Gen Z spans in age from just 10 years old to a not-so-seasoned 25 years old today, but that age range may belie the opportunity presented for financial advisors, especially if they are the children of current clients who will eventually inheri\t their wealth.
Properly harnessing those opportunities includes embracing the right technology by financial advisors and their broker-dealers, such as technology provided by Axos Clearing. These days, clients of all age ranges and demographics expect advisory firms to be on the cutting edge of technology and that’s particularly true of Gen Z – a group that’s earning its investment chops on meme stocks and the metaverse.
Tech Meets Optimism
In many cases, prospective Gen Z clients, in addition to being new to investing, were burned by meme stocks and themes such as the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Still, they remain tech-savvy and tech-interested. Perhaps more importantly, Gen Z investors are an optimistic lot.
More recently, younger generations – along with the rest of us – had to deal with the coronavirus bear market and the related economic headwinds. That was followed by a yet-to-be-completed era of rising interest rates and the worst inflation in 40 years –prior to the births of many millennials and all of Gen Z.
Still, younger investors, such as the adult children of current clients, need guidance on how to achieve their goals. Technology is part of that equation and Axos Clearing has the solutions to power independent broker dealers and their financial representatives to success with Gen Z clients.
“The right technology can make all the difference when it comes to a financial advisor’s success, especially in today’s competitive business environment. Recent innovations in financial technology have provided state-of-the-art applications to handle everything from client relationship management to investment modeling to billing and document production,” says Gary Wiedman, president and managing principal at Axos Clearing.
Not only does superior technology allow broker-dealers to boost efficiencies and profitability, it allows reps to spend more time directly interacting with clients. That’s a significant selling point with Gen Z because that demographic is signaling they want education and guidance after being chastened by meme stocks and the like.
Younger Investors Embrace Technology
Independent broker-dealers and their reps looking to bolster interaction with younger demographics need to realize these generations are tech-savvy and expect the same from their interactions with financial markets.
Broker-dealers need to make sure the experience is seamless and customized for these clients and the right technology can enable that. Axos Clearing can help deliver the technology broker-dealers need to be successful.
“Axos Clearing is a full-service clearing firm serving Independent Broker-Dealers and registered investment advisors,” notes Wiedman. “For more than 20 years, we’ve been providing flexible clearing and custody solutions focused on empowering our correspondents to grow their businesses. Our technology offerings and partnerships with top industry providers enable the firms we serve to effectively navigate changes and employ the latest advancements in the financial services space. Our experienced team provides relationship-based service, getting to know each business to provide the support needed.”