It seems like a contradiction of terms.  How can a financial services organization effectively offer personalized service to Mass Affluent investors?  Apparently, some organizations are doing a great job of delivering those services.  Who are they?

Recent research conducted by Spectrem Group with Mass Affluent investors, those with a net worth of $100,000 to $1,000,000 of net worth, not including their primary residence, identified ten providers that were perceived as offering Personalized Service.  Some of those firms, however, were not well-known among the larger Mass Affluent population.

The firms that were both well-known and deemed to offer Personalized Services include Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley and Vanguard.  Lesser known firms that still offer Personalized Services included Raymond James, BMO Harris, T Rowe Price and Ameriprise.

Generally, banks are less likely to be considered as the types of financial providers that offer Personalized Services (72 percent) than other provider types, however, Wells Fargo and BMO Harris both seem to have surpassed that stereotype.  Independent financial planners have the highest rating at 90 percent. 

Most Mass Affluent investors believe that Mutual Fund companies are not likely to offer Personalized Services at only 42 percent.  Fidelity, Vanguard and T Rowe Price, however, fly in the face of those low ratings.

The lowest rated type of provider for offering Personalized Services?  Online brokerage firms with only 36 percent of the Mass Affluent believing that these firms offer Personalized Services. 

 

For more information on the Wealth Segmentation Series, click here