Are younger clients the problem, or is your advice service simply not built for them?

If younger clients aren’t coming through your door, it’s tempting to blame TikTok, short attention spans or a reluctance to think beyond Friday.

The less convenient explanation is that many advice services weren’t designed for them.

A young professional may have a decent income and good prospects but little in investable assets. High housing costs, student debt and an emergency fund that still needs building do not leave much room for the sort of portfolio that clears a traditional asset minimum.

Pricing can reinforce the message. Percentage-based charges work more naturally when there are assets to manage. Substantial fixed or hourly fees are harder to justify for somebody who mainly needs help with monthly spending, debt, workplace benefits and making a start with investing.

It is hardly surprising that many younger adults assume financial advice is for wealthy people or those approaching retirement. If your website leads with inheritance tax, decumulation and seven-figure portfolios, they may be right about your firm.

Meanwhile, apps and automated investment platforms offer low-cost access, quick onboarding and interfaces built for mobile phones. Social media provides an endless supply of free financial content without a fact-find in sight.

The quality is decidedly mixed. What these services do well, however, is make financial information immediate and easy to access.

Traditional advice can look painfully slow by comparison. Ask a prospect to print, sign, scan and return a document and they may reasonably wonder whether the next step involves a fax machine.

There is also a mismatch in priorities. Established advice models often focus on long-term wealth accumulation, home ownership, protection and retirement. Younger clients may be more concerned with controlling monthly spending, reducing debt, coping with rent or retaining enough flexibility to change careers.

Pensions and long-term investing still matter. They just may not be the most urgent items on Tuesday’s to-do list.

Build a service they can understand

Serving younger clients does not require advisers to start dancing on TikTok. It may require a proposition that reflects what those clients need and can afford today.

A subscription or retainer could separate the cost of planning from the value of assets under management. Firms could also offer a defined foundation service covering cash flow, debt, emergency savings, workplace pensions and basic investing.

Whatever the model, the scope and price need to be clear. Younger consumers are accustomed to knowing what something costs before they begin buying it. “Contact us to discuss your requirements” often reads as “this will be expensive”.

The client journey needs the same attention. Mobile-friendly forms, electronic signatures and virtual meetings are basic expectations now, not technological flourishes.

Content should address the decisions younger people are already making. Useful explanations of workplace pensions, Lifetime ISAs, student loans, renting versus buying and irregular income will do more than another general reminder to “plan for the future”.

For some clients, the starting point will be their pay packet rather than their portfolio. They may need help deciding how much cash to hold, whether to repay debt or invest, and how to use workplace benefits without making life needlessly difficult later.

Some will not yet be commercially viable for a full advice service. That is fine. A firm can decide whom it serves.

But firms that want younger clients need to offer something suited to their current finances. A proposition that effectively says “come back when you’re wealthy” should not be surprised when they go somewhere else first.