Speaking at a luncheon in Sydney yesterday, Ms Munro, who is a partner in investment management at KPMG, said older executives are failing to understand the demands of 'Gen Y' investors.
"Traditionally, the way that wealth managers go to market, it’s basically about product push," said Ms Munro.
Their attitude towards customers has been, 'we make this product, and will will give it to you', she said – but younger consumers are not ready to accept that.
Ms Munro used the word "presumers" (that is, 'pre-consumers') to describe Gen Y investors who are involved in developing products before they are released.
"They don’t just accept what’s put out there; they like to research and they like to have things quite tailored," said Ms Munro.
"One of the challenges the wealth industry has is that the people who are running the key organisations are older and ... can’t understand why someone would want to be a 'presumer'," she said.
"In a lot of instances, decisions are being made about strategic directions [in wealth management] by people who don’t fully understand the strength and capability that sits out there."
It may, however, not be too late for wealth management firms if they are sufficiently nimble and manage to "reinvent" themselves, she said.
"If they can’t do that and someone else takes a jump on them, they may find they’re left with a legacy business," Ms Munro said.
