Remember: It's their money, not ours

Imagination. That’s what makes a viable asset management company in 2016, according to Justin Urquhart Stewart, Co-Founder of Seven Investment Management.

“You look at the industry at the moment and it looks like Sleepy Hollow half the time. Everyone busily looking inside to see what everyone else is doing. That’s the wrong way around. If you want to develop any industry you need to look outside,” says Justin.

Client-centric thinking is key to this formula. According to Justin, the industry needs to spend less time looking at the industry, and more time understanding what clients want to achieve in order to succeed as an industry.

“We tend to talk about [in the industry] ‘how many assets we have’, but we don’t have any assets. It’s their assets, and it’s a privilege to look after that.”

“Always remember, it’s their money, not ours.”

Education is crucial to the industry’s development

Having investment structures in place isn’t enough to entice the population to invest. According to Justin, educating the general population about investment in lay terminology is crucial.

“We don’t need more economists. We need to teach people finance, so when they come out of school and university they have some idea of how to pay a mortgage, or how to save for something.”

Justin says that at that the moment there’s an expectation from the industry that people should give money to the asset management industry because “that’s what they’re supposed to do” and this mind-set needs to shift.

“Give them the reasons to [give us their money] in their language, not ours.”

The rise in the millennial market also means the industry needs to delve into new, potentially ‘non-traditional’ product areas that appeal to the modern client. Gamification is one of these areas that Justin says could help asset managers communicate with the modern customer.

“Who’s interested in a pension? Tell me what the pension does. Tell me what will happen in the future, as a game. Tell me: When does the money run out? When can I retire? When am I planning to die? Tell me all those things to give me the one word that runs our economy – confidence.”

Want more insights on adopting client-centric strategies? Watch the full interview with Justin Urquhart Stewart in the video panel above or on the FundForum YouTube Channel.