Canada’s wealth management landscape continues to transform. I see increased eagerness from clients to discuss the ‘New’, with them initiating conversations that used to require my coaxing.
This results from the usual suspects: market and consumer forces, as well as digital technology disruption. From changing investor demographics and preferences, to the rise of digitally native wealth management companies, established firms continue to face change. Many are exploring new business models to redefine themselves for the new realities.
If you’re an advisory firm doing the same in Canada, a new research report from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and Accenture might be of interest to you. “Enabling the Evolution of Advice in Canada” covers four topics that dealers and fintechs weighed in on via interviews, a roundtable and a quantitative survey:
- How investor needs and expectations are changing. The rise of women and millennials as gamechanger clients is prompting firms to increase transparency and customers’ ability to seamlessly transition across service offerings.
- How firms are responding to those changes. A shift from products to holistic advice, and an expanded continuum of service models to accommodate a human/digital mix, take center stage.
- Challenges firms face when introducing new business models in Canada. A variety of barriers to innovation were raised in the study, which helped us increase our understanding of emerging business models and how future regulations could be better developed and communicated.
- Opportunities to foster a more engaged, bilateral relationship between IIROC and dealers. Ideas for improving regulator knowledge on changing investor needs and how timely dialogues could help facilitate innovation were covered in the report.
As the lead for Accenture’s North American Wealth Management practice, I see and hear about many of these issues through my clients. I believe the outcome of this study will help the Canadian wealth industry to innovate at a faster pace. And, I think proper actions in response to this study will reduce unnecessary cost burden, while continuing to provide protection and access for investors of all ages.
To learn more, head over to the report homepage. If you would like to discuss this topic further or get additional information, please email capital.markets@accenture.com.
