Let’s think of an investor with a bunch of money to invest, he probably already has a financial advisor watching his back. And he has not, he might get himself one. But careful there, it’s still a relationship we are talking about and, as every relationship, you need to find the right fit – for your very own financial goals – to make it work.

The Wealth landscape is ever changing, in terms of both client needs and demographics. Loyalty is considered an extremely important asset for clients, even more than past years. The same way, switching financial advisor is not subject to any hesitation for millennials and Generation Z, if they scent the relationship is not going well and they are paying for a service that doesn’t carry the expected results and won’t certainly drive loyalty, eventually.

Should I stay or should I go? The rhythm of the Investor

Via a brief LinkedIn survey, we asked professionals what would lead them to switch their financial advisors. Consequently, we discuss what would make them stay.

Apparently, 56% of respondents agree that failing to properly address changing needs is more than a valid reason to break up with their current financial advisor. As experienced, the industry is evolving daily, and the client base is increasing in number and complexity of needs and expectations. It’s fair that investors want advisors that can reshape advise according to their changing needs and are equipped with the latest technology – robo advisory, avant-garde mobile apps etc. – to support them so. After all, financial success and security is what investors look for and understanding needs and goals is the most important requirement of a great advisor.

Not surprisingly, sporadic communication is the second most selected items (22%). We assume a few reasons to this.

First, stepping out from a period of great uncertainty, investors still feel to different degree the need to keep their investments constantly monitored and to have quick, direct advice on what to do in times of financial volatility. What’s more, customers feel more “relaxed” if their investments are handled by someone they can trust. And trust requires communication for a strong client relationship to flourish.

Also, in the age of smartphones, social media etc. any question can be answered nearly in real time and information is literally a click away. This scenario raised the bar and now we all expect a best in class service from the people and business we interact with. Within financial advisory this means annual meetings and quarterly reports are no longer enough.

And clients, they expect some choice over how and when to communicate. Indeed, 11% of professionals judge single channel client relationship as a motive to go.

Last but not least, 11% of respondents would leave in front of paper-based processes. If onboarding is an area of attention as the first encounter with your digital-first client, once in, a paper intensive “rest of the relationship” – paper-based reporting to name one service – won’t stop him from leaving.

At the end of the day, none expects financial advisors to court investors with flowers and chocolate, but there are indeed a few things to bear in mind to keep your investors engaged and loyal.

And if we all know relationships and loyalty do not happen overnight, then the journey towards client experience excellence goes through frequent, omnichannel communication, stellar ability to meet clients’ evolving needs matched with the rightest technology and a set of paperless, digital end-to-end processes.