Across industries, consumers today are seeking more than just outcomes. They want personal experiences, reflecting their individual goals, values and preferences. Whether choosing a healthcare provider, a retailer or a streaming service, people are drawn to service providers who simplify complexity and make them feel understood.
Financial services is certainly no exception, and client expectations for personalization are only accelerating. Today’s investors want more than just performance. They want to feel understood and expect their advisors to deliver guidance that fits their unique circumstances.
Recent research shows that 84% of advisors now prioritize delivering a more tailored client experience. Investors echo this sentiment, with 58% ranking personalization as a top priority. The desire for individualized solutions isn’t new, but the standard for what qualifies as personalized has changed significantly. Wealth management firms must keep pace.
Technology Alone Isn’t Enough
Artificial intelligence and digital platforms offer powerful capabilities for firms ready to adapt. But technology by itself doesn’t create a sense of understanding or connection. True personalization happens when tools are used to deepen human relationships, not replace them.
This is where the real challenge comes in. Innovation remains essential, but it is only part of the equation. The real gap in wealthtech is translation. Advisors have access to a growing number of tools, but many are difficult to use, disconnected from daily workflows, or too complex to propel meaningful client conversations. What they need are solutions that turn insight into action. These tools should integrate naturally into how advisors work and make delivering a more personalized client experience easier.
To deliver on this potential, firms must combine three essential elements: behavioral insight, client data and scalable technology. When these work together, advisors can provide deeply personal service at scale and do it consistently.
What Does Personalization Mean in Wealth Management?
Personalization today goes beyond a timely email or customized report. Clients want to feel understood. They want guidance that reflects their unique financial situations, preferences and goals.
The firms leading the way are embracing three core drivers:
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Behavioral finance reveals the emotional and psychological factors that influence decisions.
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Data insights help identify patterns in client behavior, preferences, and planning priorities.
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Integrated technology enables advisors to act on those insights throughout their workflows, in a seamless and repeatable way.
When these drivers come together, personalization becomes possible and practical. More importantly, they turn information into action, adding real value over time.
Data has become the foundation of modern advice. Advisors rely on it to inform planning and performance and to power personalization at every stage of the client journey.
Putting Personalization Into Practice
Here are a few ways firms are applying these principles in the real world:
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Tax-Efficient Portfolios: With investors expecting tax optimization, advisors can offer significant value by delivering thoughtful, tax-efficient portfolio strategies. This is especially beneficial for high-net-worth (HNW) clients who often require complex tax planning, customized portfolios and access to alternative investments, each requiring a data-informed and personalized approach.
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Custom Indexing: This systematic approach enables advisors to closely track the performance of a traditional index by owning its individual securities, while customizing the portfolio to meet each client’s unique tax situation and preferences. It supports tax-loss harvesting, exclusion of specific securities (e.g., for values alignment) and tailored withdrawal strategies to enhance after-tax outcomes. Beyond benefiting clients, some custom indexing tech platforms can save advisors up to 46 hours per HNW account per year.
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Behavioral Finance in Practice: Advisors who understand psychological drivers like loss aversion or overconfidence can move beyond traditional risk profiling to deliver more personalized and practical guidance. These insights help prevent emotional reactions during market volatility and support more confident decision-making. By aligning communication and planning with each client’s behavioral tendencies, advisors can build stronger trust, improve plan adherence, and provide more meaningful and personal advice.
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Operational Efficiency: Technology that drives operational efficiency helps reduce time spent on manual processes. Firms using digital tools more effectively report spending 25% less time on operations and 10% more on client service.
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Artificial Intelligence: When applied with intention, AI becomes a powerful assistant that helps advisors personalize at scale. It can identify client behavior patterns, automate routine tasks, and support timelier and more relevant outreach without adding to the advisor’s workload. The key is using AI to do what it does best—organizing, analyzing, and coordinating data—so advisors can focus on what they do best: building relationships, collaborating with clients, and delivering strategic advice.
Personalization Is No Longer Optional
Tailored advice is no longer a differentiator. It has become the baseline. Clients want to feel understood, and they expect advisors to deliver guidance that reflects their individual needs, preferences, and goals.
The firms that will lead the industry forward are not simply adopting more technology. They are choosing technology that works with the advisor, not around them. By combining behavioral insight, meaningful data and tools supporting advisors’ operations, these firms are making personalization possible at scale. In doing so, they build deeper trust, deliver greater value and create client relationships that stand the test of time.
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