging technology and cultural change to drive the future of wealth and asset management. Global traveller with an Asia Pacific focus. Thought leader. Educator. Father.

4 minute read 24 Apr 2023

Wealth managers have an opportunity to build trust with this vital client group, especially during times of increased market instability. 

In brief
  • Millennial wealth management clients are more responsive, mobile and unpredictable than older investors.
  • A sophisticated understanding of individual traits is key to meeting their needs and creating long-term value.
  • Wealth managers can position themselves as trusted advisors by fostering good investment behavior.

The 2023 EY Global Wealth Research Report shines a revealing light on the desires and behaviors of wealth management clients around the world. The research covers more than 2,600 clients spanning continents, age groups and levels of wealth. More often than not, it’s Millennials that stand out from the crowd.

Most obviously, Millennials consistently show a stronger appetite for advice than older clients – reflecting the fact that most of this cohort are still growing their wealth and have a longer path to fulfil their financial goals.

That is just the beginning, however. The findings show that Millennials have many striking tendencies that cannot simply be explained by their shorter duration of investing experience. Some of the most notable are:

  • Increased tendency to switch: Millennials are more than twice as likely (73%) than Boomers (29%) to switch between providers, to move assets between firms or to begin working with new wealth managers. They are also far more likely (49%) than the global average (33%) to have sought independent professional advice in response to external shocks.
  • Image description

    A set of bar charts showing the percentage of each cohort (Millennials, Gen X, Boomers) and how they plan to switch or move money from wealth management providers over the next three years. The study found 36% of Millennials, 21% of Gen X, and 14% of Boomers, plan to move a portion of their portfolio to another provider. Then 19% of Millennials, 17% of Gen X, and 9% of Boomers, plan to add a new provider. Then 18% of Millennials, 8% of Gen x, and 6% of Boomers, plan on switching.

  • Higher risk appetite: Millennials are 20% more likely than the average client to invest in alternative investments, 16% more likely than average to contribute to actively managed investments and three times more likely than older cohorts to use digital wallets.
  • Demand for digital: 32% of Millennials see a strong digital offering as important when selecting a wealth management provider, exceeded only by a good track record of performance (34%). Millennials are also more likely (59%) than average (40%) to seek a wealth manager that continuously improves its digital platforms with feature enhancements.
  • Greater interest in ethics and sustainability: When selecting a wealth management provider, Millennials place above-average emphasis on sustainable investment options (20% versus 8% of Boomers) and diverse teams (16% versus 5% of Boomers). 
  • Image description

    A set of bar charts showing which of the following matters most when selecting a wealth manager, broken out by Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers. Choices include (1) strong record of investment performance: Millennials (34%), Gen X (45%) and Boomers (53%); (2) wide range of investment products and services: Millennials (33%), Gen X (33%) and Boomers (39%); (3) strong digital offering: Millennials (32%), Gen X (18%) and Boomers (14%); (4) brand and reputation: Millennials (29%), Gen X (29%) and Boomers (35%); (5) competitive fee structure: Millennials (27%), Gen X (43%) and Boomers (50%); (6) access to customized investment research: Millennials (22%), Gen X (17%) and Boomers (14%); (7) sustainable investment options: Millennials (20%), Gen X (13%) and Boomers (8%); and (8) diverse team: Millennials (16%), Gen X (11%) and Boomers (5%).

In short, Millennials emerge from the research as one of the most complex, important and demanding groups of clients for wealth managers to understand and serve.

On the upside, Millennials’ need for high quality advice and support over a period of decades presents a huge potential opportunity for wealth managers able to meet their requirements. Set against that, firms are likely to find it increasingly hard to reconcile Millennials’ desire for more and more specialized advice with their tendency to spread assets between providers and their price sensitivity. For example, this cohort is more concerned (66%) than the average client (54%) about hidden costs.

Furthermore, the research shows that long-term success with this group of clients will depend on wealth managers’ ability to build a sophisticated picture of individual investors’ mindsets and behavioral traits.

A closer look at Millennials’ investing behaviors shows that this generation demonstrates a heightened level of sensitivity, coupled with a marked lack of predictability. Millennials appear to react strongly – and inconsistently – to volatility. No fewer than 50% of this generation (compared to 34% of all clients) reacted to recent market shocks by moving capital into savings and deposits. However, volatility also prompted 47% of Millennials to increase their allocations to actively managed investments (compared to 34% of all clients).

This suggests that wealth managers have a crucial role to play in providing younger investors with a steadying hand. Firms not only need to offer advice and guidance, but to actively educate Millennials on topics like goal-setting, risk appetite and diversification.

Fostering investment behaviors that optimize long-term outcomes will be essential, too. This might involve encouraging positive traits – such as the willingness to embrace new products – while tempering less productive impulses like overreacting to market corrections.

The good news for wealth managers is that Millennials are more open than other cohorts to sharing their transactional data, social media profiles and even GPS locations with providers in exchange for greater personalization. Despite their comfort with digital channels, Millennials also value the ability to discuss matters with an advisor – whether virtually or in person.

2023 Global Wealth Research Report

Take a more detailed look at the drivers putting money in motion, together with a range of potential strategic responses.

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Summary

Millennial wealth management clients stand out for their complex needs, preferences and behaviors. Wealth managers can position themselves as trusted advisors for the long-term by understanding their traits.

About this article

Authors
Mike Lee

EY Global Wealth & Asset Management Leader

Spirited leader for wealth and asset management. Champion for change. Driven to produce better outcomes and simplify the complex. Passionate about family, friends and sports.

Jan Bellens

EY Global Banking & Capital Markets Sector Leader

Passionate leader on innovation in financial services, especially in emerging markets. Global citizen. Keen traveler.

Mark Wightman

EY Asia-Pacific Wealth & Asset Management Consulting Leader

Leveraging technology and cultural change to drive the future of wealth and asset management. Global traveller with an Asia Pacific focus. Thought leader. Educator. Father.