Adviser Needs Are Influencing Asset Management Industry

This is a positive development for advisers, both retail and retirement specialists, according to Kasina. The report, “Growing Sales and Loyalty With the Advisor Customer Journey,” is targeted at the asset management industry, but it contains some important insights for plan advisers.

Notably, the report predicts asset managers will increasingly compete for adviser-mediated business in the coming years. This in turn will create a solutions-rich environment that could make it easier for advisers to effectively service their own clients by leveraging advanced support from asset managers and fund providers.

Kasina says asset managers that want to generate more sustainable and profitable growth in the coming years are focusing on the personalized support experience financial advisers want—and increasingly expect. Researchers suggest that asset managers already offer and develop investing solutions tied to advisory service models, and that advisers should anticipate more options when choosing platforms, investments and support tools. While generally a positive development for advisers and their clients, the rush of new products and services could challenge adviser due diligence and decisionmaking, Kasina warns. 

Asset managers, exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers and insurers are reacting to this pressure by delivering a personalized customer experience for advisers across all touch points, Kasina says. Researchers call this “defining the customer journey.” Unlike many types of business-to-business customers, financial advisers are almost always in “buying mode,” Kasina explains. Therefore, the bulk of the adviser’s customer journey is spent in the decisionmaking and investment evaluation process. Top-performing asset managers are folding this outlook into their efforts to gain adviser-intermediated business, Kasina says.

Given all this, the report suggests, advisers will likely see ongoing evolution in tools designed to support portfolio monitoring, investment universe exploration and efficient asset control/trade execution.

More information on this report and other Kasina research is here.