Hong Kongers seek digital channels, F2F meetings in wealth mgmt services

Nearly all use digital channels, yet nearly half still employ face-to-face meetings with advisors.

Hong Kong’s wealthy have increasingly made use of digital channels for their wealth management needs over the past two years but still champion face-to-face meetings with their managers.

Of the 500 affluent individuals polled, 93% said that they have increase the use of their digital channels for wealth management purposes over the last two years, according to Capco’s 2024 Hong Kong Wealth Management Survey report 

Three-quarters (74%) of the respondents– who have a minimum investable asset of US$100,000 and above– expressed comfort in having AI guide their wealth management decisions.

Despite their comfort in using digital platforms and even AI, the respondents said that traditional face-to-face meetings remain an important channel for managing wealth. 

Face-to-face meetings with wealth managers and advisors are employed by nearly half (45%) of all respondents, and 41% of those aged between 19-34 years old.

“Our latest Hong Kong survey underlines the accelerating adoption of, and demand for, digital channels and tools in wealth management. At the same time, it is clear that traditional aspects of wealth management – not least the ability to offer a personal, ‘high touch’ service – remain important to clients,” said James Arnett, managing partner, APAC & Middle East at Capco.

Capco APAC wealth management lead and partner Hayley Haupt noted the need to offer an integrated hybrid and “phygital” model. 

“There are challenges ahead, not least understanding how best to design and deliver a truly integrated hybrid or ‘phygital’ model that offers seamless experiences and a greater degree of flexibility in how clients are served and how they can plan for the future,” Haupt said.

Self-service
Self-serve via the internet (53%) and via a mobile app (52%) were the most common channels the polled investors used to manage their wealth.

Online chats with wealth managers and advisors are also a popular channel, with 46% of respondents saying this. 

About 3 in 4 (75%) of Hong Kong survey respondents say they manage at least part of their wealth themselves.

About 55% said that they used wealth managers and financial advisors, and 52% use robo-advisors.

In comparison, of the over 1,000 respondents polled in mainland China, online chats were the most common (61%), whilst 57% used telephone and video calls.

Over half (55%) of the mainland Chinese respondents said that they met with their wealth managers and advisors face-to-face.

About 39% of mainland Chinese respondents prefer a hybrid model that combines digital self-service and human interaction, just edging past the 33% who prefer purely digital self-service, and the 27% who prefer human interaction only.