Less than a fifth of US financial advisors are targeting "millenial" clients, despite rising industry recognition of how lucrative this client base could be, new data suggests.

Less than a fifth (18 per cent) of financial advisors in a recent survey are targeting Gen Y - or Millennial - clients, despite increasing industry recognition of how lucrative this client base potentially is, according to research by the Principal Financial Group.

Millennials were defined in UBS Wealth Management America’s latest Investor Watch report as individuals aged between 21 and 36.

The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM: Advisors showed that at least three in five of 614 US financial advisors polled are targeting Baby Boomers (64 per cent), affluent/high net worth individuals (64 per cent) or business owners (62 per cent) - segments that have for a long time, if not always, been prime targets among those in the business of managing people's wealth.  

“This research illustrates the enormous opportunity for up-and-coming advisors to build relationships with under-served Millennials, who are in a growing phase of their careers and income potential,” said Tim Minard, senior vice president of distribution at the Principal Financial Group.

It emerged that fees and costs are the biggest barriers preventing Millennial investors from seeking financial help from an advisor. Interestingly, though, only 4 per cent of advisors said they were threatened by online investment advice providers, which are becoming renowned for being lower-cost alternatives for financial advice and thus popular among certain types of investors (Motif Investing is an example).

In the above-mentioned UBS report, Millennials have developed a “Depression era mentality,” which is turning them into a generation of savers who are skeptical about long-term investing and market-chasing. Meanwhile, a report by Spectrem last year said wealthy Millennial investors see the world and their finances in a much different light than previous generations and over a quarter of them have never considered using a financial advisor - a concept presenting both opportunities and challenges (see here).

Among other significant findings from the PFG, advisors said - somewhat surprisingly - that their biggest business competition is not other advisors but their clients’ fears, which is resulting in apprehension when it comes to taking financial action (as cited by 34 per cent). Nonetheless, these advisors say around a third of new clients, on average, do turn tend to them due to dissatisfaction with a previous financial professional.

Meanwhile, half of the financial advisors surveyed are using social media in some way, including: to communicate with existing clients (25 per cent); deepen relationships with existing clients (25 per cent); and to help find new clients (23 per cent). Less experienced advisors (with between two and ten years of experience) are more likely to use social media primarily to find new clients (46 per cent) than their more "seasoned" counterparts (20 per cent).

The Principal Financial Group is a global investment management firm that offers retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management.