A marked shift towards using digital channels to manage wealth and a willingness to embrace artificial intelligence (AI)-guided wealth management are key tendencies for wealthy Hong Kong individuals, according to a recent survey.

As the wealth management industry shifts further towards a hybrid (physical-plus-digital) model, a survey of 500 wealthy individuals in the territory by Capco, a global management and technology consultancy, reveals that 93% of respondents have increased their use of digital channels for wealth management purposes in the last two years, including 47% who say their use has increased ‘significantly’.

Three-quarters of respondents (74%) say they are comfortable with AI guiding their wealth management decisions, including a quarter (25%) who are ‘extremely comfortable’ with the idea.

The report also compares and contrasts selected findings drawn from a separate survey of attitudes to wealth management across 1,000 respondents based in mainland China.

Other key report findings include:

• Self-serve via the internet (53%) and via mobile app (52%) are the most common channels used to manage wealth among our Hong Kong respondents.
• Online chats with wealth managers and advisers are also a popular channel (46%).
• As a comparison, in mainland China, online chats with wealth managers and advisers are the most common channel (61%), while 57% use telephone and video calls. At the same time, 55% also employ face-to-face meetings with wealth managers and advisers.
• When using an investment or wealth management service remotely, 39% of respondents prefer a hybrid model that combines digital self-service and human interaction.
• This compares with 33% who prefer purely digital self-service and 27% who prefer solely human interaction.
• 75% of Hong Kong survey respondents say they manage at least part of their wealth themselves, while 55% use wealth managers and financial advisers, and 52% use robo-advisers.
• As a comparison, 66% of respondents in mainland China say they manage all or part of their wealth themselves, while 58% use wealth managers and advisers, and 41% use robo-advisers.
• Respondents use a wide range of resources to look for investment advice and ideas, with 71% saying they conduct research online; this compares with 67% saying they use wealth managers and advisers.

“Our latest Hong Kong survey underlines the accelerating adoption of, and demand for, digital channels and tools in wealth management,” says James Arnett, Capco’s managing partner for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. “At the same time, it is clear that traditional aspects of wealth management – not least the ability to offer a personal, ‘high-touch’ service – remain important to clients.

“By embracing a combined high-touch/high-tech approach that leverages the enhanced speed and efficiency offered by automation and technologies, such as AI, Hong Kong’s wealth managers will be ideally positioned to offer a superior experience that will ensure long-term client satisfaction and loyalty.”