The rich lose a little faith in their wealth managers

The satisfaction levels of high new worth individuals (HNWIs) with their main contacts at UK wealth managers has fallen this year, with a decline in those saying they are 'very satisfied' with the service received.

A survey conducted by Ledbury Research, an international market research firm specialising in understanding and engaging HNWI, shows the wealthy gave their wealth managers an average score of 7.5 out of 10, with 10 being 'very satisfied' and 1 being 'very dissatisfied'

There has been a sharp drop off in the HNWIs giving their contact a 9 or 10, and some 16% scored their wealth manager contact five or less.

'It is clear that large parts of the industry are still not getting this right,' the consultancy said. 'Of course, the current failings also highlight the difficulties associated with communications, and specifically the complexities of finding the right frequency and nature of communications.'

Specific suggestions made by survey respondents included more phone calls, updates and face-to-face meetings, while dissatisfaction was often caused by 'irrelevant communication'.

'The main interfaces between the wealth management industry and HNWI clients are failing to satisfy significant numbers of HNWIs, and this needs to be a focus area for the industry,' said Stuart Rutherford, senior analyst at Ledbury Research.

Rutherford described the finding as 'an extraordinary level of consensus' for HNWIs, which the research defined as those with at least £500,000 in investable assets. 

He added that communication continually came up as a key factor in satisfaction.