A good website can convince financial advisors to boost their allocations to asset managers. The problem, however, is that few fund websites make it easy for those advisors to navigate and find the information they need, according to a J.D. Power Survey.
Only 11% of the evaluations in the market research firm’s 2021 U.S. Advisor Online Experience Study gave a satisfaction index score of at least 800 on a 1,000-point scale for any asset manager’s website. The grades carry high stakes for firms like BlackRock, Capital Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, Vanguard and Charles Schwab: Among advisors giving a fund company a score at that level or higher, 93% say they’re extremely likely to increase their investments over the next three months, according to the survey.
BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Capital Group, the parent of American Funds, received the highest satisfaction scores for their websites, placing in the top 20th percentile above the 11 other major firms assessed in the survey — which included Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments and Invesco. Most fund managers still haven’t made their websites very user-friendly, according to advisors. Only 37% of advisors say it’s very easy to find the information that they need on a fund company’s website, and just 34% describe it as very easy to locate the right features and tools.
With such low marks, it’s no surprise that advisors like Louis Barajas of Irvine, California-based MGO Private Wealth usually use third-party software and websites from firms such as YCharts and Morningstar rather than engaging directly with the asset managers, he said. He joined MGO two years ago in part to reduce administrative tasks.
“It is crucial that they build the proper team around them to support the advisor to be able to give us time with the client,” Barajas said. “This is a relationship business.”
And most fund managers’ websites don’t have the healthiest relationship with advisors, based on the survey results. J.D. Power completed 3,104 evaluations by advisors between July and September, with their overall satisfaction toward the asset managers’ websites measured according to speed, visual appeal, navigation and information or content. Top performers BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Capital Group took home better grades than rivals like Ameriprise’s Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Franklin Templeton, T. Rowe Price, Prudential Financial, MFS Investment Management, Nuveen and Pimco.
“As we’re seeing consistently across every industry, customer expectations for immediate gratification and easy access to tools and information are being raised every day as more of our lives are conducted through digital channels,” Amit Aggarwal, senior director of digital solutions at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “This puts a focus on advisor-facing websites as a critical component of the end-user experience and shines a light on some significant challenges many firms are facing when it comes to building engagement online.”
The fund managers with the highest satisfaction scores for their websites received the top net promoter scores identifying the firms advisors are most likely to recommend to peers or clients. Advisors gave firms higher grades when they noticed content on the fund company’s website about growth strategies, practice management and other material they view as different from the standard market outlooks and investment insights, according to J.D. Power.
At the same time, though, advisors aren’t spotting much information on any of the firms’ websites about ESG criteria. Only 26% of advisors say the asset managers are meeting their needs and the firms are garnering the lowest grades for their commitment to sustainable investing among any brand attributes evaluated in the study.
On the other hand, the advisors may not be encountering the information and tools they need out of a simple lack of familiarity. Just 23% have received a demo or tour of the available resources on the website from a wholesaler or another representative of an asset manager. The advisors’ average satisfaction scores for the website climbed by 103 points if they got a demo.