The level of satisfaction among UK wealth management clients, as measured by the MDRC index, fell in 2013.
The drop of 1.2% to 60.0 occurred as concerns around the pricing of wealth management services outweighed a significant improvement in investment performance.
The other key findings of MDRC, a management consulting firm and advisor on wealth management, were:
• Satisfaction at 2nd quartile firms fell by 14.7%, while satisfaction levels improved slightly at both 3rd and 4th quartile firms.
• 72.2% of clients say the performance of their portfolios has been 'good' or better, the highest score since 1999.
• 54.2% of clients feel that the fees they pay are fair for the service provided but 11.2% are actively considering lower cost alternatives.
• Smaller firms continue to dominate the top half of client satisfaction, while the bottom half is dominated by large firms.
• 73.9% of clients rate their relationship manager 'good' or better.
• 31.4% of clients are disappointed with the reporting of their portfolios.
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Agnieszka Prawdzik, director of research at MDRC, said: "An industry average score of 60.0 suggests that most clients consider that they receive a good level of service and that the products offered meet or exceed expectations.
"However, the 2013 results show that clients have become concerned about the level of fees and charges for wealth management services, and are questioning whether they receive 'value for money'."
She said: "Our
managers had become less concerned about meeting clients' expectations and more concerned about increasing fees and reducing costs.
"Clients believed that relationship managers were less responsive in 2013 than 2012, and that there had been a deterioration in both the quality and frequency of face to face meetings.
"This was particularly so at the wealth management arms of the large retail banks, with one of the 'Big Four' identified, in particular, as performing badly on this measure.
"Although clients were generally happy with the performance of their portfolios, nearly a third questioned the value added by their investment managers over the performance of the market."