Why All Advisors Need Millennials

Though they might not increase an advisor’s AUM, millennial clients can help build a more resilient financial planning firm, according to Oaks, Pa.-based SEI.

Millennials, aged 21 to 35, are often ignored or discounted by traditional financial firms, but there’s ample research proving that young adults can make valuable clients for advisors, says Missy Pohlig, director of nextgen services at SEI.

“Even if you have no interest in serving this generation, even if the thought of serving a millennial disgusts you, even if you think millennials are narcissistic and lazy, it’s still a good idea to be aware of this generation and how they want to do business,” says Pohlig. “The reality is that everyone is going to be impacted by millennials, whether or not you’re going to serve them.”

While analysts have produced a mountain of millennial financial research, little of it is useful to advisors without the perspectives of millennials themselves, she says.

“There’s a ton of non-millennials coming out with their opinions on the millennial generation, but we feel like you need a true millennial perspective to draw useful conclusions from the research,” says Pohlig. “That’s why we feel like our research is atypical.”

In a recently published e-book, “Beyond The Typical Milennial Research,” Pohlig offers a 20-something’s take on some of SEI’s recently collected data.

Pohlig cites four reasons why millennial clients will help advisors moving forward.

1. Millennials Are Disruptors

What millennials have done for retail and media, they’re going to do for financial services as well, Pohlig says. Thus, learning how to serve millennial clients may determine whether an advisory practice goes the way of Amazon, or Sears.

“Millennials are early adopters,” says Pohlig. “Young people are the ones who drive change in industries and pull businesses away from traditional models. Millennial preferences for service models and technology are going to shape financial advice in the future, so it’s in your interest to at least pay attention to them.”