Research: What Advisors Think About Financial Wellness

Financial Wellness Programs for Advisors

Differentiating is important—especially amid fee compression—and many advisors seek to do so through financial wellness. I think it (financial wellness) shows greater understanding and a more robust service offering that tends to only be offered by the more specialized teams… Article presented by: T. Rowe Price

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Executive Summary

T. Rowe Price’s latest research, What Advisors Think About Financial Wellness, was conducted in conjunction with Duke University’s Common Cents behavioral finance lab and financial wellness provider Retiremap. It offers both a qualitative and quantitative view into how advisors think about—and differentiate with—financial wellness programs.

The research uncovered three key themes when it comes to advisors’ perceptions about financial wellness programs:

  1. Financial Wellness is a differentiator and business builder
  2. There is opportunity to expand the reach of wellness beyond just basic and financial topics
  3. Financial wellness solutions may work best using a range of tactics and resources

1. Business Builder and Differentiator

Differentiating is important—especially amid fee compression—and many advisors seek to do so through financial wellness.

I think it (financial wellness) shows greater understanding and a more robust service offering that tends to only be offered by the more specialized teams.

Top reasons advisors are offering financial wellness:

  1. Innovative and compelling way to broaden my value proposition
  2. Capture of rollover IRA assets, additional investment opportunities
  3. Differentiates my practice versus other advisors
  4. That’s where the industry is headed

Implications for Advisors

Topics Covered: Getting Beyond the Basics

The perception is that programs address only foundational financial skills.

We want to help participants with other things they are concerned about. When we do that, they are more productive employees and more valuable to the companies that are our clients. It helps the participant, the company, and our business.

According to advisors, the top four topics that financial wellness programs address:

The reality is that financial wellness can have varying levels of sophistication.

Implications for Advisors

3. How Best to Deploy It

Personal interactions and coaching helps drive results—but they can be very hard to scale. Technology, on the other hand, may scale well but is more challenging to personalize. A robust financial wellness program may combine the two to balance resources with effectiveness.

…[W]here the rubber meets the road is one-on-one counseling. That is where you see action. Whether that is sitting down with a person or having a conference call.

Top methods of implementing a financial wellness program, based on percentage of time advisors rated each as a top-five method:

  1. In-person, education-based group meetings
  2. Apps to monitor finances and track accounts
  3. Solutions to automatically manage income and cash flow
  4. Short, prescriptive steps to achieve in set time frames

Implications for Advisors

Sources: What Advisors Think About Financial Wellness. T. Rowe Price, Retiremap; Duke University Common Cents Lab, 2017. Qualitative research was conducted with 22 advisors, averaging 17.75 years of defined contribution experience. Quantitative research was conducted with 300 advisors, averaging 11–15 years of defined contribution experience and managing an average of 55 plans.

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