A study of the Web sites of the 20 largest high-end wealth managers globally finds most lacking basic functionality and features that could help the firms win new business. A few stand out in the ranking developed by
MyPrivateBanking.com, a Swiss consultant, with
UBS and
Deutsche Bank taking the top spots, while
Goldman Sachs and
Citigroup’s sites placed last.
The study found most of the private bank and wealth management division sites had weaknesses in basic functions and content related to client fees or investment performance. Even the top finisher on the 100-point scale, UBS, only logged an 82 overall.
Deutsche Bank placed second with 81, a fraction of a point ahead of
Credit Suisse, and
Merrill Lynch was next with 80 points. At the bottom, Goldman scored 57 for 19th place and Citigroup’s private bank site was last with a 53. The survey ranked the public Web sites that are accessible to new and potential clients without a log-in or password. [See full rankings in chart below].
The
“How Wealth Managers Win Clients Online” report broadly assesses sites across three criteria – navigation, content and interactivity. UBS’s private banking site fared well because of its array of interactive tools for clients to analyze portfolio needs and find investment products. The report says Credit Suisse had strong navigation and interactive functions, while Deutsche Bank had customer-friendly content and was one of few that details its fee structure online.
Meanwhile, Goldman and Citigroup scored low in the content and interactivity categories. For Goldman, a notable issue was the difficulty in making contact with the company via the site, says
Steffen Binder, research director and principal author of the report for MyPrivateBanking.com.
“It’s hard to find any e-mails or contact forms,” he adds. “It sends a message – and I don’t think that’s the message they want to send – of ‘Please don’t contact us.’”
Citi had weaknesses common to most of the top 20 firms, but also lacked a search function, an online contact form, and suitable language options for a global clientele, says
Christian Nolterieke, managing director at MyPrivateBanking.com.
Wealth firms should not underestimate the significance of a strong Web site today, especially as more affluent and older users turn to the Internet for information and social networking, Binder says.
“Many of the private banks are not prepared to fight for the customer online, especially today when there are many private banking and wealth management clients who are considering changing their provider,” he says. “[Web sites are] where people go for a first impression. Even the ultra-wealthy and older people, who are getting very fluent with Web technology, are doing a first-round focused search for information, and are looking for the opinions of peers in their wealth range and demographics.”
Binder says potential clients use the Web to build a “mental short list” from which they contact firms to meet an advisor. But he says because most private bank organizations still have a conservative culture reliant on word-of-mouth and print media to reach potential clients, firms that get the Web site right have an edge.
“We advise wealth mangers to spend more effort and get their Internet presence up to date, and then think hard about next steps, such as how to utilize social media to gain new customers,” he adds.
The most important element most firms are missing on their sites is an explication of their “unique selling proposition” and brand message, Binder says. One exception, he says, is Pictet, a Geneva-based private bank that in multiple instances on its Web site conveys a unique message for a large organization: that it has been around for 300 years and is owned by a limited number of partners – all of whom invest their personal assets and have their own wealth “on the line.”
“That’s a clear message that comes across on nearly every page of the Web site,” Binder says.
Many other firms have bland, superficial or generic language on their sites about “trust” or “confidentiality” or “personalized service.” He says only about a quarter of the top 20 firms have identified a unique message and are communicating it on their sites. “You waste your Web site if you don’t have this message,” he adds.
Most of the top firms score well for basic features such as biographical information on leadership or corporate history, Binder says. But many fail at the next level in features such as access to complete privacy notices, convenient contact functions or effective site search functions.
“If you quickly need the address of branch office on your way to your first meeting as a client, it shouldn’t take 10 minutes to find it,” Binder says. “It should take 20 seconds to get the address, a map, and even a short bio and picture of the advisor. It’s very simple to do it well.”
And Nolterieke says only 12 of 20 firms had encrypted, secure protocol coding on their online contact form pages, which is a “simple tool for significantly increasing the site user privacy.”
Most firms also fall flat in providing information about fees and fee structures; data for performance of managed portfolios or discretionary funds; minimum investment requirements; and assets under management. “Some of the banks have very good performance and could do well by publishing that information,” Binder adds.
Binder says Deutsche Bank and Paris-based
Crédit Agricole were the only firms with extensive fee data available. But fees and performance are the “hard facts” investors want today as a baseline, he adds. And regulators are increasingly asking firms to disclose this information.
Binder says most high-end wealth organizations historically have been reluctant to share such data, especially in the U.S., which may partly explain why firms based in Europe generally scored higher. U.S. firms tend to have stricter legal department reviews of Web site content, he adds.
But he says given that U.S. investors are the most Web-savvy, it would behoove any wealth manager serving the market to have a strong online presence. He says Asia and emerging markets also have high concentrations of investors attuned to using online technology for private banking needs.