A Deloitte study has revealed that due to the growth of smartphones and tablets and the increase in interaction of clients with their financial service providers via mobile devices, there is a huge opportunity for mobile expansion in the investment management space.
A recent Deloitte study reveals that because of the growth of the use of smartphones and tablets and the increasing interaction of financial service clients with investment firms via mobile devices, there is a lucrative opportunity for mobile expansion in the investment management space.
The 2 193 respondents (of whom 1 488 were investment management account holders) were asked in the survey about their awareness, usage, preferences and concerns when it came to interacting with financial services firms via mobile devices. According to the survey, typical mobile investors are potentially very attractive clients, being predominantly homeowners, university graduates and high earners.
Because of the fact that a significant percentage of investment management account holders do interact with investment firms via mobile devices, we expect the majority of investment firms to continue to invest in mobile,” says George Cavaleros CFA, a partner at Deloitte.
Despite only 27% of investors stating that mobile offerings are extremely important or important, with 36% stating that mobile is unimportant, the survey finds that the majority of investment management account holders are in fact interacting with a financial institution and using their mobile devices for some financial services activities.
Another factor in favour of investing in mobile is that nearly all respondents between the ages of 21 and 59 use a smart phone to interact with financial institutions,” says Cavaleros.
Security concerns
Most respondents said they used their cellphones for getting information from their investment firms, but very few (only 15%) used their mobile device for doing direct transactions. Their main concern was the security of mobile investment transactions, with 78% being “fairly concerned” about this.
However, respondents were more likely to find mobile banking services extremely important (39%) when compared with investment services (23%).
One possible reason for this is that banking tends to involve more routine transactions, and therefore the interaction is more familiar,” explains Cavaleros. “Another factor is that the investment manager does not always have a direct relationship with the end client because an advisor is often in the middle.
Integrating customer touch points
The survey results show that investors interact with financial institutions via multiple channels. “This means investment firms cannot think of mobile as a discrete channel,” asserts Cavaleros. “Rather, it is part of a customer-service ecosystem that must be integrated with other customer touch points.
Addressing investors’ concerns about mobile security is another top priority. “Investment firms should strive to ensure the security of their mobile offerings if they want full investor engagement,” Cavaleros concludes.
* Follow Gadget on Twitter on @GadgetZA