Yapi Kredi: Digitally advising the affluent next generation in Turkey

Some studies suggest heirs will look for a new financial advisor after inheriting their parents’ wealth - What are you doing to cultivate family loyalty and prevent heirs from moving their money to different institutions? 

Yapı Kredi Private Banking establishes a good relationship with customers through Relationship Managers who are located in branches. We already recognize customers and their family members in our CRM system via a family approach, opening accounts for them and handling wealth management for the whole family. We have an infrastructure that keeps family connections in the system and we also make awareness through Relationship Managers in order to keep the system updated. 

Moreover, our customer relationship is not only based on financial needs but also covers different needs like social and cultural such as; consultancy services like education, tax, inheritance, philanthropy including law consultancy and also special events at special locations or online events. For instance, we supply inheritance consultancy via a professional 3rd party but we accompany customers throughout the whole process. We organize events with famous specialists, professors, and economists.

Another point we give much importance too is the digital part of the business. We continuously develop digital functionality and invest in non-branch channel agility to attract young family members, and meet their increasing expectations, as well.

How do you approach advice in terms of inheritance? How does it differ from typical financial advice?

Yapı Kredi Private Banking provides inheritance consultancy to customers via 3rd party, including tax and law guidance. We play a contact role between customer and the professional 3rd party, but we accompany them through the process. When they need something, the Portfolio Manager is always there to find the right expert.

On the other hand, we have a long-term point of view about the usual financial advice process. We have an asset allocation approach in order to offer products to customers shaped according to heirs’ risk perception and expectations and also daily economic circumstances. We also support them for wealth management via our experienced Relationship Managers, backed with continuous cooperation with our subsidiaries Yapı Kredi Invest and Yapı Kredi Asset Management.

How different are Millennials compared to their elders? How different are their expectations and behavior?

Millennials start and end the day with technology. They primarily prefer to communicate via digital channels rather than face to face interactions for banking operations.

They don’t like to waste much time for such operations and are quite good at getting information in a self-directed way compared to elders. Nevertheless, they need to enhance their financial literacy. What is more, Millennials are so open to digital offers, particularly in wealth management, that require expertise.

According to research by Accenture, the current wealth management advisory model is not working for women. Do you notice differences in terms of investment behavior by women compared to men? What are some examples? And how have you tailored your offerings to serve female clients better? 

We know that women are the new face of wealth. According the recent research, women control 32% of the world’s wealth and they are adding $5 trillion to the wealth pool globally every year. Women’s participation in the workforce, their control over money, and need for advice in wealth management has an increasing trend in Turkey. Women decision makers tend to be less risk tolerant and more focused on life goals. They want to avoid uncertainty and are more likely to spread their risk. Compared to men, they are more likely to invest for the long term and they put their cash and deposit to more productive use while preserving the liquidity they need.

Financial literacy is the knowledge necessary to make important financial decisions and our younger women customers are more financially literate than older women. But, we want to help their goals and build trust in financial literacy for all women customers.