Spanish intermediaries feel managers can improve their insights and thought leadership

Online events are another area of improvement, research by Fundamental Media has found

Key points:

• Overall satisfaction with asset managers is high, but online events, meetings, and insights and thought leadership are the areas of least satisfaction.
• Compared to 2021, more Spanish intermediaries read print publications and print media are now mostly read at the office and no longer received at home.
• More than half of respondents are listening to podcasts for business purposes at least once a week, while the use of most social media decreased compared to 2021.

While their overall satisfaction with asset managers is high, financial intermediaries in Spain believe managers could improve their online events, meetings, and insights and thought leadership, according to research by Fundamental Media.

The vast majority (87%) of Spanish intermediaries are very or quite satisfied with the managers they work with. Client-facing support and in-person events are the areas where satisfaction is the highest. Satisfaction is overall the lowest for insights and thought leadership, with only 54% of respondents rating the support received in this area as excellent or good.  

From June to September 2023, we surveyed 156 financial intermediaries in Spain, consisting of 112 financial advisers and 44 discretionary portfolio managers/fund selectors, about their investment views, satisfaction with asset managers and media consumption. The Spain engagement report is part of our European financial intermediaries research, which also includes reports on Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Compared to 2021, more Spanish intermediaries read print publications and print media are now mostly read at the office and no longer received at home. This is likely due to the fact that many intermediaries have (partly) gone back to the office since the end of the pandemic.

Desktop remains the most used medium for financial intermediaries to read specialist media, while phones and tablets are used more to read newspapers. More than half of respondents are listening to podcasts for business purposes at least once a week, while the use of most social media decreased compared to 2021. Social media are mostly used to read industry news and network with peers.

Other findings from the Spain engagement report include:

• Investment in fixed income, global equities and emerging market equities are the most likely to increase along with active management and ESG. Meanwhile, Spanish equities and real estate are the most likely to see a decrease in investment.
• Investment philosophy is by far the most important factor when selecting funds for both financial advisers and discretionary portfolio managers/fund selectors (DPM-FS). This is followed by qualitative fund ratings and ESG approach for advisers and by fund manager tenure and transparency for DPM-FS.
• Recommendations from peers, along with client requests, are the main triggers of research on new funds. Investment strategy is the most researched information. Advisers are more interested in fund comparison, while DPM-FS prefer a manager’s commentary.

For access to the full reports, contact [email protected]