The wealth management market is a structural growth sector. The chief driver is the long-term need for people to save more for their retirement. There is also a stable core of wealthier members of the population – the average customer of a wealth manager is aged 60 and has £500,000 to £1mn in pensions and other assets. These customers are looking for capital preservation; moderate, stable and reliable income; tax planning; retirement planning, inheritance planning and advice. And they are happy to pay for someone else to manage their money. These clients are sticky and long-term (average stay is 20-plus years) in nature, which gives this sector a solid income and profit backbone, making this arguably both a growth and a staple sector.
Dispelling some misconceptions
One notion circulating about wealth managers is the idea that outflows will increase if more investors buy annuities (provided by insurers such as Legal & General) rather than draw down a pension and live off a portfolio’s income. The argument here is that if keeping back wealth is less attractive as pensions are now subject to inheritance tax (IHT), investors may as well spend on an annuity. While annuity rates are higher than they have been for most of the past 15 years, surrendering all of your funds to an annuity provider (leaving nothing for inheritance) rather than leaving 60 per cent after IHT makes no sense to me. A well-managed portfolio can typically match an annuity for income so, day-to-day, there would be little benefit anyway. Even if this does become a trend, pensions only account for around 25-30 per cent of the sector’s assets under management (AUM).