Savanta presents at the Defaqto Annual conference

🎙️ We had an amazing time speaking at the Defaqto conference on the 7th of September 2023, delving into insights on how Gen Z engage with financial services providers.

We started with a short presentation of fascinating facts some highlights being:

1. Gen Z care about their finances – half (51%) agree that planning for their long-term financial future is very important…but 6 in 10 (58%) say it feels difficult at this point in life and negative words such as stress, nervous and anxiety are more commonly associated with this than positive words such as confidence or security.
2. Gen Z lack confidence in engaging with providers – only 1 in 4 (24%) understand which products and services are most suitable for them and only 1 in 8 (13%) think their messaging is clear and easy to understand.
3. Gen Z look to their immediate networks for support & advice when choosing a financial product – nearly half (47%) turn to their family or friends, 4 in 10 (41%) social media and only 2 in 10 (20%) a financial adviser.

This was followed by a live focus group on stage with 4 brave young people talking openly about their decision making and attitudes towards financial services especially investments & insurance. This format went down really well with the audience as it genuinely allowed providers to see and listen to their consumers ‘in real life’. They explained how social media, especially TikTok and Reddit was where they would turn for insight and guidance with the quote of the day from the group ‘I’d trust advice from a stranger who’s been through the same experience I have more than a company advertising themselves’.

“I found the whole day insightful and inspiring. I hope that our Gen Z session gave the audience food for thought and allowed them to truly see things from a young person’s perspective. It shows that we in the FS industry have a long way to go!” – Kathy Ellison, Director at Savanta.

If you would like to learn more about the event, check out the articles by FT Advisor and Professional Advisor covering the key takeaways from the conference:

• Gen Z turn to family and TikTok instead of advisers
• Advisers told social media is vital to attract younger clients

Related research tools:

State of the Youth Nation is a subscription that supports leading brands in making more informed youth marketing decisions. If you’re looking for the tools to engage with young people, you need to know the drivers that shape their worlds. Put our Gen Z market research insights at the heart of your youth marketing decisions. We’ve been tracking the 16- to 24-year-old age group since 2015, regularly asking them over 700 burning questions, with 1000+ interviews conducted every 60 days.

For more information, please contact us at: [email protected].