Swiss private investors do not want pure robo-advisors. Figures show: bank customers still ask for human advisory services, Philipp Kaupke writes in an essay for finews.first.
This article is published on finews.first, a forum for authors specialized in economic and financial topics.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, deposit openings of private investors in Switzerland have been at record highs. While initially, in the spring of 2020, the assumption of a temporary phenomenon prevailed, it is now evident that we are observing a more profound development.
This development is fueled by investment solutions enticing with low entry volumes while being intuitively and easily controlled with mobile devices, whereas traditional savings instruments are losing their appeal due to negative interest rates and a lack of returns from low-risk fixed-income securities.
«The crux of the matter lies in understanding the various customer needs»
The growing retail investor movement is proving to be a future opportunity for banks. The crux of the matter lies in understanding the various customer needs in order to develop successful offerings. A recent study reveals that 47 percent of Swiss retail investors see themselves as so-called «validators».
Referring to a digitally-savvy customer segment that wants support with investment decisions in the form of advice, however, retains the ability to confirm or override decisions afterward. Not least, «validators» still expect convenient investment solutions. If they do not find these at their own house bank, they will quickly find access to alternatives through other providers.
Conclusion: It is only with an innovative and efficient advisory model that a bank can sustainably secure the portfolio of these investors and at the same time achieve further growth.
«Incidentally, men and women respond equally to these investment solutions»
While the robo-advisor True Wealth is celebrating the 500 million francs AuM mark this year after more than six years, PostFinance products are heading to double that volume after just 17 months. The secret of PostFinance's success lies in its hybrid advisory model.
It provides purely digital investment advice for investors, while at the same time still offering a personal consultation with a customer advisor if needed. In terms of content and quality, it is the same service and the same customer journey. Incidentally, men and women respond equally to PostFinance investment solutions as the proportion of female investors ranges between 42 and 63 percent.
«Five success factors suggest the future viability of hybrid investment advice»
More than 80 percent of PostFinance customers choose to initially visit a branch to conclude an investment solution and experience the digital front end for the first time together with a trained customer advisor. During the personal consultation, customers go through the same screens as they would from their own devices and familiarize themselves with the digital customer journey.
Consequently, in the further course of product use, the repeated supply of new investment capital is then mainly carried out independently by the customers. From a banking perspective, five success factors suggest the future viability of hybrid investment advice:
1. Investment in technical capabilities as a sustainable support for the bank's own client advisors
2. Scalable service thanks to tool-supported advice and digital customer empowerment
3. Strengthening omnichannel capabilities thanks to a channel-permeable interaction model between client and bank
4. Customer needs assessment and thus, needs creation thanks to a tool-supported process
5. A powerful response in terms of customer loyalty to one’s own brand in the face of increasingly digital competitive pressure
Philipp Kaupke is a senior director at Simon-Kucher & Partners, an international strategy & marketing consultancy.
Previous contributions: Rudi Bogni, Peter Kurer, Rolf Banz, Dieter Ruloff, Werner Vogt, Walter Wittmann, Alfred Mettler, Robert Holzach, Craig Murray, David Zollinger, Arthur Bolliger, Beat Kappeler, Chris Rowe, Stefan Gerlach, Marc Lussy, Nuno Fernandes, Richard Egger, Maurice Pedergnana, Marco Bargel, Steve Hanke, Urs Schoettli, Ursula Finsterwald, Stefan Kreuzkamp, Oliver Bussmann, Michael Benz, Albert Steck, Martin Dahinden, Thomas Fedier, Alfred Mettler, Brigitte Strebel, Mirjam Staub-Bisang, Nicolas Roth, Thorsten Polleit, Kim Iskyan, Stephen Dover, Denise Kenyon-Rouvinez, Christian Dreyer, Kinan Khadam-Al-Jame, Robert Hemmi, Anton Affentranger, Yves Mirabaud, Katharina Bart, Frédéric Papp, Hans-Martin Kraus, Gerard Guerdat, Mario Bassi, Stephen Thariyan, Dan Steinbock, Rino Borini, Bert Flossbach, Michael Hasenstab, Guido Schilling, Werner E. Rutsch, Dorte Bech Vizard, Adriano B. Lucatelli, Katharina Bart, Maya Bhandari, Jean Tirole, Hans Jakob Roth, Marco Martinelli, Thomas Sutter, Tom King, Werner Peyer, Thomas Kupfer, Peter Kurer, Arturo Bris, Frederic Papp, James Syme, Dennis Larsen, Bernd Kramer, Ralph Ebert, Armin Jans, Nicolas Roth, Hans Ulrich Jost, Patrick Hunger, Fabrizio Quirighetti, Claire Shaw, Peter Fanconi, Alex Wolf, Dan Steinbock, Patrick Scheurle, Sandro Occhilupo, Will Ballard, Nicholas Yeo, Claude-Alain Margelisch, Jean-François Hirschel, Jens Pongratz, Samuel Gerber, Philipp Weckherlin, Anne Richards, Antoni Trenchev, Benoit Barbereau, Pascal R. Bersier, Shaul Lifshitz, Klaus Breiner, Ana Botín, Martin Gilbert, Jesper Koll, Ingo Rauser, Carlo Capaul, Claude Baumann, Markus Winkler, Konrad Hummler, Thomas Steinemann, Christina Boeck, Guillaume Compeyron, Miro Zivkovic, Alexander F. Wagner, Eric Heymann, Christoph Sax, Felix Brem, Jochen Moebert, Jacques-Aurélien Marcireau, Ursula Finsterwald, Claudia Kraaz, Michel Longhini, Stefan Blum, Zsolt Kohalmi, Karin M. Klossek, Nicolas Ramelet, Søren Bjønness, Andreas Britt, Gilles Prince, Salman Ahmed, Stephane Monier, and Peter van der Welle, Ken Orchard, Christian Gast, Jeffrey Bohn, Juergen Braunstein, Jeff Voegeli, Fiona Frick, Stefan Schneider, Matthias Hunn, Andreas Vetsch, Fabiana Fedeli, Marionna Wegenstein, Kim Fournais, Carole Millet, Ralph Ebert, Swetha Ramachandran, Brigitte Kaps, Thomas Stucki, Neil Shearing, Claude Baumann, Tom Naratil, Oliver Berger, Robert Sharps, Tobias Mueller, Florian Wicki, Jean Keller, Niels Lan Doky, Karin M. Klossek, Ralph Ebert, Johnny El Hachem, Judith Basad, Katharina Bart, Thorsten Polleit, Bernardo Brunschwiler, Peter Schmid, Karam Hinduja, Zsolt Kohalmi, Raphaël Surber, Santosh Brivio, Mark Urquhart, Olivier Kessler, Bruno Capone, Peter Hody, Lars Jaeger, Andrew Isbester, Florin Baeriswyl, and Michael Bornhaeusser, Agnieszka Walorska, Thomas Mueller, Ebrahim Attarzadeh, Marcel Hostettler, Hui Zhang, Michael Bornhaeusser, Reto Jauch, Angela Agostini, Guy de Blonay, Tatjana Greil Castro, Jean-Baptiste Berthon, Marc Saint John Webb, Dietrich Goenemeyer, Mobeen Tahir, Didier Saint-Georges, Serge Tabachnik, Rolando Grandi, Vega Ibanez, Beat Wittmann, David Folkerts-Landau, Andreas Ita, Teodoro Cocca, Michael Welti, Mihkel Vitsur, Fabrizio Pagani, Roman Balzan, Todd Saligman, Christian Kaelin, Stuart Dunbar, Fernando Fernández, Lars Jaeger, Carina Schaurte, Birte Orth-Freese, Gun Woo, Lamara von Albertini, Philip Adler, Ramon Vogt, Gérard Piasko, Andrea Hoffmann, Niccolò Garzelli, Darren Williams, Benjamin Böhner, Mike Judith, Gregoire Bordier, Jared Cook, Henk Grootveld, Roman Gaus, Nicolas Faller, and Anna Stünzi.
