The private banking industry needs to do more to engage the next generation through digital transformation journeys, while maintaining a personal touch, according to Investec Bank head of UK transactional banking, Michael Goemans.

Speaking at the Wealth Transformation Summit, Goemans highlighted that different generations had differing approaches to technology adoption, with younger generations typically more digital-native.

He highlighted a recent study from Capgemini, which found that 81 per cent of wealth inheritors planned to switch wealth/advice firms within one to two years of receiving their inheritance, adding that this was clearly a threat for the industry that it needs to work on.

“We need to do more on engaging the next generation,” Goemans said. “A lot of it is about planning together, jointly, with the family structure, not just from what you have today but from a tax and fiduciary perspective, that’s often a good way to do it.

“That supports digitising more, because the next generation that are taking over are not going to want to do business the same way as their parents.”

Also speaking on the panel was Julius Baer director, transformation office, Azra Begulic, who emphasised that the generation gap was changing and evolving fast than ever.

“It’s about how to approach different generations with different types of services and products,” she continued.

“When you look at the existing clients in private banking, they all prefer personal touch. Younger generations are more of a mix; newer generations prefer digital as much as possible.

“On the other hand, we want a lot of information. You want to have it digital, but I don’t think the trust is there, and that’s why I think personal touch will always be important.”

Goemans concurred, arguing that the personal high touch relationship was potentially the most important thing, particularly in private banking.

“We try and position ourselves as high touch/high tech, but you can’t lose the high touch in private banking any time soon,” he said.

“You can automate and artificially create a lot, and replace a lot of manual electronic-based processes, but it’s very hard to replace interpersonal skills, emotion, creativity, and that personal touch, and I think there’s potentially an even bigger role for that in future as one automates the stock-standard stuff.”

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