Almost a quarter (23%) of Middle East wealth management clients plan to change their providers over the next three years, according to a survey from EY.
The survey also showed that 50% of clients have already moved their assets over the last three years, suggesting a clear slowdown in the movement of client assets.
The statistics also show that Middle East wealth clients are less keen to move assets than their global counterparts – 32% of which plan to do so over the next three years.
“The [research] does indicate that the movement of assets in the Middle East will slow down in the upcoming years, but there is still a strong opportunity for wealth management firms to attract assets among the Middle East client base,” said Sarah Sanders, Mena Wealth and Asset Management leader, EY. “Clients are willing to pay for financial advice, but what they value is evolving rapidly.”
Sanders added that the research showed a growing appetite among Mena wealth clients for digital services and mobile apps and 20% of Mena clients say they would switch wealth asset management firms today for such a service.
“The future success of wealth management firms in the Middle East, in an increasingly high-tech sector, will be determined by their ability to keep up with the pace of change and reconfigure their digital delivery model to meet these expectations,” said Sanders.
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