Reports
Find the Reports that apply Hearts & Wallets' best thinking to whatever you are working on. Choose IQ Reports from the Investor Quantitative™ Database, EQ Reports from Explore Qualitative™ Series, State of Advice & Guidance Report from Inside Advice® Benchmarking, or Portrait of U.S. Household Wealth Report.
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2024
Investment Products & Asset Managers 2024: How the Brokerage Environment Impacts Product Innovation & Competitive Brand Strength
This year’s Investment Products & Asset Managers report looks at the continued growth of brokerage accounts in U.S. households, and how margin lending and option trading serve as revenue sources now that stock and ETF trades are free. We also examine household asset allocation in light of how managed products are playing a bigger role for many investors. Additionally, we explore which investment managers are leading the industry given the challenges and opportunities they face.
Learn moreAdvice Category Combinations: How Consumers Combine Experiences Reveals Barriers and Tailwinds to Trial & Engagement
This Explore Qualitative™ report looks at how consumers combine different financial advice resources in managing their money. Most often a combination of sources and types are used. As observed in Hearts & Wallets’ 2024 focus groups, only about 1 in 5 “fully advised” participants rely on a single advisor. Hear from customers why it is important to categorize advice experiences, and set expectation on what different advice experiences deliver and how they are priced.
Learn more“In-Plan Retirement Income Solution”: Consumer Reactions to the Latest Trends in Guaranteed Income Design to Inform Product Enhancements and Reduce Barriers to Adoption
This qualitative report is sourced from our June 2024 focus group series. We observed consumer reactions to "In-Plan Retirement Income Solutions," which are target date retirement funds in employer-sponsored plans that have an option to allocate up to 30% of the account balance to an annuity starting at age 55, providing a stream of lifetime income at retirement.
Learn morePain Points & Actions: Today’s Top Advice Gaps & the Customer Loyalty Connection
This report explores which financial tasks consumers find difficult, what they are most likely to seek advice on, and where the biggest advice gaps are. For example, 17% of households today find estate planning difficult but do not seek help. Advice gaps such as this represent an opportunity to provide help on a topic for consumers who find it difficult.
Key Findings include:
- Tasks are most difficult for the young. However, difficulty eases with age and assets. Nationally, the #1 most difficult task is “choosing appropriate investments."
- Tasks are not difficult in isolation. Most (68%) households who find one task very difficult also find 3+ tasks very difficult. Clustering of difficulties increases with assets.
- Seeking help is up, frequently for multiple tasks. The most avid advice-seekers use combinations of financial professionals and online resources that vary by generation.
- The biggest advice gaps in dollars are estate planning, “handling market volatility emotionally,” Roth conversion, buy/sell specific securities, balance goals and RMDs.
- Being prepared to help on multiple tasks yields a loyalty premium.
Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth 2024: Sizing the Growth Prospects for Older Households and Categories of Advice
The 2024 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. As the number of HHs in America climb and investable assets approach $78T, understanding who controls this wealth increases in importance as you refine strategies and target markets. Use this report to size markets, identify target audiences, understand how real estate equity plays a significant role in total wealth, and the importance of providing advice.
Stores & Success Metrics 2024: As Banks Acquire Relationships, the Race for Primacy and Loyalty Is On
This report is an annual look at consumer relationships with stores - who is on the leader board for household penetration, share of wallet, share of assets, and trust. The bottom line - competition for assets continues to intensify. The average number of consumer relationships with firms is 2.7 nationally, and 3.9 for $1M+ households. Additionally, the average share of wallet (SOW) has fallen to a new low of 37%, down from 45% in 2020.
The trick to maintaining relevancy in the mind of the consumer is to be their "primary store", which is typically driven by being their main source of retirement advice. Customers who receive both advice and service are more likely to use those stores as main source of retirement advice and grant them higher share of wallet. Read this report to see how your firm competes on all these important measures and learn how you can work to be your customers primary store and main source of retirement advice.
Getting Real About Retirement - Breaking Through with Better Solutions for "Chunk or Nothing" Spending, Work & Real Estate
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This fusion report draws from all three Hearts & Wallets' databases and is one of the most comprehensive looks at retirement that Hearts & Wallets has assembled. This is a must read for those who are focused on retirement planning & advice, household finance/wellness, and retirement income. Topics explored include: surprises in retirement, the increasing number of income sources in retirement, expectations vs. reality in retirement and the biggest disconnects, addressing real estate equity and living arrangements in retirement advice, and "chunk or nothing" vs. steady distributions.
Learn moreWants & Pricing 2024: Top Performer Firms and Opportunities for Competitors to Differentiate in Biggest Satisfaction Gaps
This report is our annual review of what customers want from the stores they do business with, how satisfied they are with these stores, and evolving trends in pricing. Wants and Pricing is one of our most highly anticipated reports of the year, and includes the 2023 "Top Performer" firms — those that set the bar across key competitive metrics.
Here are a few highlights:
- Clear and understandable fees is the top want for the mass-market, while being unbiased and putting clients' interests first is the top want for the $3M+ households
- Personal financial advice has become more important over time while satisfaction has remained flat, indicating a possible area for competitive differentiation
- Ameriprise, Edward Jones, Merrill, Morgan Stanley and USAA achieved one or more Hearts & Wallets Top Performer designations in 2023
- Pricing remains a problematic area with many customers not knowing how they pay for saving and investing, especially in workplace models. Flat fees are reportedly becoming more common.
New Entrants & Offerings: How “Cash,” Crypto & Lending Are Changing the Competitive Landscape on Awareness, Trial & Conversion
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Our New Entrants & Offerings report looks at the rise of "Fintech" solutions from industry newcomers as well as established firms. Capabilities are extending beyond investing to include savings, crypto and lending. Awareness of new entrants and offerings from traditional firms is high and growing, with nearly 80% of U.S. households aware of at least one. Although innovative capabilities are grabbing investor attention and garnering higher awareness, conversion rates are higher with solutions and firms that have scale.
Highlighted findings:
- 1 in 4 U.S. households (25%) has put money toward new entrants/offerings, up from 6% in 2015.
- Robinhood, Chime, SoFi and Acorns lead in national awareness at 30-40%.
- Today, new entrants with scale are emphasizing new capabilities, especially “cash”/saving.
- With 35% of U.S. households interested in trial, many new entrant/offerings are earning high consideration levels.
Expectations for Products and Stores: Strategic Responses to Changing Power Dynamics for Asset Managers & Distributors
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. The symbiotic dynamics between stores and the products the stores sell has always been a topic of discussion - who holds the power, and does the store or the product ultimately drive consumer purchase decisions. This qualitative report looks at this topic closely through customer verbatims in order to build a better understanding of what influences consumer purchase behavior. Select key findings include:
- Consumers buy products from stores
- Consumers see stores as more important and differentiation should happen at the store level
- The investment product is "going to get me the money I need"
2023
Attitudes & Sentiment 2023: Driving Corporate Strategy in Response to Changing Consumer Needs
Attitudes & Sentiments 2023 features a first look at our 2023 Investor Quantitative™ (IQ) Database survey data. This year's annual report examines U.S. household attitudes and behaviors relating to investing, and how goals and concerns have evolved in the face of continuing inflation and increasing worldwide conflicts.
Read morePricing Mechanisms: Consumer Perspectives on What's Worth Paying for, Preferred Ways to Pay, and Surprising Attitudes to "Free"
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Given there is a high level of consumers confusion about pricing, we developed this qualitative report to look closely at their understanding and perception of pricing. Through the use of focus groups, we look at what services are considered worth paying for, and what are the preferred ways of paying for them. Here are some of the most significant learnings:
- Today’s consumer talks about pricing more rationally than in the past, acknowledging that a company “needs to make money.”
- Paying directly reduces “worry” about incentives.
- Paying a flat fee or “commissions” is the preferred way to pay over a percentage of account value, and a flat fee is the preferred way to pay for financial planning.
Our research shows that 20% of customers think their savings and investing solutions are free, so this report also explores consumer response to the word "free." Focus group consensus is that guidance and motivational support should be free, but personal financial planning should not be. Also, investment management services should not be free.
Read this important report to learn more about how clients think of and respond to pricing - many dont know what they pay or how they pay.
Investment Products & Asset Managers 2023: New Wrappers, Multi-asset Solutions & Reaching More Shareholders to Power Growth
This report is our annual look at how households are currently allocating their assets and which investment managers are leading the industry. Here are a few highlights:
- Within the 95M households who know their products, 59M report they do not own mutual funds. Half of 59M households that don't own mutual funds get equity exposure from other products.
- Individual stocks are still the most commonly owned, but adoption of separately managed accounts (SMAs) is growing significantly.
- 19.4M households report using cryptocurrency. Crypto use has more than doubled from 9.4M households in 2020
Features That Deliver Simplicity: Building for the #1 Driver of Money Movement
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report is derived from our 2023 qualitative research that looks at what "simplify my finances" means to consumers and why this is #1 driver for moving money. Simplifying finances means different things to different people and few patterns emerge within traditional segmentations. It is influences by a number of things such as online experiences, hassle free user interfaces, easy access to live representatives and a single point of contact. Simplicity, however, does not necessarily correlate with consolidation and using fewer firms - many consumers would like to do business at “one place,” but aggregation raises concerns.
"Direct Indexing Managed Account" (vs. Traditional Managed Products like Mutual Funds, ETFs, SMAs): How to Engage Consumers in the Managed Account Structure of the Future
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report is the first module of the 2023 Explore Qualitative Research and looks at Direct Indexing, considered by some to be the managed account product of the future. Read this report to learn more about how consumers understand and feel about direct indexing.
Direct indexing involves buying the individual stocks that make up an index, in the same weights as the index. This is another form of index investing and contrasts to index mutual funds or index exchange-traded funds (index ETFs) that track the index.
Learn moreStores & Success Metrics 2023: How to Compete for Share of Wallet Given Industry Consolidation and Asset Concentration
Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth 2023: The Foundation of Market Sizing Reveals the 55+ Opportunity and Wealth Market Targets
The 2023 Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth reports on the current breakdown of household wealth in America. This report is updated annually. Learn who controls the wealth by age and asset ranges through the Portrait Grid™.
Key finding highlights include:
- Nearly 130M households control $69.7T in investable assets, with growth in taxable now faster than retirement.
- Concentration of investable assets is increasing. In 2022, only 12% of total investable assets is controlled by households with <$500K.
- Households age 55+ control $51.4T. Among households with <$5M, Post-Retirees still dwarf all other lifestages in both asset and household terms.
Advice & Technology: Behavioral Insights to Inform CapEx Decisions as Advice Sources Proliferate
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Consumers' approach to financial decision-making is evolving rapidly. They are consulting more sources of information than before, and technology continues to play an increasingly important role in how households interact with financial services firms. However, self-direction is at an all-time low, and paid investment professionals are still the go-to source for close to 50% of U.S. households. A possible implication is the need for firms to develop more advice and guidance solutions that combine in-person and technology support.
Learn moreWealth Transfer: Business-building Strategies as More Families Engage With Inheritances and Trusts
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Today, nearly two thirds of U.S. households are involved in intergenerational wealth transfer, with an estimated $17.5T changing hands over the next 20 years. Additionally, one in four U.S. households have funded trusts. Obviously there are implications for all financial service firms. This report looks at wealth transfer, family conversations about wealth transfer, who's planning to bequeath and inherit, and the use of trusts. One big takeaway - these topics are no longer just for the wealthy.
Learn moreWants & Pricing 2023: Growing Demand for Access, the Allure of “Free” and Top Performer Firms
Household Finance: Quest for Liquidity, the Connection to Workplace Financial Wellness and the Current Competitive Environment
Money Movement 2022: Competitive Trends in Rollover, Transfers of Assets & Trial
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. Money Movement 2022 looks at how and why investors are moving money between firms, where they are moving to and from, how much they are moving, and the reasons for making the moves. Our analysis includes rollovers, transfer-of-assets (TOAs), and funding new accounts with new deposits.
Learn morePortrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth 2022: Sizing Opportunities from Retirement to High Net Worth and Exploring the Role of Real Estate
Attitudes & Sentiment 2022: Understanding the Retail Investor Mindset and Business Opportunities During Times of High Inflation
Engaging Customers and Prospects in Advice: Trends in Pricing and Digital Best Practices (Part 3 of 3 in State of Advice & Guidance 2023)
Wants & Pricing 2022: What’s Important to Retail Investors, How Pricing Is Changing and How Competitors Perform on Customer Satisfaction
Advice & Technology: Opportunities for Hybrid Models, Workplace Resources and Differentiation Among Financial Professionals
2022
Advice That Models Real Life: Structuring Customer Experiences for Inclusivity, Life Events & Taxes (Part 2 of 3 in State of Advice & Guidance 2023)
Investment Products 2022: Growth in Awareness, Online Trading, Use of Robos and How Managed Solutions Help Investors Cope With Volatility
Structuring Differentiated Advice Experiences: Balancing Customer Goals, Uncovering Pitfalls and Striving for Scalability (Part 1 of 3 in State of Advice & Guidance 2023)
Stores & Success Metrics 2022: Firms Winning the Customer Wallet and Competitive Opportunities as Consumers Add Relationships
Crypto, Securities Lending & Fractional Shares: Balancing Access vs. Risk in Innovation
The Power of Planning: Proven Benefits That Transform Consumer Financial Outcomes
Pain Points & Actions: Using the Biggest Advice Gaps to Jump Start Consumer Conversations
2021
Attitudes & Sentiment: Strategies to Engage Investors in the Pandemic-Inspired Financial Awakening
Benefits of Clarifying Financial Advice Categories: How Inside Advice® Grid Increases Trust, Engagement and Market Potential
Drivers of Share of Wallet: The Primacy Premium and the Connection to Retirement Advice
Robo Usage, Awareness and Trial: Market & Competitive Data to Inspire Innovation, Improve Portfolios and Increase Conversion
Expectations from Workplace vs. Retail Advice: Opportunities to Improve Employer-Based Services or Win More Rollovers
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This report "Expectations from Workplace vs. Retail Advice" is sourced from the Hearts & Wallets Explore Qualitative™ Database. It looks at the attitudes of older affluent investors towards financial planning and investment services provided through the workplace compared to those of the retail market. It is part of the broader Explore Qualitative™ Series "Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully" - a collection of exercises and concept tests focused on the drivers of older consumers moving money, the changing needs of an aging population, and industry questions about pricing of advice for this segment. Additionally, the report covers various consumer segments on the Inside Advice® Grid to help gain an understanding of behaviors relating to advice and guidance.
Learn morePortrait™ of US Household Wealth 2021: Essential Facts for Sizing Target Markets in an Era of Growing Wealth Concentration
Stores & Success Metrics: The Battle for Customer Loyalty Heats Up as Big Firms Gain Share and Service Models Diversify
Investment Products & Asset Managers: Rise of Crypto and Online Trading, Sizing the ESG Market and the Need to Refocus on Basics
Wants and Pricing: Delivering on Customer Wants, Unpacking Pricing and Rating the Top Performer Firms
Retirement & Funding: Ideas for Enhancing Advice as Income Sources Evolve and Target Dates Move Younger
Advice & Technology: Examining How Consumers Combine Professionals, Online and Other Advice Sources
2020
Winning with Savers Today: Innovations for Competitive Advantage as COVID-19 Changes Financial Behaviors
COVID-19 has resulted in increased financial actions by consumers. Savings is on the top of the list for many with one in 5 households creating an emergency fund for the first time. This report looks at who is taking action, what they are doing, and the goals for the various segments of savers. Here are a few of the take-aways: Households whose work was affected by the COVID-19 crisis were more likely to have taken actions than households with no work disruption. Gen-X, Millennials and the New Generation have been much more active with financial responses to COVID-19 than the Silents and Boomers. We have classified savers into five segments beyond the traditional age-based categories that combine behavior, attitudes and household finances. Among the findings, "Big Savers" are the most valuable customers today, but "Aspiring Savers - High Potential" are looking to make changes in their financial lives and could be valuable over the long haul. Investment firms have the greatest reach with the Big Savers and banks have it with the Aspiring Savers - High Potential.
Read moreAttitudes & Sentiment: COVID-19 as a Catalyst for Change in Saving, Investing and Advice Solutions
Financial Fluency: What Consumer Understanding of the Language of Finance Means for Advice, Retirement and Asset Management
What Older Americans Want From Workplace Investing: Ideas for Improving Advice & Income Products
New Needs & New Entrants: Strategic Moves for Next Generation Innovation in Robos & Advice
Helping Consumers Navigate Diverse Situations as COVID-19 Evolves: Responses to Uncertainty, Job Loss and Need for Cash
Portrait™ of U.S. Household Wealth 2020: Sizing the Growing Opportunities with Women, Retirees Seeking Income and Emerging Savers
Explore Concept Test: “Elder Financial Care” aka Periodic vs. Subscription Pricing
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Elder Financial Care” provides insights into the future dynamics of periodic vs. subscription. This concept test provokes price discovery by first presenting two separately priced options with distinct features and then a blended option with ambiguity in payment mechanisms. Segmentation is by desired scope of advice among older, affluent investors who are shopping for advice.
Read moreImpact of COVID-19 on Saving, Investing and Advice: Executive Highlights from March 25-30 Tracking Data
Wants & Pricing: Competition Heats Up as Consumers Seek Multi-Channel Access and Pricing Clarity
Pain Points & Actions: How Helping on the Biggest Difficulties Can Unleash Multiple Consumer Actions
Attitudes & Sentiment: Consumer Beliefs to Guide Strategic Decisions and New Product Development
Explore Concept Test: “Home Conversion Mortgage” aka Reverse Mortgage
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. “Home Conversion Mortgage” aka Reverse Mortgage explores awareness and receptivity to using mortgages for aging in place, employing a disguised name to avoid pre-conceived notions about reverse mortgages.
Learn more2019
Trust Drivers 2019: Building Retail Investor Trust in the New Choice-Driven Marketplace
Investment Products & Asset Managers: How a Mutual Fund Revival Can Overcome Confusion to Get Consumers Investing Again
Wealth Transfer & Family Discussions: Growing Generosity, Desire to Discuss, and Benefits of Partner Planning for Retirement
Money Movement: Tap into Consumer Motivations to Drive Trial and Transfers
Inside Advice® Grid: Consumer Feedback on the Framework That Empowers Consumer Choice
Retirement & Funding: Mix it Up! Calling for Personalized Recipes Blending Part-time Work, Creative Approaches to Real Estate, and New Progress Measures
Stores & Success Metrics: Redefining Success Measures in a Marketplace of Multiple Relationships and Lower Share of Wallet
Explore Exercise: Motivations to Move Cash into Investments
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This Explore Qualitative™ Report examines the top reasons consumers say they keep cash, and what could motivate them to move cash into investments. It is an Explore Exercise, meaning it is a structured exploration of a topic that is emerging as strategically important to help identify future actions. The series of which this report is part, Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully, explores the increase in older consumers moving money, changing needs of an aging population, and industry-level questions about pricing of advice and high levels of cash. The demographic for this series is investors ages 53-70 with >$500K investable assets (>$250K outside workplace) who are actively involved in money movement, segmented by Desired Scope and Service Ranges on Inside Advice® Grid. As with all Explore Qualitative™ Reports, the underlying data in this report are consumer comments.
Read moreIncome & Net Worth: Ideas to Drive Consumer-centric Innovation by Helping with Personal Headwinds
Explore Concept Test: "Financial Advice Menu" and Pricing
Exclusively available to Trends™ subscribers. This Explore Qualitative™ Report examines how investors want to access and pay for various pieces of financial advice and service. It is an Explore Concept Test, meaning it reveals consumer reactions to a product or service that could be commercialized soon or is newly in-market. The series of which this report is part, Shopping for Advice on Aging Gracefully, explores the increase in older consumers moving money, changing needs of an aging population, and industry-level questions about pricing of advice and high levels of cash. The demographic for this series is investors ages 53-70 with >$500K investable assets (>$250K outside workplace) who are actively involved in money movement, segmented by Desired Scope and Service Ranges on Inside Advice® Grid. As with all Explore Qualitative™ Reports, the underlying data in this report are consumer comments.
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