5 Secrets for Reaching Affluent 'Legacy Leavers'

Analysis July 17, 2024 at 03:32 PM
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What You Need To Know

  • Analysts from Cogent Syndicated divided participants in an affluent investor survey into four segments.
  • They found that just one segment is interested both in giving to charity and in leaving money for loved ones.
  • Some of those people are expecting to inherit more assets soon.
A happy family

Maybe you want to find, and court, some of the clients who have been planners' bread and butter: Affluent people who still go to events in the community, still write thank-you notes on paper and might want to use their money to do something that lasts.

Steve Ethridge and Kristin Hall, analysts at Cogent Syndicated by Escalent, have some data for you: Results from an online survey, conducted from October 2023 through January 2024, that reached a sample of 5,571 U.S. financial decision-makers, ages 18 or older, who had at least $100,000 in investable assets.

The total included their retirement accounts but not the value of their homes.

The analysts classified 21% as "Legacy Leavers": Affluent people who are motivated to give to others and to feel secure.

Those are people who might be interested in everything from leaving large bequests to their children's universities to setting up charitable remainder trusts or using annuities to arrange for a stream of benefits for a loved one facing challenges with managing personal finances.

Matching marketing strategies with prospects' motivations is important because "financial products tend to be similar," the analysts say. "Investors make financial decisions emotionally."

Here are five things to know about these Legacy Leaver prospects, drawn from survey findings the firm presented at a webinar and additional data provided to ThinkAdvisor.

1. They might be good candidates for charitable giving strategies.

They feel good about giving to charity and are the only participants in the sample who had much interest in leaving a legacy for their families.

2. They tend to be older.

Their average was 59, older than that of the participants that the analysts put in their Financial Achievers, Leisure Seekers and Cautious Givers segments.

Only 2% were millennials.

3. They aren't all that interested in control.

They aren't very interested in maintaining control over their assets, and they're not too afraid of making impulse decisions.

4. They take a traditional approach to communications.

When the analysts charted the survey participants in terms of use of digital tools and interest in a personal relationship with their advisors, the Legacy Leaver participants were at the corner for low-digital, high-personal-touch consumers.

The analysts did not include life insurance agents on their list of financial professionals that survey participants might use for wealth planning. But the financial institutions they did include that seemed to be the best fit were community banks.

The moral: Community banks may be much better sources of Legacy Leaver leads than national banks, regional banks, asset managers or credit unions.

5. Some may soon need extra help with their finances.

About 16% expect to inherit money in the next 10 years.

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