Wealth managers and Financial Planners reckon there’ll be client growth of more than 20% over the next three years as the number of wealthy people grows, according to a new global study.

Risk and return specialists Ortec Finance surveyed professionals across the UK, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

The results revealed that nearly two-thirds (64%) expect a 20% or more increase in clients by 2027 as rising numbers of mass affluent and high net worth clients and investment in technology fuels expansion.

Three quarters (75%) said there is growing demand from the increasing numbers of mass affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals for their services while more than half (55%) said investing in technology to improve their proposition is boosting growth.

Just under half (46%) said investment in technology is improving efficiency while 29% said technology is enabling them to provide more client-centric service.

The study found three-fifths (59%) said they have seen growth in the number of clients they personally serve in the past five years with just 5% reporting a drop in the clients they serve and 36% seeing no change.

However almost all (98%) said they expect the number of clients they look after to increase over the next three years.

Tessa Kuijl, managing director global wealth solutions at Ortec Finance said: “Rising numbers of mass affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals wanting support from wealth managers and financial advisers is driving global growth in the sector.

“However, in this digital age, investment in customer-centric advice technology by firms is an important enabler of client growth with firms able to improve their propositions in general while also being able to enhance service to clients and work more effectively.”

Ortec Finance is headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and has offices in Amsterdam, London, Zurich, New York, Toronto, Singapore, and Melbourne. Ortec Finance helps 600+ clients manage $15trn assets under management.

• Independent research company PureProfile interviewed 100 wealth managers, portfolio managers, financial advisers and Financial Planners located in the UK, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland whose organisations collectively manage around £1.207trn worth of assets for clients. The survey was conducted during April.