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Creating a High-Touch Online Experience for Institutional Clients

By Sujatha Sivakumaran

Last week, Eric Daugherty wrote a blog post about how institutional sites lag retail and advisor sites in functionality (read here). The argument was that institutional clients deserve the same level of ease and functionality on asset managers' Web sites as other clients. Also, since institutional clients are taking on a more active role in the investment process, firms need to rethink how they support and service these clients.

Nothing could be closer to the truth. While the institutional asset management business is largely relationship based, the role of Web sites to support such relationships is becoming increasingly important. Instead of rejecting the Web site as unimportant, managers could work towards simulating the high-touch experience online.

How can Managers Create a High-Touch Experience Online?
While there is no one line answer to this question, managers can implement a high touch service for their clients in some of the following ways:

Segmenting the site for Institutional Clients: Having a separate site for the different institutional clients (Consultants, Endowments, and Pension Funds etc.) ensures that managers provide information that is updated, relevant, and exclusive to the type of client. This will encourage clients to go to the Web site and look for information knowing that it is specifically targeted to them. Below is a graphic from the main page of AllianceBernstein which lists the different sites for Institutional Clients.

Selecting the Endowments, Foundations, and Charities site takes us to a site exclusively for such clients. This site lists research, products, and market perspectives targeted towards the client base. Similarly, selecting Investment Consultants, for instance, brings up a page with links to the pages of the different kinds of clients since consultants deal with all kinds of institutional clients.

Personalizing the Online experience: Personalizing the page clients see is another way firms can create a high-tough experience. Welcoming the client by name, having a list of previously downloaded material, including information about the particular relationship manager with his/her contact information, are all ways to enrich the online experience for clients.

Including Updated Account Information: Many managers mention that institutional clients call regularly for account information details. Transaction history and updated account information is essential when institutional clients log on to their site. In addition to account information, having portfolio summary details with holdings, attribution details, product risk characteristics, etc., can also help clients and move the conversation online.

Providing customized reports: Several clients look for similar reports on a periodic basis (weekly/monthly/quarterly). Allowing clients to define the kind of reports they want online and then making them available to clients when they need it, helps improve the servicing for such clients. Clients can also sign up for alerts as and when these reports become available.

You can find kasina's Institutional Top 5 Sites study here. We look forward to speaking with you to discuss ideas and ways to improve the online experience for institutional clients.