Wealth and Asset Management Services Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool
Accenture Wealth and Asset Management Services Part of our capital markets industry group, Accenture s Wealth and Asset Management practice provides consulting, technology and outsourcing services to help clients with a wide range of challenges and opportunities. Our consulting capabilities span advisory services, investment management, and trust/custody. We are working with clients to define market entry strategies, design new operating models, achieve sustainable cost reduction, and position their firms to be successful in any market cycle. The Changing Landscape for Retail Financial Services The breakneck speed of recent change in the financial markets has severely shaken the faith and trust in our financial institutions during the past several months. Around $7 trillion in net worth has been erased on paper in the US alone during 2008. In order to sustain relationships and margins, most financial services firms are changing their offerings and branding to become retail financial services providers spanning cash management, debt management, insurance and investments. Now is the time for aggressive firms to take a larger share of the advisory marketplace by leading with a consultative process tying needs and intentions to bundled solutions. Virtually every individual needs to re-evaluate their financial goals and risk tolerance after the onset of the crisis. Those approaching retirement in particular recognize that their financial security is largely in their own hands, which implies that the need for broad financial advice continues to grow. As an example, there has been a major shift in retirement plans that occurred between 1980, when 83% of all private sector workers were covered by pension plans, and 2004, when that number was only 39%. This decline in defined benefit plans is continuing at an accelerating pace. With the unprecedented bail-outs of financial institutions and the uncertainty of the future of government sponsored plans for health and wealth (e.g. Social Security, Medicare), re-establishing attainable goals and plans is more important than ever. Successful advisors and individuals will need to be educated to balance health and wealth priorities, have access to the right solutions, and have the platform and tools to scale the advisory experience. 1
Balancing Health and Wealth Also emerging is the increasing importance of health considerations in individual plans. The balance between health and wealth is becoming an exceptionally important facet for anyone in the advisory services business today. Consider that: Nearly 34 million Americans are caring for someone over the age of 50 at an average lifetime cost of $659,000 As it relates to retirees, employer health care insurance coverage is declining 60% of retirees are likely to need some form of long-term medical care The ability to offer holistic advice balancing both health and wealth tradeoffs will become a requirement for a successful advisor. Health care costs are rising twice as fast as any other costs and represent 17% of personal expenditures Meeting the Needs of the Next Generations In addition, there is a massive shift of wealth due to mortality. As wealth is transferred between generations, it moves into the hands of heirs who are technologically adept, and who actively participate in the management of their wealth. Members of the so-called Gen X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Gen Y (those born between 1980 and 1994) generations are computer savvy and expect their accounts to be seamlessly linked. They expect a full range of actionable investment options both traditional and non-traditional. They also expect sophisticated, tailored, real-time Web-based services that are at their fingertips 24/7 via stationary and mobile devices. The next generations of mass-affluent customers will discover that their parents financial services providers are still using the processes and technologies of the previous century. This, coupled with the relatively low value they place on the advisory relationship, will hasten the severing of old ties in favor of more tech-savvy providers and advisors who will provide a more engaging, entertaining and educational experience. Both of these trends are profoundly influencing the wealth and asset management industry today. Meeting the needs of both groups will require retail financial services firms to offer advice on services and products that is high touch yet cost effective, tailored yet scalable and innovative yet understandable. Forward-looking firms will capture the immediate opportunity to build trust with a jaded population by defining the education, experience, processes, tools, and offerings that address current fears and build a bridge to future generations. 2
Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool The market crisis and demographic changes present an opportunity for financial services firms to help their clients better understand their balance sheet across cash management, debt management, insurance, and investments inclusive of health care considerations and critical life trade-offs. Accenture has developed a Health and Wealth Visualization Tool that offers analytics as advice to address both the near-term needs of retirees as well as the younger generation s advice paradigm. Accenture believes retail financial services firms can achieve high performance by offering advice that reflects a comprehensive understanding of individual clients needs, addresses clients concerns and links to unique product and service offerings. The Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool offers analytics as advice to address the near term needs of retirees as well as the younger generation s advice paradigm. The tool enables a holistic advisory experience infusing education, guidance and service through web, service center and advisor channels. This approach increases the ratio of households to advisors by directing more activities to an online self-service model. The tool uses the latest technologies to deliver a tailored customer segmented, consultative process that ties unique needs and intentions to solution bundles. These solution bundles represent a more centralized, scalable, and auditable advice delivery model. The process achieves scale via collaboration and data analytics which balance powerful customer insights with the wisdom of the experts. The Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool allows customers to generate scenarios that calculate and illustrate decisions in a visual representation of their financial picture. The scenario planning can be conducted independently or facilitated through a financial advisor. The tool uses analytics as advice to allow users to understand and translate the trade-offs across each category and reprioritize based on their personal priorities. As the client makes changes in the tool, a running monthly retirement balance sheet" is continually recalculated based on the choices made. Ultimately, customers get a retirement experience that is uniquely tailored to their preferences and choices. Using the tool, consumers and advisors gain access and insight into the broad knowledge of people like them and think holistically about investment products, retirement plans, critical life trade-offs, and balancing important health and wealth considerations. 3
Analytics as Advice For those firms willing to take bold steps, using analytics as advice can help tackle both the health/wealth topic and the impending wealth transfer to Gen X/Gen Y in developed nations. For example, baby boomers and Gen X/Gen Y customers seek trusted advice through multiple channels, from which they aggregate a picture of their own unique health and wealth equations. They also spend time in social networking venues, drawing on advice generated via data analytics to put their decisions in a context that is relevant to their buyer values. One instance of this is the Amazon Model, which conveys that people who bought this book also bought that and 74% of people who viewed this item also bought this one. A key success factor for advisory firms will be to recognize the power of individual knowledge and experiences as a subset of all available information. Customers can learn that people like me do these things through tools using data analytics, which can then drive did you know and other embedded self-directed education. This model helps create a more vigorous and scalable planning process than what has traditionally been in place. Those who want to take the lead position in advisory services will need to blend advice from the wisdom of experts and the wisdom of people like me to deliver a sophisticated and tailored experience. Transparency In tandem with this more sophisticated, multi-channel experience, firms that offer health/wealth advice will be pushed for greater pricing transparency. This will be driven by consumers as well as government organizations seeking to clarify any conflicts of interest and to ensure that advisors are acting in the best interest of their clients in specific and auditable ways. The Gen X/Gen Y group will expect to understand the value equation whether it is about pharmaceuticals, medical procedures, life insurance, long-term care, or asset allocation. And, they will expect to be able to visualize the tradeoffs that are inherent in that equation. The existing pricing models surrounding health and financial advisory services (such as compensation arrangements between big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners, or mutual fund companies and financial advisors) will give way to a well-understood, highly prevalent retail products or auction model. 4
A Strong Competitive Advantage By bringing to life the emotional and financial topics associated with life events, including retirement, the Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool can help you: Build consumer loyalty and confidence through targeted people like me and did you know suggestions tailored to the individual personas Deliver more education, autonomy, and transparency for consumers Maximize profits per customer Attract and retain top wealth management advisors Differentiate your organization from the competition Demonstrate innovation and technological leadership 5
The Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool: How it Works Illustrated below are some of the specific steps a user would go through using the tool: Step 1 Step 2 Step 1 Selecting a Persona After logging in, a customer selects a persona such as caregiver that closely matches their lifestyle, life stage and financial characteristics. These personas drive quantitative recommendations (such as people like me do these things ) and ongoing information, tips, and hints sourced from experts and community of users like them. The tool shortcuts the usually lengthy background gathering process by prepopulating information from the user s profile and the persona selected with details including current age, projected retirement age and total retirement savings. This helps to enhance and expedite the experience so the user is less likely to exit the process. Step 2 Generating a Retirement Outlook An outlook of the client's financial readiness for retirement is then generated. Customers can change the ideal option and priority of the major categories based on their life events, retirement needs, and financial changes. The tool identifies budget options that can be adjusted within three sections: lifestyle (including real estate, auto and recreation), leaving a legacy (estate planning, charitable giving and providing for family) and healthy living (medical care, life wellness and long term care). These three sections combine to give users a comprehensive overview of how to better manage cash, debt, investment and insurance needs. Step 3 Executing the Plan After filling out the remainder of plan, the user is presented with three options: execute the plan with no further guidance, collaborate with an advisor online, or contact a financial advisor to set up an in person appointment. 6
Copyright 2009 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. For more information To learn more about the Accenture Health and Wealth Visualization Tool and how Accenture can help you achieve high performance in wealth and asset management, please contact Mark Halverson at +1 312 693 6623 or mark.a.halverson@accenture.com About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 186,000 people serving clients in over 120 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$23.39 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2008. Its home page is www.accenture.com. ACC08-0647