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Wealth Management

Empowering relationship managers with the tools they need

June 1, 2022 3-MINUTE READ

RESEARCH REPORT

In brief

  • Asia’s wealth management firms need to significantly improve their Relationship Managers (RMs) productivity to help realize their 2025 goals.
  • A typical RM uses five tools or applications for each key activity and spends half of his week on work that does not generate direct revenue.
  • Nearly 80 percent of RMs say a solution would be a one-stop platform allowing them to be more efficient and provide a better service to clients

Relationship Managers: Linchpins for success in Asia Wealth Management

Unless Asia’s wealth management firms tackle the difficulties their Relationship Managers (RMs) face, they might not meet their ambitious goals of nearly doubling assets under management and boosting revenues by almost 60 percent by 2025, according to latest Accenture research. Although many firms recognize that RMs are key to meeting their growth plans, only few seem to have factored in the effects of the current market context and the upcoming shortage of talent in their planning. Unless firms could retain existing RMs and attract new talent, they will likely miss their growth goals.

One job, many tools

According to our research, RMs today spend half of their week on activities like non-client and non-prospect meetings, as well as client onboarding and administration—all of which does not generate direct revenue for the firm. This constitutes a huge drain on productivity and efficiency.

In addition, one-third of RMs are frustrated at the lack of integrated solutions and tools that could alleviate the range of pain-points they encounter in numerous client-service areas.

Lack of integrated tools and capabilities leads to RM frustration

Source: Accenture’s Asia Relationship Manager Survey, Q1 2022. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

These pain-points are mostly a direct consequence of a fragmented approach to tools and applications—which could be resolved with an integrated wealth management solution.

What Relationship Managers need

On average, 78 percent of RMs want a digital cockpit that brings together all the underlying capabilities in a one-stop platform. This would boost efficiency and could help them to provide a better service for clients. When choosing such a digital cockpit solution, firms have mainly three options:

  • A bespoke solution
  • A solution that leverages the existing customer relationship management system
  • A solution that leverages the existing digital wealth platform

Each alternative has its advantages and disadvantages and ultimately, the choice firms make need to factor in business drivers and technological considerations specific to their individual needs. Firms that are able to successfully bring RMs along on such a journey could expect many benefits—not least an up to 20 percent revenue uplift by attracting new clients, lowering attrition of existing clients, and deepening cross-selling. They are also more likely to retain their existing RMs and attract new staff.

Nicole Bodack

MANAGING DIRECTOR – CAPITAL MARKETS, GROWTH MARKETS LEAD

Soichiro Muto

MANAGING DIRECTOR – CAPITAL MARKETS, GROWTH MARKETS LEAD

David Wilson

Managing Director – Wealth Management Lead, Growth Markets

"Firms with the right RM cockpit solution are more likely to attract and retain RMs while empowering them to drive growth in their client base—all of which stands at the heart of wealth management firms reaching their ambitious goals for 2025."

— NICOLE BODACK, Managing Director – Capital Markets
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