Fidelity: How to Take Advantage of '$700 Billion' Mass Affluent Opportunity

New research from Fidelity Institutional seeks to help advisors to better take advantage of what they call the "the $700 billion mass affluent opportunity." For the purposes of the research, the Boston-based mutual fund behemoth defines the mass affluent segment as having between $100,000 and $1 million in investable assets.

Among the findings:

• 24% of mass affluent households in America do not currently work with a broker or advisor, but would consider using one.
• Nearly 6 million mass affluent households in the U.S. today do not use the advice of a broker or advisor—six times the number of millionaire households that do not use advice.
• Four million mass affluent investors could be open to switching brokers or advisors this year.
• Even though most mass affluent professionals under the age of 40 uses some form of social media professionally, the group typically prefers telephone (58%) and email (38%) as modes of communication.

The white paper developed from the research, titled "Acquisition and Development Targets for Business Growth," identifies three segments that, according to the company, provide targeted opportunities for brokers and advisors. They are:

• Investors new to advice. While non-advice-users tend to skew younger and less affluent, the findings from the study will show that investment in the development of this segment—including their unique relationship with technology—could potentially pay long-term dividends, as these investors could grow into the next generation of millionaires.
• Existing clients. In times of economic difficulty, existing clients provide a baseline of opportunity that can be the most immediate path to growth—if you retain and develop your most valuable clients through understanding and addressing the issues that concern them the most.
• Potential switchers. Market turbulence produces a constant stream of prospective clients who become more receptive to doing business with new brokers or advisors. Knowing their biggest sources of dissatisfaction can help you identify strengths to accentuate in order to win these new clients from competitors.