Although account aggregation was expected to encourage more investors to take charge of their financial lives at the expense of financial planners, it has failed to attract much attention, according to a new report from Spectrem Group. In fact, self-directed investors expressed the least interest in account aggregation, according to the report, "Account Aggregation: Magic or Mirage."
Spectrem attributed self-directed investors' lack of interest to their familiarity with current tools.
If mutual fund and other financial firms that have invested in account aggregation want their investment to pay off, they will have to do a better job of educating investors about the benefits of aggregation, said Ann Mahrdt, a director at Spectrem.
Fewer than one million people nationwide use account aggregation, according to the report, although some consulting and research firms expected as many as 10 million users by this time.
