Investments

Financial advice: the human factor is essential for clients and operators

Vanguard research shows the evolution in Italia of the relationship that favours trust

by Antonio Criscione

9 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The future of advice lies in the ability to synchronise the priorities and perceptions of clients and advisors. The survey "Client Connect: The Vanguard Advice Survey 2026", conducted on more than one thousand investors and two hundred professionals in Italia, reveals a picture made of deep understandings on the human value of the profession, but also of distances on service priorities.

The meeting points

The starting figure is extremely positive: clients perceive that their advisor generates an 'alpha' (added value) of 5.7% per year. As Fabrizio Zumbo, senior specialist at Vanguard's advisory research centre, explains, "this figure exceeds the 3% estimated by our technical models, because it includes a fundamental emotional and time component. Advice, in fact, translates into confidence in achieving objectives (74.4%) and psychological serenity (74.1%)'.

On this relational aspect, the agreement between the consulting parties is total: 91% of clients and 100% of consultants consider the human factor to be fundamental. Zumbo sums this up by emphasising the need to move from the concept of 'Assets under management' to 'Humans under management', ironically reminding that technology can never replace empathy or active listening.

Also on behavioural support there is great agreement: help to avoid panic-driven decisions is considered crucial and having a positive impact by 79.8% of investors and 97% of advisors. Both groups estimate that this support has prevented double-digit losses (-11.3% for clients, -16% for advisors) over the past three years of volatility.

The short circuits of the relationship

Despite the excellent emotional harmony, when it comes down to the practical level, worrying gaps emerge, the so-called 'disconnects'. The first concerns absolute priorities: for investors, the three most important things are transparency on fees (20.6%), investment costs (19.8%) and personalisation (18.7%). Zumbo calls it 'bad news' that advisors do not even include costs and customisation in their 'top 5', believing that their best asset is their 'ability to communicate clearly'. Ignoring costs is a strategic mistake: Zumbo points out that commissions act like compound interest in reverse, and low-cost solutions can lead to a portfolio that is up to 26% higher over a 20-year horizon.

There is also a paradox about transparency and an illusion about personalisation. Although 79% of customers consider transparency essential for trust, about half of them (49%) do not know exactly how the advisor is remunerated. On the personalised service front, while 40% of advisors are convinced that they 'always' offer it, only 20% of clients have the perception that they actually receive it. Finally, even on the appreciated behavioural support there is a communication flaw: almost one fifth of the clients (19.5%) do not perceive its effect, often because the advisor does not make it clear that a simple reassuring phone call is, to all intents and purposes, high-level advice.

A risk for the future

Over the next 30 years, it is estimated that a wealth transfer of EUR 3.8 trillion will take place. Here, too, theory and practice collide. Although 78% of clients want to plan for succession already between the ages of 40 and 50, professionals tend to postpone it to the 50-60 age bracket.

The most alarming figure concerns family involvement: only 28% of counsellors frequently meet with their spouse and a paltry 18% interact with their children. Fabrizio Zumbo points out how dealing with the subject of death often triggers scaramantic reactions from clients, making conversation difficult. However, not overcoming this obstacle puts the very survival of the profession at risk. According to the survey, only 44% of Italian investors believe that their children will continue to use the same family financial advisor once they receive their inheritance. By contrast, the percentage rises to 64% for spouses, indicating that women or partners are on average more likely than children to maintain the existing relationship. The situation in the US is even more pronounced where, Zumbo recalls, the phenomenon of advisor abandonment affects 87% of children and 70% of partners.

Technology and parcel models

To remedy these misalignments, Zumbo's report and analysis point to a clear path. Advisors must delegate the technical management of portfolios and automate administration. This approach allows up to '9 hours per week' to be recovered and reinvested in purely human activities such as heir engagement and behavioural support. Finally, the structural answer to the demands for greater transparency, lower costs and high customisation seems to lie in the fee-only or fee-based advisory model. This model, which is already growing strongly in Italia (27% of net inflows up to August 2025), according to Zumbo aligns interests perfectly, unties the professional from the pure sale of products and responds to the needs of the younger and wealthier generations.

The advisory environment is very much related to EU regulations. If the retail investment strategy is in its final stages, other regulations are on the way. Marco Tabanella, Head of Intermediary Retail & Strategic Accounts for Vanguard Italia, makes it clear that the global regulatory trend (whether we are talking about Ris or Savings Investment Union) is moving inexorably towards higher fiduciary standards and greater cost transparency. 'Unlike in the UK, where the regulator has intervened drastically, in Italia the evolution will be more gradual and linked to different factors. However, the change will be driven from below: new generations of clients and young consultants will steer the market towards the fee-based model'.