Surveys
UK Wealth Management Clients Reveal Top Causes Of Dissatisfaction – Research
Dissatisfied clients of wealth management firms have expressed why they are not happy with the service they are receiving and why they may be considering alternative providers.
Wealth management clients in the UK have cited the closure of regional offices and high staff turnover among their top complaints, according to research by findawealthmanager.com, an online "dating" service for wealth management.
The majority of clients of UK wealth managers said they would be happy with a London-based provider, while a tenth specifically request a local firm, according to surveys and interviews with over 500 individuals over the past year. This explains the annoyance caused by the closure of regional offices. The high turnover of advisors was identified as another leading cause of client dissatisfaction.
“Wealth management is a people business, with the very best advice and outcomes coming from longstanding client-advisor relationships. We hear that clients really don’t appreciate having to constantly re-tell their story due to a high turnover of advisers,” said findawealthmanager.com.
Unanswered calls and emails, changes of ownership and little proactive client contact were also among top complaints made against wealth managers.
“Our Q2 user statistics show that the average portfolio size for a dissatisfied client coming to the site is £1,626,250 ($2,543,600), while those new to wealth management are looking to invest an average of £952,500. These figures, and the high costs of client acquisition in the industry, show just how important it is to avoid making ‘schoolboy errors’ in client service,” said Lee Goggin, co-founder of findawealthmanager.com.
The business's recent second-quarter wealth survey highlighted tax changes for UK resident non-doms as a key financial concern. The topic became a hot one following the recent government Budget, which announced the end of permanent non-dom status. Indeed, the proportion of UK resident non-doms using the matching service jumped from 7 per cent to 17 per cent over the quarter.
