A survey of wealthy investors by an industry matchmaking service says performance and insight, not glossy advertising or sponsorship, are what really impress clients.

Wealth managers that pay large sums on high-profile advertisements or sponsorship may not always be getting great value for money compared with other ways of reaching out to clients, according to a survey by industry matchmaking service findaWEALTHMANAGER.com.

A survey in February of 104 people using the service showed that 61 per cent of investors say advertising and sponsorship make no difference to the sort of wealth managers they choose to sign up with.Instead, a superior track record in terms of performance would be the clincher for 57 per cent of high net worth individuals and an aggregate 36 per cent favour a firm with plenty of investment experts featuring in the media.

The results of such a survey are arguably debatable and there is as yet no hard consensus - nor is there likely to be - about the best way for a wealth manager to win clients. The publisher of this news service, in a major research report in association with Coutts in 2012 (see here), found that effective marketing and branding can be crucial in driving business success in wealth management. Other big-name wealth managers clearly do think that advertising and marketing makes sense: the world's largest wealth manager, UBS, for example, sponsors Formula One motor racing, while firms such as BNY Mellon highlight brands through avenues such as the arts, as do Citi Private Bank and Credit Suisse.

“Our users are sophisticated consumers and we often hear them questioning why wealth managers are allocating resources to activities which are nothing to do with making their clients money. Of course, some people do place high value on being invited to prestigious events and working with a high-profile brand. However, our users seem to prefer wealth managers to stick to what they do best: preserving and growing their clients’ wealth,” Lee Goggin, co-founder of findaWEALTHMANAGER.com, said.

In findings that might cause a jolt to some firms, an aggregate 59 per cent of investors said they would be unimpressed by a wealth manager having lots of involvement in charitable causes. While such efforts are certainly laudable, just 16 per cent of respondents would favour a wealth manager for making them.

The majority of HNW individuals (37 per cent) are neutral on a wealth manager having demonstrable links to entrepreneurs and the business community, with the remainder split almost equally between those for whom this matters (32 per cent) and those for whom it does not (31 per cent).

(Editor's note: it is worth noting that the survey was drawn from UK individuals. The UK market is a relatively mature one; there might be very different answers in, say, Asia or other newer economic regions. This own publication's research suggests, even so, that marketing and advertising, when done effectively and intelligently, can and does make a difference, although as part of a broader business strategy.)