Wealth management firms are "one of the least tech-literate sectors" in the financial services industry, a report by accountancy giant PwC claims.

It said the digital services offered by the wealth management industry was “falling well behind” other sectors and did not meet the expectations of clients. Only about a quarter of wealth managers offered digital channels other than email, the report found, despite the fact that 69 per cent of high net-worth individuals use online and mobile banking and more than 40 per cent review their investment portfolios online.

PwC said some players in the wealth management sector seemed “oblivious to their technology inadequacies”, some even over-estimating their firm’s digital capability, rating it “digitally sophisticated”, when the only service offered to clients was a website.

Many firms are only now investing in mobile apps, it said.