Today, they party … tomorrow, they accumulate wealth. (Photo: Thinkstock)
What are registered investment advisors' future clients going to look like?
According to new findings from the TD Ameritrade Institutional 2018 RIA Sentiment Survey, the demographic composition of their client base will look dramatically different five years from now.
The share of baby boomers, who today make up 46% of RIA clients on average, is expected to drop slightly to an average of 43% of clients. Gen Xers and millennials are expected to comprise 27% and 14% of all clients, respectively, up from just 21% and 9% today. The share of seniors is expected to fall from 23% to 14% of clients.
According to Kate Healy, managing director of Generation Next at TD Ameritrade Institutional, This should be a wake-up call to those who think that next-gen wealth is literally still a generation away.
"In five years, over 40% of your clients are going to be Gen X and millennial," Healy told ThinkAdvisor. "… You've got five years to figure out what you might want to change in your service offering, your fee structure, your hiring."
According to Healy, advisors may need to rethink their approach to finding both talent and clients in order to continue on their growth trajectory.
"What are the changes you need to make? How are you going to market to this next generation?" she said. "How are you going to attract them to your firm? Think about the things that you need to do — including taking a look at your service offering."
