The recent CEO dinner organised by PAM and hosted by Objectway proved to be a lively forum where the most pressing industry challenges and future outlook was discussed. Once again, enhancing the client experience was certainly near the top of the agenda as was the importance of sustainability and the constant challenges of improving productivity and achieving scale.

Client demands have markedly changed over the years and the client experience is certainly a differentiator in the market. The industry is focused on improving this. Firms are investing in their digital front ends to provide a personalised experience where their clients can do more than the traditional read only portal and can collaborate more effectively with their investment/relationship managers and have access to tailored information on the go. The ultimate aim is to provide a seamless hybrid experience with respect to digital and face to face interactions. Firms had noticed a positive correlation between client satisfaction and the sophistication of this hybrid offering which showed that the investment was paying off. The majority of firms in the industry are undergoing change and using digital technology to enable improvements by simplifying the current legacy architecture but also attempting to future proof the business. An example of this is the desire to create an open scalable platform which will make it easier to introduce new offerings or services within shorter time frames and at less risk. Digital change was also seen to help to improve productivity and efficiency within firms. For instance, , the front office wanted to be able to receive real time alerts on dashboards which could help prioritise tasks and have an integrated solution which could do away with many manual processes freeing up time for more value added processes.

The importance of ESG was also discussed, both in terms of meeting regulatory requirements and the reporting of this and of greater functionality required when it came to managing portfolios and analysing performance using ESG factors. Many clients wanted to do good while doing well with respect to their portfolios.

So what will the future look like for the wealth management industry?

Firms have seen a positive change in their internal make up in terms of diversity and will be promoting this further. Not only has this made the workplace more dynamic but will have positive impacts on client relationships.

The near future signals the first deadline for implementation of consumer duty and there was agreement that client outcomes related to ‘consumer understanding’, ‘price and value’ etc. are positive for the industry. There may need to be some changes made around this. For example, ensuring, that there is a clear omni channel approach to communications and relevant tailored support available for clients. Digital channels undoubtedly play a major role in this.

The question over buy vs build technology was also debated with the consensus being the benefits of partnering with a specialist technology vendor able to configure specific workflows and maintain/upgrade the solution to industry standards was a compelling reason to buy. Ideally, CEOs would like to focus on what they do best- managing client relationships and money and leaving the rest to trusted partners.

The mood within the group was very positive and looking forward to a future where clients would enjoy a more personalised omni channel experience and firms would be enabled to tachieve greater efficiency and scale.