How the pandemic has reshaped the way clients engage with their adviser

Perhaps one of the most startling findings from abrdn’s recent research into the behaviours of over 1,000 advised individuals is that more than a quarter of those aged 66 and above have started using remote advice options for the first time, up 200% from pre-pandemic days.

Our research also shows that, during lockdown last year, almost a third (31%) of those we asked say they used digital tools for the first time to receive advice remotely.

We all know the pandemic accelerated a digital shift away from traditional face-to-face client meetings but our research underlines how both advisers and clients rose to the challenge of carrying out their meetings remotely.

Our research also underlines how attitudes to receiving advice this way have profoundly changed compared with the time before the coronavirus crisis struck.

Overall, our findings highlight how the benefits of remote client meetings mean most clients are now much more receptive to receiving advice remotely. More than half of the advised individuals we asked (56%) are actually happier to receive advice this way than they were before lockdown. They’re happier, 57% of this group say, because they’re more comfortable using digital tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom, while 47% say the convenience and flexibility of remote advice simply supports their lifestyles better.

A new blended model for client meetings is emerging

Of course, advisers have always been willing to tailor their service to meet clients’ specific needs but the findings from abrdn’s research show how the flexibility remote advice offers means more and more clients want it to continue.

The majority of the advised individuals we asked, 51%, are looking for that ongoing flexibility around how they engage with their advisers and, in the future, want a mix of face-to-face meetings and remote advice. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those we asked would like some degree of remote advice in the months ahead, with just a fifth (20%) wanting face-to-face meetings only.

Perhaps our research finding of most interest to advisers is the fact that just over a fifth (22%) of the advised individuals we polled only want to meet remotely with their adviser in the future.

All these statistics highlight how a new, blended model for client meetings is emerging within adviser firms and technology is the enabler for it.

We’ve all learned how technology not only allows for more flexibility, it increases efficiencies within firms, saving time and improving capacity by cutting down on the amount of travel required. Most critically, increased capacity and the accessibility of advice, thanks to technology, may even give advisers an opportunity to help meet the advice gap, maximising the number of clients they can support wherever the client is located.

Our findings underline the value of advice for clients

One of the most revealing findings from abrdn’s research is that more than a third (35%) of advised individuals we asked contact their adviser more frequently now than they did before the pandemic, with 61% saying they now speak to their adviser more than once a month. This statistic highlights how advisers have more than proved the value of advice during lockdown, supporting clients as they adapted to challenging circumstances and providing invaluable reassurance and guidance.

Of the 35% who now contact their adviser more frequently, 47% say they do so because of more complex financial needs, while 56% say they appreciate the value of advice more.

These figures are evidence that the pandemic has sharpened the focus on the need for resilience in financial planning to ride out uncertainty in the markets. More personally, for clients, abrdn’s research show it’s about having that peace of mind that there’s a plan in place with the knowledge they’re being looked after by an adviser who’s acting in their best interests.

Digital is part of all our futures

It’s clear that, post lockdown, the way clients engage with advisers will never quite be the same again.

Although there are many benefits to face-to-face client meetings, both advisers and clients are embracing the benefits of remote meetings and attitudes to giving and receiving advice this way have changed forever. The use of digital for both remote meetings and working will be part of all our lives, now and in the future.

Advisers will also need to think digital to best engage with the next generation of clients as, with the proliferation of digital tools around, it’s how younger generations will most likely choose to engage in the future to receive advice.

For adviser firms, the pandemic has been an opportunity to increase digital touchpoints with clients and as abrdn’s research findings reveal, It’s translated into closer relationships with clients.

And when it comes to building on these relationships, having support from technology will be key, including the right platform technology to help advisers deliver insightful, high-quality advice at every life stage to help give clients that important peace of mind.

The value of investments can go down as well as up and your clients could get back less than they paid in.

The views expressed in this blog should not be regarded as financial advice.