Average Customer Acquisition Cost for Wealth Management

Our team performed a meta-analysis of the average customer acquisition costs (CAC) for wealth management. While the average customer acquisition cost for wealth management overall is between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on the source, these metrics may or may not count for factors such as the wealth manager’s time to acquire a client based on the value of their time and the amount of time needed to acquire clients of different net worths. 

For the purpose of this report, we will consider wealth management to begin at a net worth of $250,000, which according to some sources may be considered low. We have broken out the average customer acquisition cost for wealth management based on the following categories:

  • Net worth of client
  • Acquisition channel
  • Size of wealth management firm
  • Wealth management service

 

The purpose of this report is to determine, as granularly as possible, what your customer acquisition cost should be. To begin, here are a few definitions:

  • Customer Acquisition Cost: Total spend on marketing + time spent in dollars ÷ number of new customers acquired
  • Organic CAC: Encompasses marketing channels where money is spent on the production of systems that market the business (SEO, email marketing, word of mouth, posting on LinkedIn, etc.)
  • Paid CAC: Encompasses marketing channels where money is spent on buying ad impressions directly (Google Ads, Direct Mail, etc.)

 

Upon first glance at this report, CAC metrics may seem high. Remember that our metrics include a calculation for the time of the wealth manager to acquire the client, not only what is spent on marketing. 

 

Average Customer Acquisition Cost by Net Worth of Client

The following table breaks down the average CAC by the net worth of clients. 

Net Worth RangesOrganic CACPaid CAC
$250,000 - $500,000$1,430$2,148
$500,000 - $1 million$3,065$4,602
$1 million - $2 million$6,130$9,204
$2 million - $5 million$14,304$21,477
$5 million - $10 million$30,652$46,021
$10 million - $25 million$61,303$92,042
$25 million - $50 million$143,040$214,765
$50 million - $100 million$306,515$460,212
$100 million plus$510,859$767,019

 

Average Customer Acquisition Cost by Acquisition Channel

This table gives the average CAC by the acquisition channel used. 

Acqusition ChannelsCAC
Referrals from Existing Clients$4,932
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)$8,361
Professional Networks and Partnerships$10,618
Direct Outreach (Cold Calling/Emailing)$13,095
Networking and Industry Associations$14,406
Social Media and Digital Advertising$16,954
Seminars and Webinars$19,188
Public Speaking and Media Appearances$23,045
Direct Mail Campaigns$25,248
Community Involvement and Sponsorships$27,741
Client Events and Exclusive Gatherings$30,070
Partnerships with Financial Institutions$32,080

 

Average Customer Acquisition Cost by Size of Wealth Management Firm

Our data concluded that the size of the wealth management firm has a significant impact on the CAC. 

Size of FirmAUMOrganic CACPaid CAC
SmallUp to $100 million$32,551$48,873
Boutique$100 million - $500 million$28,774$43,202
Mid-Sized$500 million - $2 billion$22,949$34,457
Large$2 billion - $10 billion$18,609$27,940
Very Large$10 billion - $50 billion$12,552$18,846
Mega$50 billion and above$7,187$10,791

 

Average Customer Acquisition Cost by Wealth Management Service

Each service offered in the scope of wealth management will have a slightly different CAC. 

Wealth Management ServicesOrganic CACPaid CAC
Basic Financial Planning$3,876$5,819
Investment Management$5,549$8,331
Retirement Planning$7,292$10,948
Tax Planning and Optimization$9,702$14,568
Estate Planning$10,740$16,126
Insurance and Risk Management$12,897$19,365
Education Planning$14,777$22,186
Debt Management and Reduction$16,094$24,164
Philanthropic Planning$19,193$28,817
Business Succession Planning$20,200$30,328
Trust Services$21,758$32,669
Family Office Services$24,657$37,021
Alternative Investments (Private Equity, Hedge Funds)$25,264$37,933
Real Estate Investment Management$28,678$43,059
Global Wealth Management$29,242$43,904
Custom/Bespoke Investment Strategies$30,843$46,308

 

Next Steps & Downloading a Copy of this Report

If you have any further questions or wish to download a copy of this report, feel free to contact us on our Contact Us page. If you are a wealth manager looking to lower your customer acquisition cost, feel free to contact us to speak about a thought leadership SEO campaign. 

 

Sources:

 

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