Tips for tapping into the Gen Z market

Generation Z graduates are beginning to launch their careers, adopt substantial university debt, and take on new territory and financial challenges.

Just the anticipation of their coming-to-age could reshape the financial landscape over the coming years, combining with Millennials to reform the industry. 

With Millennials and Gen Z now constituting more than 40 percent of Australia’s working population, they are no longer considered ‘the future’.

But do they want the help of a financial adviser? Recent research points to yes! .

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA), recently found an incredible 81 percent of Gen Z (born from 1995-2009) would value the time spent with a financial planner.

The FPA also found that 57 percent of all Australians feel the same, pointing towards a growing desire for professional financial help. So how can financial advisers leverage the unique qualities of Gen Z to offer professional support and guidance?

 

Appeal to their digital nativity

A generation saturated with technology, Gen Z have grown up with the ability to seamlessly integrate a technological ecosystem into their everyday world.

Digital engagement is typically their preferred way to interact as they look to create strong, secure and authentic experiences with the convenience of a portable, mobile-first medium. It seems only logical to explore leveraging technologies that have been designed to cater to their technological preferences.

Utilizing social media can be helpful in disseminating content; think helpful tips and short-form videos.

Tip: A branded client app can help you deliver the technological experience Gen Z expects.

 

Understand their ethos

Though Gen Z are adapted to a digital climate, it’s important not to undervalue face-to-face communication. The Center for Generational Kinetics found in 2017 that 53 percent of Gen Z prefer a personable method of communication, over instant-messaging tools and video conferencing.

Personalised communication and support allows Gen Z to grow their financial literacy and create a well-defined mindset around personal wealth. Integrating tailored services and strategies that speak to their unique ethos is vital.

Tip: Leverage digital client surveys to personalise your service delivery!

 

Value simplicity

Decision making and experiences in real-time are vital for Gen Z. Simplifying transactions swiftly matters to this generation; as does transparent communication and decision-making.

The anxieties Gen Z face surrounding paying new “adult” bills, understanding credit and investing can be made easier with an emphasis on simplicity and trust.

Tip: Make things simple with a streamlined digital onboarding process and digital checklists to make gathering client data and tax time a breeze.

 

Engage their financial curiosity

Many Gen Z-ers were coming-of-age during the recession, meaning most saw their parents affected and Millennial counterparts amass mountains of student debt.

Cautionary tales have the majority of Gen Z wary of debt, curious about financial independence and finding the right financial institutions for them.

Tip: Give them peace of mind about their finances and where they stand by bringing together their assets and liabilities into one secure place.

You can learn more on how to tap into the emerging Gen Z market for your firm by booking a commitment-free demo with our friendly team today!

A wealth portal for the whole household

Introducing: client groups

We’re making some simple but far-reaching improvements to myprosperity this week, and we think you and your clients will be quite pleased with what’s changing.

On Friday night (18th of October at 9pm AEDT) we’ll be shutting the site down for maintenance. When you wake up on Saturday, it’ll be to the new Client Group functionality.

 

Bringing the household together

When we launched myprosperity, we were dedicated to helping individuals manage their personal finances. 

Clients have always been able to add other people as guests to their accounts, but this came with limitations. By definition, guests aren’t full account holders, which means they can’t do things like:

  • Access the mobile app
  • Sync their bank accounts or portfolios
  • Manage the wealth portal’s settings

These access restrictions are ideal when, for example, inviting relatives to view estate planning documents, but they make things a bit harder when it came to giving both parties in a household equal access and ownership over their portal.

Not to mention the logistical impact on firms, such as having each member of a household appear as separate clients in their myprosperity client list.

Grouping clients into households has been one of our most requested features, and we’re delighted to be rolling it out this week.

 

We’ve done it.

When you log in to your Partner dashboard, you’ll notice some changes to your client list, with clients now listed as Client Groups. This makes it much easier to determine which clients are part of the same household, and keeps your client list nice and tidy.

 

Moving forward, when you or your clients add a family member to the wealth portal, you’ll have the option of making them an account owner, giving them full rights and feature access. 

 

This of course is on top of our existing guest access functionality, which remains the same. Given how customisable and granular portal access can be, we’ve created some default options to make choosing the appropriate settings easier. 

 

Along with Client Groups, we’ve added the ability to customise Group Names. Whether you work with multiple “Smith Families”, blended families with multiple surnames, or you just want to create a novelty demo account (see my favourite below) – you can choose the appropriate title for each. 

FAQ’s

What does this mean for Pro client subscriptions?

Subscriptions are now at a Group level, so if you have two clients sharing the one Pro wealth portal, you will only be charged once.

What changes will my clients see? What do I tell them?

No explanations needed! Everything will still work exactly as it did before, they’ll just have new options when adding team members. 

What about my existing clients?

We’ve added a range of tools to manage the transition, such as the ability to merge accounts together and add additional co-owners. In the case of a merge, documents and To-dos from both wealth portals will be preserved, but only one set of assets and liabilities can be kept, so we’ll ask you which wealth items to keep.

Being able to group your clients into households will make client onboarding smoother, help clients take ownership of their finances, and make managing your client base easier than ever before. 

Meet The Team: Elise Pace

In the latest instalment of our Meet the Team series, we sat down with our newly appointed Senior User Experience Designer, Elise Pace, to find out her interests, pet peeves and top trends to look out for.

 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

After graduating from the industrial design program at Auburn University, I moved to New York City and then on to Vail, Colorado before eventually landing in Australia four years ago. I grew up in a small town in Alabama, so I still have a slight twang. I love all things design, especially finding new art exhibitions to go to. I also enjoy the outdoors – living in Colorado for four years really showed me the beauty of hiking and skiing.

 

When did you join

I joined myprosperity in January 2020. I was working for the global education company Pearson, as a UX designer, before I started working in fintech.

Tell us a little about moving over to Australia from the US.

Honestly, I had no plans to even travel to Australia in 2016. I came on a whim after I found an affordable flight from Heathrow to Melbourne and I was on a plane two weeks later. I took a break from work back in June 2016, and travelled around Europe for four months while also living in Bordeaux, France for a bit. I fell in love with Melbourne after two months and I decided I wanted to move here long term. When I moved back in early 2017, I realised how amazing the workforce and healthcare system is here. The Australian way of life is so nice and I’m very grateful to call Melbourne home now.

What would you say is the top trend to look out for in the UR/UX space?

I believe designing for transparency is more important now than ever. With the rise of misinformation making us question our sense of reality, I think we need to focus on designing openly and encouraging critical thinking from our users. Solving user needs is key – caring more about our users and the impact of our work than about the work itself is on the rise.

What about the most overrated trend?

I’d say the (bad) rise of dark patterns has got to go. Quoting Wikipedia, dark patterns are essentially the “user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things.”

I also think using fluff tech terms are out – speaking clearly and directly to your users is better than confusing them.

What’s a little-known fact about Elise?

I learned how to weld while I was in industrial design school. I was working on a project with DeWalt at Auburn University and I decided to make a drywall carrier to help construction workers in the field.

Quick Round:

  • Biggest pet peeve? When people eat or chew gum with their mouth open.
  • Favourite sport?Hiking around Grindelwald, Switzerland was pretty fantastic, but my grandparent’s old house on the bay is also a top spot.
  • Favourite food?  Gosh, I love eating. I’d have to say finding great fried chicken in Australia is a hobby. I also love a particular chocolate dobash cake from a bakery called Pollman’s – I used to get it every birthday in my hometown.

When are you most excited to contribute to the myprosperity team in 2020?

I’m really excited to gain more user insights by conducting more qualitative work like user interviews and making it very transparent with our whole team. I want to make sure the user feedback is front and foremost on our team’s mind.

Meet The Team: Scott Bridger

In the latest instalment of our Meet the Team series, we sat down with our newly appointed Account Manager in Sales, Scott Bridger, to find out his interests, pet peeves and top trends to look out for.

 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a pretty normal guy to be honest (at least I think I am), I travel when I can, I run a lot I play and watch football and cricket, I attempt to surf and play drums and I’m learning to speak Mandarin. I’m from Queensland originally – I moved down to Melbourne 3 years ago. I and try to get out as much as I can to experience the bars and cafe culture everyone in Melbourne’s always talking about, and I spend most of my spare time with friends either at Edinburgh Gardens, the Fitzroy Pool or the Lord Newry (my local).

 

When did you join

I joined the team in January. I was at BCI Media Group, an online database for the construction industry, where I worked as an account manager. A lot of the skills I learnt there I feel I can put to good use at myprosperity. Prior to BCI, I worked at a Brisbane-based company, Signet, who operate primarily in the packaging industry as a Corporate Account Manager.

What would you say is the top trend to watch out for in the accounting and financial planning industries?

I’d say the top trend in the accounting and financial planning industry is the movement away from the preparation of tax returns/accounts and reporting investment returns to providing more holistic strategic advice (such as how to improve tax flow, reduce tax and generally run a business better) as well as what asset allocation is appropriate to a person or families risk profile. For financial planners, a move completely away from product based revenue to fees (not necessarily time based but value added) and from selling investments/insurance to strategic advice seems to be trending.

What about the most overrated trend?

In my opinion, the most overrated trend is the thought that increased regulation will result in a better service to clients. Obviously in certain cases additional oversight is required, however it’s important to bear in mind this won’t necessarily improve outcomes for clients.

What’s a little-known fact about Scott?

I have an extensive list of allergies ranging from severe to not so severe so I go through life trying not to make enemies, I would be pretty easy to kill.

Quick Round:

  • Biggest pet peeve? Slow walkers and bad drivers, Melbourne has plenty of both.
  • Favourite sport? Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast. Great waves, good weather, and footwear is not required.
  • Favourite food?  Philly cheesesteaks!

When are you most excited to contribute to the myprosperity team in 2020?

I’m excited to see how the skills I’ve attained and developed over the years translate to dealing with partners in the financial planning and accounting industries, and possibly bring a different point of view due to my experience of having worked in different industries.