The investment industry has an age discrimination problem, and millennials and Generation X are bearing the brunt of it. Only 30 percent of financial advisors are actively looking for clients under age 40, according to a survey of 500 advisors by the research firm Corporate Insight.
Advisors prefer older clients for a simple reason: Most advisors get paid based on a percentage of the assets they manage. And typical households in their late 60s and early 70s are far richer than their children and grandchildren, with net worths that are five times that of a median 35- to 44-year-old household. These older baby boomers own 22 times more in assets than those under age 35, Federal Reserve data show.
Even if millennials and members of Generation X can find an advisor who will talk to them, they may well be better off on their own. If you have only $10,000—the median net worth of those under 35— it makes little sense to pay someone $300 an hour to manage it.
Still, the investment industry can’t ignore younger clients forever. For one thing, retiring boomers are starting to spend down their nest eggs—making them less profitable for advisors year after year, says Corporate Insight’s Sean McDermott.
Over time, more and more money will end up in the hands of millennials. And so far they don't see much point in professional finance advice. Only 29 percent of young workers have looked to professionals for advice, an IQuantifi survey last month showed. Meanwhile, 71 percent asked family members and 45 percent turned to friends.
While many advisors ignore people under 40, other investment firms are taking them very seriously. They see a business opportunity in winning over the younger Americans who are actually saving substantial sums.
On May 5, for example, Vanguard Group expanded its “Personal Advisor” service to clients with more than $50,000 in assets. Previously restricted to clients with more than $100,000, the two-year-old service offers advice to clients via the Web and over the phone for 0.3 percent of assets per year, or $150 on a $50,000 portfolio.
Vanguard’s move follows rapid growth by several new online investment advisors, often called robo-advisors, that charge similar fees for automated portfolios. Eleven startup companies,
including Betterment, FutureAdvisor, and Wealthfront, were advising clients on about $19 billion at the end of 2014, Corporate Insights estimates. That’s up 65 percent in the eight months from April to December.
These firms can charge a fraction of the price of a human advisor because technology lets them be far more efficient. But low cost isn’t their only appeal, McDermott says. Younger clients also like their transparent fees and easy-to-use websites. In March, Charles Schwab Corp. launched its own robo- advisor service, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.