Banks, Insurers, And Wealth Managers Face One Pandemic But Multiple Threats

As the COVID-19 pandemic shifts both geographically and in intensity, changes in consumers’ behaviors present financial services (finserv) companies with new problems and new opportunities. The near-term impact on finserv companies will change the ways they interact with their customers, manage their employees, and respond to the market environment.

  • The pandemic will affect different finservs in different ways. Robotics, shifting work to home, and usage-based pricing models will alter the property and casualty landscape for decades. Life insurers will have to demonstrate both digital savvy and customer empathy when customers seek better coverage. How automated investing tools like robo-advisors function in a volatile market will test wealth managers. Banks and wealth advisors will rethink their go-to-market strategies in a world of social distancing where safety and privacy concerns extend to the unseen threat of a virus. And yet banks still have to keep the lights on in the back office.
  • Finservs face ongoing changes in how customers bank, get insurance, and manage their money. Homebound consumers have many resources only a few clicks away as autonomous finance enables more personalized financial coaching. Meanwhile, financial well-being remains background noise for many but is moving front and center for those most affected by the burdens of the pandemic.
  • Finservs need to continue earning customers’ trust in this rapidly changing market. Aligning corporate decisions with customer needs and wants will present challenges in the short run. But doing what’s best for your customer has elevated financial institutions above the pack in the past — and will continue to do so in the midst of this crisis.

To help our clients with these challenges, we have created a collection of research that addresses specific industry issues and the broader themes that underlie the issues of the pandemic.

Respond, Adapt, And Overcome

Rebound And Rebuild

Not a Forrester client? Visit our COVID-19 hub for further insight on responding, managing, and leading during a pandemic.