Q1: How do the concepts of behavioural finance create opportunities for HelloWallet? Private pensions are shifting more and more from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. This results in the shifting of responsibility for asset accumulation from the employers to the employees. As of 2008, the ratio of DC to DB pension plans is 3:1. Therefore, there will be more investors required to invest for retirement on their own. The company now has no long term pension liabilities to worry about.
Currently the model for HelloWallet does not incorporate behavioural finance into their analysis of an investor’s portfolio. The use of behavioural finance concepts will create the following opportunities for HelloWallet. Availability Bias: People will be influenced more by what they can easily retrieve from memory. Availability bias is a human cognitive bias, which causes us to overestimate probabilities of events associated with memorable occurrences. A prime example of this would be plane crashes.
Plane crashes are extremely rare; however, the vast majority of people widely overestimate their probability. This can be especially useful in media advertising to prospects that are experiencing “stress points”; being easily recalled from memory increases the likelihood that HelloWallet will be chosen. Self-Control Bias: The software shows how the user is spending his money, and where they can save and where they can spend more while still investing towards their retirement. In this way, the software helps the user to balance the need for immediate satisfaction with long-term goals.
It also shows when the investor gets off track of his financial goals. This can help to eliminate this bias. Keeping the client on track is the most important aspect of saving money. Regret Aversion: By showing the investor the potential savings loss from having not used HelloWallet in the past, and also by showing them the gain from currently using the software we can reduce the regret aversion of the investor. We must consider that the monthly cost of using HelloWallet should be low enough so that the investor does not see it as a huge cost of their portfolio over time.
They can do this by showing the user how much they gain from using HelloWallet in comparison to using the more conventional methods of investing through banks, and investment houses. Since research showed that 27% of workers are not at all confident about retirement, the company can use this as part of its advertising to show that by using the service, clients will not regret having insufficient savings for retirement. Mental Accounting bias: They can attract clients easily, if they can demonstrate achieving goals by placing assets in appropriate layers.
In addition, educate them on the concept that separate income streams contribute to their total wealth and do not necessarily mean they need to be allocated to a specific goal. HelloWallet should also take the opportunity to show them the risk reduction benefits from diversifying their portfolio, while taking into consideration the correlation between their assets. Bounded rationality: Individuals exercise bounded rational behaviour, rather than take the time to analyze all available financial products, many individuals feel comforted by choosing products that are convenient for them.
HelloWallet can expand the amount of information available to them since they provide access to information on 130,000 products available through 10,600 banks and financial institutions. In today’s day and age the internet plays a huge part of the average person’s development. The same rational goes for saving money. The more interactive and education the website is, the more knowledge clients will obtain. This in turn allows the user to make more informed decisions. In addition to this, the program is user friendly and shows all the potential avenues for investing in different assets this will help to mitigate availability bias.
Framing Bias: Framing effect is an example of cognitive bias, in which people react differently to a particular choice depending on whether it is presented as a loss or as a gain. Once enterprise customers are enlisted, the employees will be exposed to a large framing bias. The customers will view this application in a better light then HelloWallet’s current competitors. By using this bias HelloWallet will increase the potential of the employees becoming their clients. Q. 2 How do the concepts of behavioral finance create challenges for HelloWallet?
HelloWallet does not incorporate behavioral finance in its models although research has proven that investors possess distinct behavioral biases. In addition, each investor can be classified within one of the different Behavioral Investor Types. In an effort to better understand their clients, their needs, and to enrich the experience, HelloWallet can incorporate some behavioral finance concepts in their model. Specifically, the use of the 5 way model would allow them to classify how investors make their decisions. The use of the Pompian Model would allow them to understand what kind of biases the investor might have.
Incorporating these concepts into the software can help mitigate these biases, and provide the necessary education or information specific to each client’s needs. HelloWallet faces challenges in its objective due to multiple behavioral finance concepts and biases: Cognitive Dissonance: The case indicated that the majority of people avoid having to face financial reality. This is a classic symptom of Cognitive Dissonance where people feel uncomfortable receiving information that is contradictory to deeply held beliefs. Therefore, not wanting to face the idea that things may not be ok” is a huge obstacle for the adoption of HelloWallet by customers. The case points out that 27% of workers are “not at all confident” about retirement. This is a good starting point for the firm and will help alleviate this bias. Anchoring & Adjustment Bias: This occurs when the investment situation changes and a new forecast is made. Often, users may be anchored to original projections and feel discomfort or dissatisfaction from using the service when their investments fluctuate due to changes in market or economic variables.
The lack of personal interaction with customers makes it difficult to explain the effects of short-term volatility in relation to long-term objectives. Losing the ability to empathize directly with a customer and offer reassurance is a big challenge that will need to be addressed. Without reassurance, clients can behave rashly and ultimately do more damage than good to their investments. Changes need to be applied to the software to improve chances of meeting clients’ goals by communicating messages that are relevant to their financial position and offer explanations as to why the investments have behaved in such a way.
Anchoring and adjustment bias will make it more difficult for clients to adapt to constantly changing markets. Overconfidence: These individuals might think that they do not need to use a service like HelloWallet, as they believe they have better information than HelloWallet can provide them with. So convincing these clients to use the application will be difficult. Framing bias: This bias is a concerned with how potential investor’s interpret HelloWallet’s marketing compared with that of their competitors. It is also prevalent in HelloWallet’s website design.
The challenge is that HelloWallet’s competitors are currently offering their services for free, and HelloWallet will need to frame their service in a way as to promote their benefits over their competitors. They can also frame that their main competitors as having hidden motives for selling some products as they receive financial incentives from financial institutions, at the same time they can emphasize that they can provide the best solution for their clients because they are independent. The website design must be user-friendly, and professional.
Status Quo Bias: They do not see the advantages of changing their current means of handling their finances. As they see any change as a potential loss. Recall 80% of Americans need financial assistance. Unfortunately, many don’t realize they need the help and will continue to live their lives in suboptimal investment portfolios unless HelloWallet can convince them to change. Addressing the biases possessed by their target market, and challenges facing the model by not incorporating behavioral finance concepts will be paramount to the future success of HelloWallet.
